NOTES I. Leipzig The songs of Goethe's Leipzig period are printed here in their original form as it appears in Hirzel's Der junge Goethe I, 93 ff. The entire collection of these songs, numbering twenty, is commonly called Das Leipziger Liederbuch and was published first in 1770 under the title Neue Lieder, in Melodien gesetzt von Bernhard Theodor Breitkopf, Leipzig bey Bernhard Christoph Breitkopf u. Sohn. They were republished in their original form by L. Tieck in 1844, under the title Goethe's älteste Liedersammlung in Vol. VI of Neues Jahrbuch der Berlinischen Gesellschaft für deutsche Sprache und Alterthumskunde. An excellent critical account of the various versions of the songs is given by Rudolf Kögel: Goethe's Leipziger Lieder in ältester Gestalt, herausgegeben von R. K. in Studia Nicolaitana, Leipzig, 1884. For further study of Goethe's Leipzig period the student is referred to the following books: Goethe's Briefe an Leipziger Freunde, herausgegeben von Otto Jahn, 2. Ausgabe, 1867. The letters contained in this book are, of course, also printed in Der junge Goethe and in the Weimar edition of Goethe's works. In the latter are given, also, Goethe's very important letters to his sister and to his friend Behrisch which were discovered in the Goethe Archives and published in Vol. VII of the GoetheJahrbuch.- von Biedermann, Goethe und Leipzig. 1865. — Studien zur Goethe-Philologie von J. Minor und A. Sauer, Wien, 1880. 1. Zueignung Although this poem may have been written after Goethe's return to Frankfurt, it is based entirely upon his Leipzig experiences, into 149 which it gives a dreadful insight. Being the last poem of the Liederbuch, its tone and contents are, no doubt, meant to typify the whole collection. 2. die Lieder, ohne Kunst und Müh. A conscious protest against the opinion that the art of poetry can be 'learned.' See Haller in his Alpen (1729): Ein junger Schäfer stimmt indessen seine Leyer, Das in den Adern glimmt und nie die Müh erzwingt, Ja fließt nur ohne Kunst und Müh, Geliebte sanfte Töne, etc. 3. Am Rand des Bachs refers to the banks of the Pleisse near Leipzig. Goethe was a frequent visitor at Dölitz near Leipzig, where Oeser, his teacher and friend, owned a country estate. The line is directed against the 'Stubendichter' of his time. In the attempt to bring poetry into close contact with life Goethe follows Klopstock, who while in Zürich, greatly shocked the learned Bodmer by not using the latter's library. See Mörikofer, Die schweizerische Literatur des 18. Jahrhunderts, 164 ff. 6. so, i.e., spielend. The metrical construction of the first line of this strophe, dividing the verse into two parts: Da sind sie nun! Da habt ihr sie! while the second line: Die Lieder ohne Kunst und Müh, represents the rhythmic unity of the verse, is frequently found in Middle High German poetry. Compare: 13. weise. Dû bist mîn, ich bin dîn: des solt dû gewis sîn. Precocity is one of the characteristics of Goethe during this period. 19. schmelzt, compare note to lösen in An den Mond, p. 78, 1. 3. 26. Der Fuchs, der seinen Schwanz verlohr, refers to Hagedorn's fable Der Fuchs ohne Schwanz. Hagedorn (1764) II, 32. 30. Euch, suggested by Tieck for the original auch. 2. Der wahre Genuß This poem furnishes the most important document for the inner process by which Goethe liberated himself from the frivolous influences of his time and surroundings. The traditional conception of 'Genuss' being mere sensual enjoyment is transformed here by Goethe into an enjoyment of the feeling. (For the history of 'geniessen' and 'Genuss' compare the excellent articles in Grimm's Wörterbuch, IV, 3461 and 3519 ff. by R. Hildebrand.) It is the discovery of this new conception of 'Genuss,' the discovery of true feeling, expressed in the line: Empfinde Jüngling, und dann wähle, which brought the needed rescue not only to the young poet, but also, through him, to his nation, whose leader he was destined to become. Compare the lines in the Zueignung, p. 51, 1. 71: Warum sucht ich den Weg so sehnsuchtvoll, Wenn ich ihn nicht den Brüdern zeigen soll? How little this typical meaning of Goethe's life and poetry is understood by certain commentators is evinced by the remark of Minor-Sauer, according to which this poem "einigermassen an Gellert's Predigerpathos erinnert." 3. Fürst. This address to the prince was afterwards dropped entirely, presumably with regard to Duke Karl August. 9-24 were omitted from the version printed in 1833. 41-44. Compare Weisse, Scherzhafte Lieder (1759), p. 125: Meine reißende Selinde, Mit der ich mich jetzt verbinde, Ist für andre kalt wie Eis. Daß sie einzig für mich brennet, Außer mir kein Glücke kennet, etc. 65. Ehrfurcht, compare 'Verehrung,' p. 10, l. 17. 69. von ihrer Seite. It is significant that she shall lead him to Paradise, but not accompany him. 72. Und du fühlft keinen Uebergang. Concerning Goethe's way of looking at death, compare Fliegentod, p. 133, and Talismane, p. 110. 3. Wahrer Genuß The version given here for the sake of comparison is the one which was printed in 1833. It is presumably the poem Genuss which Goethe intended to print in the first collection of his poems 1789, but which he withdrew before publication. See Biedermann, Goethe und Leipzig II, 198. 4. Das Glück This poem appears in the later collections of Goethe's poems under the title Glück und Traum. 10. Was hilft es mir, daß ich genieße? With careful self-observation, which characterizes Goethe's searching for truth, he rises by this anxious question above the pleasures of the moment. Compare the poem Dauer im Wechsel, p. 89, in which the theme is a similar thought and question. 5. Das Glück der Liebe The title Glück der Entfernung in the later collections of Goethe's poems expresses the fundamental idea much better. The poem, which was probably written after his return to Frankfurt, contains the answer to the question in the preceding poem. The happiness at a distance (Glück der Entfernung) is greater than the sensual enjoyment of the moment. While the latter leads to our annihilation, the former quiets and enlarges the soul. Compare the following passage in Schiller's Künstler: Zum erstenmal genießt der Geist, Erquickt von ruhigeren Freuden, Die seine Gier nicht in sein Wesen reißt, Die im Genusse nicht verscheiden. 7. Ew'ge Kräffte, Zeit und Ferne = Gefühl von Raum und Zeit. 8. Heimlich wie die Krafft der Sterne, a bit of medieval astrology, according to which the stars have a great secret influence upon man. Compare "mein Gehirn war, wegen der Einstrahlung des Steinbocks und Wassermanns, etwas kalt und feucht." D. j. G. I, 44. 10. erweichter, compare 'schmelzt,' p. 3, 1. 19. 16. Bethörung = Idealisierung, Täuschung durch die Ferne. Compare Faust, Vorspiel auf dem Theater: Den Drang nach Wahrheit und die Lust am Trug. Herder, Gedichte (1817) I, 236. 23. Frey von Furcht, zu groß zum Neide=frei von Eifersucht. The expression "zu gross zum Neide" shows Klopstock's elevating |