The German classics from the fourth to the nineteenth century: a German ...

he found nothing better. It was owing to the rottenness of his time that he always took, and was forced to take, a polemical position. In his Emilia Galotti he shows his pique against the princes; in Nathan, against the priests." But, although the subjects of these works of Lessing were small, his object in writing was always great and national. He never condescended to amuse a provincial court by masquerades and comedies, nor did he degrade his genius by pandering, like Wieland, to the taste of a profligate nobility. Schiller, again, was a poet, truly national and truly liberal; and although a man of aspirations rather than of actions, he has left a deeper impress on the kernel of the nation than either Wieland or Göthe. These considerations, however, must not interfere with our appreciation of the greatness of Göthe. On the contrary, when we see the small sphere in which he moved at Weimar, we admire the more the height to which he grew, and the freedom of his genius. And it is, perhaps, owing to this very absence of a strongly marked national feeling, that in Germany the first idea of a world-literature was conceived. "National literature," Göthe says, "is of little importance: the age of a world-literature is at hand, and everyone ought to work in order to accelerate this new era." Perhaps Göthe felt that the true poet belonged to the whole of mankind, and that he must be intelligible beyond the frontiers of his own country. And, from this point of view, his idea of a world-literature has been realised, and his own works have gained their place side by side with the works of Homer, Virgil, Dante, and Shakspeare. But, so long as there are different languages and different nations, let each poet think, and work, and write for his own people, without caring for the applause of other countries. Science and philosophy are cosmopolitan; poetry and art are. national: and those who would deprive the Muses of their homesprung character, would deprive them of much of their native charms.

Although there are many works on the history of German Literature, it was difficult to find one that would bear translation into English, and answer the purpose of a school-book. The standard work on the literature of Germany, by Professor

Gervinus', consists of five large volumes. It will prove an invaluable guide to the teacher, but it is far too elaborate a work for the beginner. Koberstein's Manual is most excellent and trustworthy; but it enters into many details which are of importance to the minute historian only, and which impede the progress and deaden the interest of the general reader. Wackernagel's History3 is admirable, as giving, in the most condensed form, the results of the most comprehensive research; but it is as yet in an unfinished state. Vilmar's work, which had been favourably received in Germany, seemed likely to prove the most acceptable to the English public. The Rev. F. Metcalfe, well known as a translator of educational works, undertook a translation of it; but he soon found that it was only by rewriting the whole in an English spirit, that Vilmar's history could be rendered readable and useful. His book will form an indispensable key to the collection of extracts contained in this volume, and will supply as much information on the history of German Literature as is likely to be required at schools, or by the English public in general.

It might seem doubtful whether, considering the objects of this publication, the extracts from the early German writers should have been given in the original, or whether translations into modern German or into English would have been sufficient. There are probably but few who will read the originals with the assistance of grammars and dictionaries. Yet no one would be able to form an adequate idea of the real nature of German literature, in its historical progress, still less of the growth of the German language, without having seen and cursorily examined some authentic specimens of the writings of Ulfilas, the contemporaries of Charlemagne, the Minnesänger, and the

1 Geschichte der poetischen National-Literatur der Deutschen, von G. G. Gervinus.

2 Grundriss der Geschichte der Deutschen National-Literatur, entworfen von A. Koberstein.

3 Geschichte der Deutschen Literatur. Ein Handbuch von Wilhelm Wackernagel.

Geschichte der Deutschen National-Literatur, von A. F. C. Vilmar Sixth Edition. Marburg, 1856.

Reformers. To know a thing is better than to know about it; to have seen and handled a book is better than to have read of it; and he who, with the help of a translation, has made out but a few pages of the Nibelunge, will have a more real and lasting impression of that German epic than if he had studied an elaborate essay on the subject. I have, therefore, printed the original texts, together with translations into modern German in parallel columns. Some of the versions are perfectly literal, others are free. The names of the translators are given at the end. When no name is given, I am responsible. From the beginning of the fifteenth century the texts are printed without translations; but notes have been added to explain difficult words. My thanks are due to Professor Zarncke and Dr. Hildebrand of Leipzig: to the former for the translation of the Merigarto; to the latter for his valuable assistance in revising and correcting the proof-sheets. Of some of the extracts here printed, I am aware that new editions have been published in Germany, which I could not procure at Oxford. I have in general availed myself of the texts, as edited by Wackernagel1, Scholl, Pfeiffer, and Gödeke3, and I have occasionally consulted the works of Pischon1, Weber, Häusser, Hüppe, Simrocks, and others. No alterations have been made in the spelling; and the peculiarities of each writer, particularly in modern times, have been strictly preserved. Their deviations. from the generally received rules of spelling and grammar may

1 Deutsches Lesebuch, von Wilhelm Wackernagel. 4 vols.

* Deutsche Literaturgeschichte in Biographien und Proben, mit Beiträgen von Professor Franz Pfeiffer, herausgegeben von G. H. F. and T. F. Scholl, 2 vols.

* Deutsche Dichtung im Mittelalter, von K. Gödeke. Deutscher Dichtung, von Karl Gödeke.

Elf Bücher

* Denkmäler der Deutschen Sprache, von F. A. Pischon. 5 vols.

› Die Geschichte der Deutschen Literatur, von Dr. G. Weber. Lesebuch zur Geschichte der Deutschen Literatur, von Dr. G. Weber.

Lesebuch der poetischen National-Literatur der Deutschen, herausge

geben von Frommann und Häusser.

'Geschichte der Deutschen National-Literatur, von B. Hüppe. "Altdeutsches Lesebuch in neudeutscher Sprache, von Karl Simrock.

be turned to good account by intelligent teachers of German at public and private schools. Much care has been taken in the selection of the extracts, to avoid anything that could offend the reader, and at the same time to give, even in the shortest extracts, something that should characterise the writer. How far I have succeeded in this by no means easy task I must leave to the judgment of others.

All Souls' College, Oxford,

June 5th, 1858.

M. M.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

Gothic:-

FOURTH CENTURY AFTER CHRIST.

Ulfilas, Translation of the Bible; the Lord's Prayer.