His odes — in which he
celebrates
nature,
friendship, freedom, fatherland -remind us of Richard Wagner in
## p.
friendship, freedom, fatherland -remind us of Richard Wagner in
## p.
Warner - World's Best Literature - v15 - Kab to Les
»
Kohlhaas answered, “By no one, most reverend sir, was this
authority granted to me: I was deceived and misled by infor-
mation I received from Dresden. The war I wage against the
community is a crime, if, as you have pledged your word, I was
never cast out from its midst. »
«Cast out! ” Luther exclaimed: « what mad idea hath seized
thee? Who could have cast thee out from the community in
which thou wast bred ? Nay, canst quote me one — be he who
he might — as long as nations have been on earth, who has thus
been cast out ? »
Kohlhaas answered, clenching his fist, “I call him an out-
cast to whom the protection of the law is denied. I need that
protection in the peaceful exercise of my calling; for that, and
that alone, I and mine seek security in the bosom of a
munity, and whoso denies it to me casts me out to the savages
of the wilderness, and — who will dispute it ? — himself places in
my hands the club that serves for my own defense. ”
“Who denied thee the protection of the law ? Did I not
write that thy plaint had never reached the ear of thy sovereign?
If his ministers bring not forward the suits that are preferred,
or abuse his hallowed name without his knowledge, who but God
can call him to account for the choice of such servants? and art
thou – thou God-abandoned man of wrath — art thou empowered
to bring him to justice therefore ? ”
“Go to! » Kohlhaas answered. "If my sovereign has not cast
me out, I will return once more to the community he protects.
L
com-
>
-
## p. 8686 (#298) ###########################################
8686
HEINRICH VON KLEIST
Again I say, procure me a safe-conduct to Dresden, and I will
disband the force now gathered before Lützen, and will depart
to urge the suit that was rejected by the tribunal of my coun.
»
try. ”
((
»
(
Luther sat fretfully tossing about the papers that lay on his
desk, and remained silent. The high ground this marvelous man
took in dealing with the State was not to his taste. Recalling to
mind the judicial decision which was forwarded from Kohlhaasen-
brück to Lord Wenzel, he inquired what Kohlhaas was minded
to demand from the tribunal at Dresden. The dealer answered:
“Chastisement of the nobleman, according to the letter of the
law; restoration of the horses to their former condition; and com-
pensation for the losses which my servant Herse, who fell at
Mühlberg, sustained through the violence practiced on us. ” »
“Compensation for losses ! ” cried Luther. “Hast gotten thee
thousands on thousands from Jew and Christian by bills and
mortgages to further thy wild, fanciful revenge? Wilt thou add
these to thy account when the day of reckoning comes ? ”
«God forbid ! » Kohlhaas returned: house and land, the wealth
I possessed, are gone; these I ask not back, nay not even the
cost I was at to bury my wife. Herse's old mother will produce
a note of the expenses of his illness, and a list of the articles her
son lost at Castle Tronka; and the government may refer to an
expert the assessment of the damages I suffered by the delay in
the sale of the horses. ”
« Mad and terrible man,” exclaimed Luther, «thou art be-
yond all comprehension;" and with steadily fixed gaze continued,
when thy sword hath already gotten thee the most fearful ven-
geance on the head of this man, what impels thee to demand a
judgment against him, which, when it falls at length, will be but
dust in the balance ? »
A tear rolled down Kohlhaas's cheek as he answered,
reverend sir, this thing has cost me my wife; Kohlhaas would
show the world that she did not perish in an unjust cause.
Give me my will in this matter and let the voice of justice be
heard. All else that may be in dispute between us I yield to
your decision. ”
"If matters be as public report states," answered Luther, thy
demand is just; and hadst thou referred thy claim to the decision
of thy sovereign before assuming the business of revenge, I doubt
not that - item by item - it would have been granted thee. But
-
C
»
Most
>
## p. 8687 (#299) ###########################################
HEINRICH VON KLEIST
8687
DRAR
11!
consider well: had it not been better thou hadst forgiven Lord
Wenzel for the sake of Him who saved thee, and hadst taken
the brutes by the halters and ridden them home, wretched and
famine-stricken as they were, to fatten in thine own stables at
Kohlhaasenbrück ? »
Kohlhaas walked to the window and answered, “Maybe; may-
be; yet perchance not. Had I known they would have been fed
on my wife's heart's blood, maybe, reverend sir, I would have
acted as you say, and not spared a bushel or two of oats. But
now they have cost me so dear, let things have their course; be
the judgment given that is my right, and let Lord Wenzel get
me my nags into condition. "
Luther again applied himself to his papers. For a while he
was lost in thought, but at last turned to Kohlhaas and said that
he would essay to mediate between him and the Elector. He
begged him to suspend all further operations with the force at
Lützen; adding that if his Highness granted the safe-conduct,
it would be made known by public proclamation.
Kohlhaas
bent down to kiss his hand, but he waved him away and con-
tinued: -
“Whether the Elector will let mercy take the place of justice,
I know not. I have heard that he has already assembled an
army to assail you in your quarters; but be that as it may, rest
assured that if I fail the fault will not be mine. "
The dealer answered that his intercession sufficed to remove
every doubt.
Luther saluted him with another wave of the
hand, and was returning to his labors, when Kohlhaas sank on
his knees before him and preferred yet one other humble re-
quest. He had been accustomed all his life to partake of the
Lord's Supper at Whitsuntide, but had this year neglected the
duty on account of his present enterprise: would the reverend
doctor, he asked, receive his confession and thereafter dispense
unto him the holy sacrament? Luther darted an inquiring glance
upon him, and after a moment's reflection, said:-
“Yes, Kohlhaas, it shall be so; but remember that He of
whose body thou wouldst partake forgave his enemies. Art thou
prepared,” he added, marking intently the dealer's emotion, «art
thou prepared in like manner to forgive the man who did thee
wrong? And wilt thou then hie thee to Castle Tronka and lead
thence thy horses to be fed in their own stables at Kohlhaasen-
IP
»
1
brück? ”
## p. 8688 (#300) ###########################################
8688
HEINRICH VON KLEIST
»
Most reverend sir,” Kohlhaas answered with mantling color,
grasping the doctor's hand, why ask this now? The Lord him-
self forgave not all his enemies. I am content to forgive my
two liege lords, the Electors, the castellan and the steward, the
noble lords Hinz and Kunz, and all else who have wronged me
in this matter; but Lord Wenzel I must needs compel to bring
my horses into condition. ”
With a look of deep displeasure Luther turned his back upon
him and rang the bell. An amanuensis made his way with a
light across the antechamber, while Kohlhaas, much moved, re-
mained in the same position, with his kerchief to his eyes; but
observing that Luther was again busy writing, and hearing the
vain attempts of the man to unclose the bolted door, he rose and
opened it for him. Luther, with a side glance at the stranger,
bade the amanuensis light him out; the man seemed much puz-
zled at the presence of the unknown visitor, but took the house
key from a nail and waited at the half-open door. Kohlhaas, with
his hat between his hands, spoke once more with deep emotion:
«Most reverend sir,” he said, “I cannot then hope to partake of
that which I desired! I cannot be reconciled to-! »
Luther broke in hastily, “To thy Savior ? no: to thy sover-
eign, perhaps. I have promised I will do what in me lies.
Thereupon he signed to his attendant to comply with his
orders without delay. Kohlhaas pressed his hands upon his breast
with a look of bitter agony, and following the man down-stairs
vanished into the night.
[Luther procures the safe-conduct, a general amnesty is granted, and
Kohlhaas disbands his troop. Upon his return to Kohlhaasenbrück, the dealer
buys back his old home and awaits the promised restoration of his horses ;
but through the machinations of his enemies at court he is treacherously
arrested, charged with murder, and condemned to death. The Elector wishes
to pardon him; but the Emperor bimself insists upon the execution of the
sentence, since Kohlhaas has offended against imperial law by waging civil
war. Reluctantly the Elector pronounces the sentence. ]
Arrived at the place of death, he found the Elector of Brand-
enburg present on horseback, with his retinue, among whom he
observed Lord Henry of Geusau, and a vast concourse of people
.
On the Elector's right was Francis Müller, the imperial advocate,
bearing a copy of the judicial sentence; on his left, his own rep-
resentative, Anthony Zäuner, with the judgment of the Dresden
tribunal; and in the centre of the ring formed by the crowd
## p. 8689 (#301) ###########################################
HEINRICH VON KLEIST
8689
1
there stood a herald bearing a bundle of linen, and holding by
their bridles a pair of noble, sleek-coated, prancing steeds. Lord
Henry, it seems, had pressed the suit against Lord Wenzel of
Tronka point by point with unsparing rigor, and with such suc-
cess that the horses had been withdrawn from the knacker's and
been restored to honor by the ceremony of waving a flag over
their heads; after which they had been intrusted to the noble-
man's servants to be brought into condition: this accomplished,
they were delivered over to Zäuner in the market-place at Dres-
den in presence of a special commission. And so it was that,
when Kohlhaas made his way to the rising ground followed by
the guard, the Elector thus addressed him. "At length, Kohlhaas,
the day has come when full justice shall be meted out to thee:
behold, here I deliver unto thee all of which thou wast by
violence deprived at Castle Tronka, and all that I, as thy sov-
ereign, was bound to recover for thee; here I restore unto thee
thy horses, the neckcloth, money, and linen, nay,-even the
expenses of the illness of thy servant Herse, who fell at Mühl.
berg. Art thou content with me ? »
Kohlhaas set down his children beside him, and began to
read the judgment which was handed to him at a sign from the
lord chancellor. When he came to an article which condemned
Lord Wenzel to two years' imprisonment, carried away by the full-
ness of his satisfaction he crossed his hands upon his breast, and
fell upon his knees before the Elector. Rising to his feet, he
laid his hand upon his head and declared to the chancellor that
his highest desire on earth was accomplished. Stepping up to
the horses, he did not conceal his delight, - patting their arched
and rounded necks; from them he turned again to the Lord of
Geusau, and told him cheerily that he intended them for his two
sons, Henry and Leopold. The chancellor bent towards him
from his saddle and promised, in the Elector's name, that his
last wishes should be solemnly regarded; he bade him, further,
to dispose as he pleased of the articles contained in the bundle.
Kohlhaas at once called Herse's aged mother, whom he had seen
in the crowd, and saying, “There, good mother, these belong
to you,” handed her the things, with the sum he had himself
received as compensation, for the support and comfort of her
declining years.
The Elector then spake: -“Kohlhaas the horse-dealer, now
that thou hast thus received full satisfaction for the wrong done
XV-544
## p. 8690 (#302) ###########################################
8690
HEINRICH VON KLEIST
unto thee, prepare thyself to atone to his Imperial Majesty,
whose representative is here present, for thine own outrages
against the peace of his realm. ”
Kohlhaas took off his hat and threw it on the ground, and
said, "I am ready! ”
He pressed his little ones each tenderly to his breast, and
confided them to his friend the farmer; and while the latter
silently but tearfully withdrew from the scene, he walked up to
the block with unwavering step,
and immediately after,
his head fell beneath the axe of the executioner.
Here ends the story of Kohlhaas. Amid the lamentations of
the people his body was placed in a coffin; and as the bearers
were about to carry it out to a church-yard in the suburbs, the
Elector called for the sons of the departed and dubbed them
knights, telling the chancellor he would have them brought up
among his own pages.
Broken in body and mind, the Elector of Saxony soon after
appeared in his capital; and the rest of the story the reader may
find in the chronicles of his time.
In the last century, several hearty, sturdy descendants of
Kohlhaas were still to be found in Mecklenburg.
## p. 8690 (#303) ###########################################
1
14
## p. 8690 (#304) ###########################################
F. KLOPSTOCK.
2x
## p. 8690 (#305) ###########################################
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bilan vi thische ish is a 3 fin; . .
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Hill Cus, ut Ver Yr.
## p. 8690 (#306) ###########################################
## p. 8691 (#307) ###########################################
8691
FRIEDRICH GOTTLIEB KLOPSTOCK*
**
(1724-1803)
BY KUNO FRANCKE
Twas in 1748, the same year in which Frederick the Great,
in the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, achieved his first political
triumph, that Friedrich Klopstock, in the first three cantos
of his Messias,' sounded that morning call of joyous idealism and
exalted individualism which was to be the dominant note of the best
in all modern German literature. The magic spell which the name
of Klopstock exercised upon all aspiring minds of the middle of the
eighteenth century has been vividly described by Goethe, in Werther's
account of the thunder-storm which he and Lotte observed together.
“In the distance the thunder was dying away; a glorious rain fell
gently upon the land, and the most refreshing perfume arose to us
out of the fullness of the warm air. She stood leaning upon her
elbow; her glance penetrated the distance, she looked heavenward
and upon me; I saw her eyes fill with tears; she laid her hand upon
mine, and said — Klopstock! ! I at once remembered the beautiful ode
Die Frühlingsfeier' (The Spring Festival) which was in her mind,
and lost myself in the torrent of emotions which rushed over me
with this name. ”
On the other hand, Schiller has well expressed the limitations of
Klopstock's genius, when in trying to define his place among modern
poets he says: “His sphere is always the realm of ideas, and he
makes everything lead up to the infinite. One might say that he
robs everything that he touches of its body in order to turn it into
spi rit, whereas other poets seek to clothe the spiritual with a body. ”
It is undoubtedly this lack of plastic power, this inability to create
living, palpable beings, which prevented Klopstock from attaining the
high artistic ideal which his first great effusions seemed to prophesy.
The older he grew, the more he withdrew from the actual world, the
more he surrounded himself with the halo of superhuman experiences,
the more he insisted on describing the indescribable and expressing
the inexpressible; until at last the same man whose first youthful
*A portion of this sketch is drawn from the author's work, (Social Forces
in German Literature,' by the kind permission of its publishers, Messrs. Henry
Holt & Co. of New York.
## p. 8692 (#308) ###########################################
8692
FRIEDRICH GOTTLIEB KLOPSTOCK
utterances had set free mighty forces of popular passion, was intelli-
gible only to a few adepts initiated into the mysteries of his artificial,
esoteric language.
And yet it is easy to see that it was precisely through this exag-
gerated and overstrained spirituality that Klopstock achieved the
greatest of his work. He would never have produced the marvelous
impression upon his contemporaries which he did produce, had he
attempted to present life as it is. That task had been done by the
realistic comedy and novel of the seventeenth century.
What was
needed at Klopstock's time was a higher view of human existence,
the kindling of larger emotions, the pointing out of loftier aims. A
man was needed who should give utterance to that religious idealism,
which, though buried under the ruins of popular independence, was
nevertheless the one vital principle of Protestantism not yet extinct;
a man who, through an exalted conception of nationality, should in-
spire his generation with a new faith in Germany's political future;
a man who, by virtue of his own genuine sympathy with all that is
human in the noblest sense, and through his unwavering belief in the
high destiny of mankind, should usher in a new era of enlightened
cosmopolitanism. It was Klopstock's spirituality which enabled him
to assume this threefold leadership; and the immeasurable services
rendered by him in this capacity to the cause of religion, fatherland,
and humanity, may well make us forget the artistic shortcomings by
which they were accompanied.
Klopstock led German literature from the narrow circle of private
emotions and purposes to which the absolutism of the seventeenth
century had come near confining it, into the broad realm of universal
sympathy. He was the first great freeman since the days of Luther.
He did not, like Haller, content himself with the sight of an inde-
pendent but provincial and primitive life, as afforded by the rural
communities of Switzerland. He did not, like Gellert, turn away from
the oppressed and helpless condition of the German people to a
weakly, exaggerated cultivation of himself. He addressed himself to
the whole nation; nay, to all mankind. And by appealing to all that
is grand and noble; by calling forth those passions and emotions
which link the human to the divine; by awakening the poor down-
trodden souls of men who thus far had known themselves only as
the subjects of princes to the consciousness of their moral and spir-
itual citizenship,- he became the prophet of that invisible republic
which now for nearly a century and a half has been the ideal coun-
terpart in German life of a stern monarchical reality.
From the asthetic point of view, Klopstock is above all a master
of musical expression.
His odes — in which he celebrates nature,
friendship, freedom, fatherland -remind us of Richard Wagner in
## p. 8693 (#309) ###########################################
FRIEDRICH GOTTLIEB KLOPSTOCK
8693
-
the boldness of their rhythmic effects and in their irresistible appeal
to passionate emotion. Even his great religious epic 'Der Messias )
(The Messiah) is not so much an epic as a high-pitched musical
composition. Reality of events, clearness of motive, naturalness of
character, directness of style, — these are things for which in most
parts of the poem we look in vain. Throughout its twenty cantos
we constantly circle between heaven, hell, and earth, without at
any given moment seeming to know where we are; and instead of
straightforward action we often must be satisfied with a portentous
glance, an effusive prayer, or a mysterious sigh. But these defects
of the Messiah' as an epic poem are offset by an extraordinary
wealth of lyric motives. Indeed, the narrative part of the poem
should be looked upon merely as the recitative element of an ora-
torio, connecting those passages with each other in which the com-
position rises to its height,— the arias and choruses. Nearly every
important speech in the Messiah) is a lyric song, and at least one
entire canto — the twentieth — is given over to choral effects: from
beginning to end this canto is a succession of crowds of jubilant souls
thronging about the Redeemer, as he slowly pursues his triumphal
path through the heavens, until at last he ascends the throne and
sits at the right hand of the Father. It would be hard to imagine
a more impressive finale than this bursting of the universe into a
mighty hymn of praise echoing from star to star, and embracing the
voices of all zones and ages; and it is indeed strange that a poet
who was capable of such visions as these should have been taken to
task by modern critics for not having confined himself more closely
to the representation of actual conditions.
Klopstock was a true liberator. He was the first among modern
German poets who drew his inspiration from the depth of a heart
beating for all humanity. He was the first among them greater than
his works. By putting the stamp of his own wonderful personality
upon everything that he wrote or did,- by lifting himself, his friends,
the objects of his love and veneration, into the sphere of extraor-
dinary spiritual experiences,— he raised the ideals of his age to a
higher pitch; and although his memory has been dimmed through the
greater men who came after him, the note struck by him still vibrates
in the finest chords of the life of to-day.
Kunofrance
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE. Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock was born at
Quedlinburg on July 2d, 1724. During his school-days at Schulpforta
he conceived the plan of the Messiah. ' The first three cantos were
## p. 8694 (#310) ###########################################
8694
FRIEDRICH GOTTLIEB KLOPSTOCK
published anonymously during his university career at Leipzig in
1748, and made a deep impression upon Germany. Frederick V. of
Denmark invited him to Copenhagen and offered him a pension to
enable him to finish the poem. He accepted. The last cantos ap-
peared in 1773 With Klopstock a new era in German verse began,
for he abandoned the formal mechanical rhyming for the rhythmic
swing of classic measures. It is in his odes that he reaches the
height of his poetic genius. He died in Ottensee near Hamburg, on
March 14th, 1803.
THE ROSE-WREATH
I
FOUND her by the shady rill;
I bound her with a wreath of rose:
She felt it not, but slumbered still.
I looked on her; and on the spot
My life with hers did blend and close:
I felt it, but I knew it not.
Some lisping, broken words I spoke,
And rustled light the wreath of rose;
Then from her slumber she awoke.
She looked on me; and from that hour
Her life with mine did blend and close;
And round us it was Eden's bower.
THE SUMMER NIGHT
W"
HEN o'er the woods that sleep below,
The moonbeam pours her gentle light,
And odors of the lindens flow
On the cool airs of night, -
Thoughts overshade me of the tomb,
Where my beloved rest. I see
In the deep forest naught but gloom;
No blossom breathes to me.
Such nights, ye dead, with you I passed !
How cool and odorous streamed the air!
The moonbeam then, so gently cast,
Made Nature's self more fair!
## p. 8695 (#311) ###########################################
FRIEDRICH GOTTLIEB KLOPSTOCK
8695
HERMANN AND THUSNELDA
H^
A! THERE comes he, with sweat, with blood of Romans,
And with dust of the fight all stained! Oh, never
Saw I Hermann so lovely!
Never such fire in his eyes!
Come! I tremble for joy; hand me the Eagle
And the red, dripping sword! come, breathe, and rest thee;
Rest thee here in my bosom;
Rest from the terrible fight!
Rest thee, while from thy brow I wipe the big drops,
And the blood from thy cheek! — that cheek, how glowing!
Hermann! Hermann! Thusnelda
Never so loved thee before !
No, not then, when thou first, in old oak shadows,
With that manly brown arm didst wildly grasp me!
Spell-bound I read in thy look
That immortality then
Which thou now hast won. Tell to the forests,
Great Augustus, with trembling, amidst his gods now,
Drinks his nectar; for Hermann,
Hermann immortal is found!
“Wherefore curl'st thou my hair? Lies not our father
Cold and silent in death? Oh, had Augustus
Only headed his army,-
He should lie bloodier there ! »
Let me lift up thy hair; 'tis sinking, Hermann:
Proudly thy locks should curl above the crown now!
Sigmar is with the immortals!
Follow, and mourn him no more!
THE TWO MUSES
I
SAW — Oh, tell me, saw I what now takes place?
Beheld I the future ? —I saw the muse of Germany,
Side by side with her of Britain,
Fly with hot speed to the goals of coronation.
Two goals, dimly gleaming, far as the eye could reach,
Bounded the race-ground. O'er one in majesty
## p. 8696 (#312) ###########################################
8696
FRIEDRICH GOTTLIEB KLOPSTOCK
Oaks cast their shadows; near the other
Palm-trees were waving in evening splendors.
At home in contest, stepped she of Albion
Out on the arena, - proudly as when of old
So matched with Grecian muse and Roman,
She trod the hot sand for the prize of glory.
There stood the youthful, trembling combatant;
With inanly emotion she trembled, and fiery
Flaming blushes, vi ory's omens,
Streamed o'er her cheek, and her golden hair flew.
E'en now, with labor, fast in her heaving breast
She holds the breath down; bent on the goal she hangs;
She seems to see the herald's trumpet
Rise to his lips,- and her drunken eye swims.
Proud of her rival, prouder of herself, then
Spake the lofty Britoness, and measured with noble mien
Thee, Thuiscona:– “Yes, by the Bards, I
Grew up with thee in the ancient oak grove.
“But Fame had told me thou wert not living now.
O Muse, forgive me, if thou immortal art,
Forgive, that now so late I learn it;
But at the goal must it yet be taught me!
“Lo, there it stands! But mark'st thou the crowned one
So far beyond it ? Maiden, this proud reserve —
This self-command — this glance of fire
Downward to earth cast -- I know its meaning.
« Yet weigh, one moment, ere, big with danger, sounds
Yon herald's trumpet! Was it not I who once
Measured the ground with her of Thermopylæ,
And with the famed of the seven hills too ? ”
She spake. The herald drew nearer, and with him came
Swift the decisive moment. — "I love thee! »
With flaming look quick spake Teutona :
“Britoness, yea, I do wildly love thee;
<< Yet more, far more I love immortality
And yonder palms! Then touch, if thy genius
!
So wills it, touch them first; yet the moment
When thou shalt seize it, the crown is mine too.
## p. 8697 (#313) ###########################################
FRIEDRICH GOTTLIEB KLOPSTOCK
8697
And, oh, how I tremble! O ye immortals,
Haply I may reach the proud goal before thee.
Then, oh, then may I feel thy hot breath
Stir my loose locks as thou pantest after. ”
»
The trumpet rang. They flew as on eagles' wings.
Far along the race-ground boiled up the clouds of dust.
I looked: beyond the oak yet thicker
Rolled the dark mass, and my eye had lost them.
PROPHECY
ROM the charger's glances, the hoof's uplifting,
F, ,
The bards foretold fate; I too see,
And my eye pierces the future.
Will it gall forever? Thy yoke, Germania,
Soon it will fall: one more century yet,
And then it is done; then the rule
Of the sword yields to the reason.
For with curving neck through the forest rushed he,
Bounded along, tossed his mane to the wind, -
The steed,- as an omen, with scorn
For the storm's rage and the stream's rage.
On the meadow stood he, and stamped and neighing
Lifted his eyes; careless grazed he, and proud,
Nor looked on the rider who lay
In his blood, dead by the merestone.
It is not forever! Thy yoke, Germania,
Soon it will fall: one more century yet,
And then it is done; then the rule
Of the sword yields to the reason.
Translated for (A Library of the World's Best Literature) by Francis J.
Lange
## p. 8698 (#314) ###########################################
8698
FRIEDRICH GOTTLIEB KLOPSTOCK
FROM "THE SPRING FESTIVAL)
Wur
that I might praise thee, O Lord, as my soul thirsts!
Ever more gloriously dost thou reveal thyself!
Ever darker grows the night around thee
And more replete with blessings.
Do ye see the witness of his presence, the sudden flash ?
Do ye hear Jehovali's thunder ?
Hear ye his voice,
The convulsing thunder of the Lord ?
Lord! Lord! God!
Merciful and kind!
Adored and praised
Be thy glorious name!
And the blasts of the tempest ? They carry the thunder!
How they roar! How they surge through the forest with resounding
waves!
And now they are silent! Slowly wanders
The sombre cloud.
Do ye see the new witness of his presence, the winged flash ?
Hear ye high in the clouds the thunder of the Lord ?
He shouts — Jehovah! Jehovah!
And the shattered woods reek.
But not our hut!
Our Father commanded
His destroyer
To pass by our hut!
But the kind and copious rain
Resounds across the fields.
The thirsting earth is refreshed
And heaven unburdened of its blessings.
And lo! Jehovah comes no more in the tempest!
In the softly whispering gentle breezes
Jehovah comes,
And beneath Him bends the bow of peace.
Translated for (A Library of the World's Best Literature) by Francis J.
Lange
## p. 8699 (#315) ###########################################
FRIEDRICH GOTTLIEB KLOPSTOCK
8699
TO YOUNG
D'
IE, aged prophet! Lo, thy crown of palms
Has long been springing, and the tear of joy
Quivers on angel-lids
Astart to welcome thee!
Why linger? Hast thou not already built
Above the clouds thy lasting monument ?
Over thy Night Thoughts, too,
The pale free-thinkers watch,
And feel there's prophecy amid the song
When of the dead-awakening trump it speaks,
Of coming final doom
And the wise will of Heaven.
Die! Thou hast taught me that the name of death
Is to the just a glorious sound of joy!
But be my teacher still;
Become my genius there!
Translation of W. Taylor.
MY RECOVERY
ECOVERY,
R Though not for immortality designed, —
The Lord of life and death
Sent thee from heaven to me!
Had I not heard thy gentle tread approach,
Not heard the whisper of thy welcome voice,
Death had with iron foot
My chilly forehead pressed.
'Tis true, I then had wandered where the earths
Roll around suns; had strayed along the path
Where the maned comet soars
Beyond the armèd eye;
And with the rapturous, eager greet had hailed
The inmates of those earths and of those suns;
Had hailed the countless host
That throng the comet's disk;
Had asked the novice questions, and obtained
Such answers as a sage vouchsafes to youth;
Had learned in hours far more
Than ages here unfold !
## p. 8700 (#316) ###########################################
8700
FRIEDRICH GOTTLIEB KLOPSTOCK
-
But I had then not ended here below
What, in the enterprising bloom of life,
Fate with no light behest
Required me to begin.
Recovery,- daughter of Creation too,
Though not for immortality designed, -
The Lord of life and death
Sent thee from heaven to me!
Translation of W. Taylor.
THE CHOIRS
D
EAR dream which I must ne'er behold fulfilled,
Thou beamy form, more fair than orient day,
Float back, and hover yet
Before my swimming sight!
Do they wear crowns in vain, that they forbear
To realize the heavenly portraiture ?
Shall marble hearse them all,
Ere the bright change be wrought?
Hail, chosen ruler of a freer world!
For thee shall bloom the never-fading song,
Who bidd'st it be,- to thee
Religion's honors rise.
Yes! could the grave allow, of thee I'd sing:
For once would inspiration string the lyre, -
The streaming tide of joy,
My pledge for loftier verse.
Great is thy deed, my wish. He has not known
What 'tis to melt in bliss, who never felt
Devotion's raptures rise
On sacred Music's wing;
Ne'er sweetly trembled, when adoring choirs
Mingle their hallowed songs of solemn praise,
And at each awful pause
The unseen choirs above.
Long float around my forehead, blissful dream!
I hear a Christian people hymn their God,
And thousands kneel at once,
Jehovah, Lord, to thee!
## p. 8701 (#317) ###########################################
FRIEDRICH GOTTLIEB KLOPSTOCK
8701
The people sing their Savior, sing the Son;
Their simple song according with the heart,
Yet lofty, such as lifts
The aspiring soul from earth.
On the raised eyelash, on the burning cheek,
The young tear quivers; for they view the goal,
Where shines the golden crown,
Where angels wave the palm.
ong
Hush! the clear song wells forth. Now flows
Music, as if poured artless from the breast;
For so the Master willed
To lead its channeled course.
Deep, strong, it seizes on the swelling heart,
Scorning what knows not to call down the tear,
Or shroud the soul in gloom
Or steep in holy awe.
Borne on the deep, slow sounds, a holy awe
Descends. Alternate voices sweep the dome,
Then blend their choral force, -
The theme, Impending Doom;
Or the triumphal Hail to Him who rose,
While all the host of heaven o'er Sion's hill
Hovered, and praising saw
Ascend the Lord of Life.
One voice alone, one harp alone, begins;
But soon joins in the ever fuller choir.
The people quake. They feel
A glow of heavenly fire.
Joy, joy! they scarce support it. Rolls aloud
The organ's thunder, - now more loud and more,-
And to the shout of all
The temple trembles too.
Enough! I sink! The wave of people bows
Before the altar,— bows the front to earth;
They taste the hallowed cup,
Devoutly, deeply, still.
One day, when rest my bones beside a fane,
Where thus assembled worshipers adore,
## p. 8702 (#318) ###########################################
8702
FRIEDRICH GOTTLIEB KLOPSTOCK
The conscious grave shall heave,
Its flowerets sweeter bloom;
And on the morn that from the rock He sprang,
When panting Praise pursues his way,
I'll hear — He rose again
Vibrating through the tomb.
Translation of W. Taylor.
FROM THE MESSIAH)
SY
(
EVEN times the thunder's stroke had rent the veil,
When now the voice of God in gentle tone
Was heard descending: “God is Love,” it spoke;
“Love, ere the worlds or their inhabitants
To life were called. In the accomplishment
Of this, my most mysterious, highest act,
Love am I still. Angels, ye shall behold
The death of earth's great Judge, the eternal Son;
And ye shall learn to know the Deity,
With adoration new to invoke his name.
Should not his arm uphold ye, at the sight
Of that dread day in terror ye would fade;
For finite are your forms! ” The voice now ceased.
Their holy hands the admiring angels clasped
In silent awe. A sign the Almighty made,
And in the face divine, Eloa read
The mandate given. To the celestial host
He cried, “Lift up your eyes to the Most High,
Ye chosen, favored children! Ye have longed
(God is your witness) to behold this day
Of his Messiah, this atoning day!
Shout, then, ye cherubim! behold your God;
The First and Last, the great Jehovah, deigns
To meet your wish. Yon seraph, messenger
From the eternal Son on your behalf,
Is to the altar sent. Had ye not been
Permitted thus to view the wondrous work
Of man's redemption, secret it had passed
In solitary, silent mystery.
But now, while sons of earth shall joyful sing
This day throughout eternity, our voice
In shouts shall join their chorus.
With glad eye
## p. 8703 (#319) ###########################################
FRIEDRICH GOTTLIEB KLOPSTOCK
8703
Of piercing vision shall we contemplate
This mystery of atonement; clearer far
Shall we perceive it than the weeping band,
Who, though in error clouded, faithful still
Surround their Savior. Ah, what shall befall
His hardened persecutors! From life's book
Their names have long been blotted. Light divine
Jehovah grants alone to his redeemed;
No more with tears shall they behold the blood
For their atonement shed, but see its stream
Merge in the ocean of immortal life.
Oh, then in the soft lap of peace consoled,
The festival of light, and endless rest,
Triumphant shall they celebrate! Ye hosts
Of seraphim, and ye blest ransomed souls
Of righteous patriarchs, the jubilee,
The Sabbath of eternity, draws near!
Race after race of man shall thronging join
Your happy numbers, till, the reckoning filled,
The final doom pronounced, with glorious forms
All shall anew be clothed, and jointly taste
One universal bliss! Now, angels, haste!
Bid the seraphic guardians, who by God
To rule the spheres are stationed, straight prepare
To solemnize the great mysterious Day!
Kohlhaas answered, “By no one, most reverend sir, was this
authority granted to me: I was deceived and misled by infor-
mation I received from Dresden. The war I wage against the
community is a crime, if, as you have pledged your word, I was
never cast out from its midst. »
«Cast out! ” Luther exclaimed: « what mad idea hath seized
thee? Who could have cast thee out from the community in
which thou wast bred ? Nay, canst quote me one — be he who
he might — as long as nations have been on earth, who has thus
been cast out ? »
Kohlhaas answered, clenching his fist, “I call him an out-
cast to whom the protection of the law is denied. I need that
protection in the peaceful exercise of my calling; for that, and
that alone, I and mine seek security in the bosom of a
munity, and whoso denies it to me casts me out to the savages
of the wilderness, and — who will dispute it ? — himself places in
my hands the club that serves for my own defense. ”
“Who denied thee the protection of the law ? Did I not
write that thy plaint had never reached the ear of thy sovereign?
If his ministers bring not forward the suits that are preferred,
or abuse his hallowed name without his knowledge, who but God
can call him to account for the choice of such servants? and art
thou – thou God-abandoned man of wrath — art thou empowered
to bring him to justice therefore ? ”
“Go to! » Kohlhaas answered. "If my sovereign has not cast
me out, I will return once more to the community he protects.
L
com-
>
-
## p. 8686 (#298) ###########################################
8686
HEINRICH VON KLEIST
Again I say, procure me a safe-conduct to Dresden, and I will
disband the force now gathered before Lützen, and will depart
to urge the suit that was rejected by the tribunal of my coun.
»
try. ”
((
»
(
Luther sat fretfully tossing about the papers that lay on his
desk, and remained silent. The high ground this marvelous man
took in dealing with the State was not to his taste. Recalling to
mind the judicial decision which was forwarded from Kohlhaasen-
brück to Lord Wenzel, he inquired what Kohlhaas was minded
to demand from the tribunal at Dresden. The dealer answered:
“Chastisement of the nobleman, according to the letter of the
law; restoration of the horses to their former condition; and com-
pensation for the losses which my servant Herse, who fell at
Mühlberg, sustained through the violence practiced on us. ” »
“Compensation for losses ! ” cried Luther. “Hast gotten thee
thousands on thousands from Jew and Christian by bills and
mortgages to further thy wild, fanciful revenge? Wilt thou add
these to thy account when the day of reckoning comes ? ”
«God forbid ! » Kohlhaas returned: house and land, the wealth
I possessed, are gone; these I ask not back, nay not even the
cost I was at to bury my wife. Herse's old mother will produce
a note of the expenses of his illness, and a list of the articles her
son lost at Castle Tronka; and the government may refer to an
expert the assessment of the damages I suffered by the delay in
the sale of the horses. ”
« Mad and terrible man,” exclaimed Luther, «thou art be-
yond all comprehension;" and with steadily fixed gaze continued,
when thy sword hath already gotten thee the most fearful ven-
geance on the head of this man, what impels thee to demand a
judgment against him, which, when it falls at length, will be but
dust in the balance ? »
A tear rolled down Kohlhaas's cheek as he answered,
reverend sir, this thing has cost me my wife; Kohlhaas would
show the world that she did not perish in an unjust cause.
Give me my will in this matter and let the voice of justice be
heard. All else that may be in dispute between us I yield to
your decision. ”
"If matters be as public report states," answered Luther, thy
demand is just; and hadst thou referred thy claim to the decision
of thy sovereign before assuming the business of revenge, I doubt
not that - item by item - it would have been granted thee. But
-
C
»
Most
>
## p. 8687 (#299) ###########################################
HEINRICH VON KLEIST
8687
DRAR
11!
consider well: had it not been better thou hadst forgiven Lord
Wenzel for the sake of Him who saved thee, and hadst taken
the brutes by the halters and ridden them home, wretched and
famine-stricken as they were, to fatten in thine own stables at
Kohlhaasenbrück ? »
Kohlhaas walked to the window and answered, “Maybe; may-
be; yet perchance not. Had I known they would have been fed
on my wife's heart's blood, maybe, reverend sir, I would have
acted as you say, and not spared a bushel or two of oats. But
now they have cost me so dear, let things have their course; be
the judgment given that is my right, and let Lord Wenzel get
me my nags into condition. "
Luther again applied himself to his papers. For a while he
was lost in thought, but at last turned to Kohlhaas and said that
he would essay to mediate between him and the Elector. He
begged him to suspend all further operations with the force at
Lützen; adding that if his Highness granted the safe-conduct,
it would be made known by public proclamation.
Kohlhaas
bent down to kiss his hand, but he waved him away and con-
tinued: -
“Whether the Elector will let mercy take the place of justice,
I know not. I have heard that he has already assembled an
army to assail you in your quarters; but be that as it may, rest
assured that if I fail the fault will not be mine. "
The dealer answered that his intercession sufficed to remove
every doubt.
Luther saluted him with another wave of the
hand, and was returning to his labors, when Kohlhaas sank on
his knees before him and preferred yet one other humble re-
quest. He had been accustomed all his life to partake of the
Lord's Supper at Whitsuntide, but had this year neglected the
duty on account of his present enterprise: would the reverend
doctor, he asked, receive his confession and thereafter dispense
unto him the holy sacrament? Luther darted an inquiring glance
upon him, and after a moment's reflection, said:-
“Yes, Kohlhaas, it shall be so; but remember that He of
whose body thou wouldst partake forgave his enemies. Art thou
prepared,” he added, marking intently the dealer's emotion, «art
thou prepared in like manner to forgive the man who did thee
wrong? And wilt thou then hie thee to Castle Tronka and lead
thence thy horses to be fed in their own stables at Kohlhaasen-
IP
»
1
brück? ”
## p. 8688 (#300) ###########################################
8688
HEINRICH VON KLEIST
»
Most reverend sir,” Kohlhaas answered with mantling color,
grasping the doctor's hand, why ask this now? The Lord him-
self forgave not all his enemies. I am content to forgive my
two liege lords, the Electors, the castellan and the steward, the
noble lords Hinz and Kunz, and all else who have wronged me
in this matter; but Lord Wenzel I must needs compel to bring
my horses into condition. ”
With a look of deep displeasure Luther turned his back upon
him and rang the bell. An amanuensis made his way with a
light across the antechamber, while Kohlhaas, much moved, re-
mained in the same position, with his kerchief to his eyes; but
observing that Luther was again busy writing, and hearing the
vain attempts of the man to unclose the bolted door, he rose and
opened it for him. Luther, with a side glance at the stranger,
bade the amanuensis light him out; the man seemed much puz-
zled at the presence of the unknown visitor, but took the house
key from a nail and waited at the half-open door. Kohlhaas, with
his hat between his hands, spoke once more with deep emotion:
«Most reverend sir,” he said, “I cannot then hope to partake of
that which I desired! I cannot be reconciled to-! »
Luther broke in hastily, “To thy Savior ? no: to thy sover-
eign, perhaps. I have promised I will do what in me lies.
Thereupon he signed to his attendant to comply with his
orders without delay. Kohlhaas pressed his hands upon his breast
with a look of bitter agony, and following the man down-stairs
vanished into the night.
[Luther procures the safe-conduct, a general amnesty is granted, and
Kohlhaas disbands his troop. Upon his return to Kohlhaasenbrück, the dealer
buys back his old home and awaits the promised restoration of his horses ;
but through the machinations of his enemies at court he is treacherously
arrested, charged with murder, and condemned to death. The Elector wishes
to pardon him; but the Emperor bimself insists upon the execution of the
sentence, since Kohlhaas has offended against imperial law by waging civil
war. Reluctantly the Elector pronounces the sentence. ]
Arrived at the place of death, he found the Elector of Brand-
enburg present on horseback, with his retinue, among whom he
observed Lord Henry of Geusau, and a vast concourse of people
.
On the Elector's right was Francis Müller, the imperial advocate,
bearing a copy of the judicial sentence; on his left, his own rep-
resentative, Anthony Zäuner, with the judgment of the Dresden
tribunal; and in the centre of the ring formed by the crowd
## p. 8689 (#301) ###########################################
HEINRICH VON KLEIST
8689
1
there stood a herald bearing a bundle of linen, and holding by
their bridles a pair of noble, sleek-coated, prancing steeds. Lord
Henry, it seems, had pressed the suit against Lord Wenzel of
Tronka point by point with unsparing rigor, and with such suc-
cess that the horses had been withdrawn from the knacker's and
been restored to honor by the ceremony of waving a flag over
their heads; after which they had been intrusted to the noble-
man's servants to be brought into condition: this accomplished,
they were delivered over to Zäuner in the market-place at Dres-
den in presence of a special commission. And so it was that,
when Kohlhaas made his way to the rising ground followed by
the guard, the Elector thus addressed him. "At length, Kohlhaas,
the day has come when full justice shall be meted out to thee:
behold, here I deliver unto thee all of which thou wast by
violence deprived at Castle Tronka, and all that I, as thy sov-
ereign, was bound to recover for thee; here I restore unto thee
thy horses, the neckcloth, money, and linen, nay,-even the
expenses of the illness of thy servant Herse, who fell at Mühl.
berg. Art thou content with me ? »
Kohlhaas set down his children beside him, and began to
read the judgment which was handed to him at a sign from the
lord chancellor. When he came to an article which condemned
Lord Wenzel to two years' imprisonment, carried away by the full-
ness of his satisfaction he crossed his hands upon his breast, and
fell upon his knees before the Elector. Rising to his feet, he
laid his hand upon his head and declared to the chancellor that
his highest desire on earth was accomplished. Stepping up to
the horses, he did not conceal his delight, - patting their arched
and rounded necks; from them he turned again to the Lord of
Geusau, and told him cheerily that he intended them for his two
sons, Henry and Leopold. The chancellor bent towards him
from his saddle and promised, in the Elector's name, that his
last wishes should be solemnly regarded; he bade him, further,
to dispose as he pleased of the articles contained in the bundle.
Kohlhaas at once called Herse's aged mother, whom he had seen
in the crowd, and saying, “There, good mother, these belong
to you,” handed her the things, with the sum he had himself
received as compensation, for the support and comfort of her
declining years.
The Elector then spake: -“Kohlhaas the horse-dealer, now
that thou hast thus received full satisfaction for the wrong done
XV-544
## p. 8690 (#302) ###########################################
8690
HEINRICH VON KLEIST
unto thee, prepare thyself to atone to his Imperial Majesty,
whose representative is here present, for thine own outrages
against the peace of his realm. ”
Kohlhaas took off his hat and threw it on the ground, and
said, "I am ready! ”
He pressed his little ones each tenderly to his breast, and
confided them to his friend the farmer; and while the latter
silently but tearfully withdrew from the scene, he walked up to
the block with unwavering step,
and immediately after,
his head fell beneath the axe of the executioner.
Here ends the story of Kohlhaas. Amid the lamentations of
the people his body was placed in a coffin; and as the bearers
were about to carry it out to a church-yard in the suburbs, the
Elector called for the sons of the departed and dubbed them
knights, telling the chancellor he would have them brought up
among his own pages.
Broken in body and mind, the Elector of Saxony soon after
appeared in his capital; and the rest of the story the reader may
find in the chronicles of his time.
In the last century, several hearty, sturdy descendants of
Kohlhaas were still to be found in Mecklenburg.
## p. 8690 (#303) ###########################################
1
14
## p. 8690 (#304) ###########################################
F. KLOPSTOCK.
2x
## p. 8690 (#305) ###########################################
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Hill Cus, ut Ver Yr.
## p. 8690 (#306) ###########################################
## p. 8691 (#307) ###########################################
8691
FRIEDRICH GOTTLIEB KLOPSTOCK*
**
(1724-1803)
BY KUNO FRANCKE
Twas in 1748, the same year in which Frederick the Great,
in the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, achieved his first political
triumph, that Friedrich Klopstock, in the first three cantos
of his Messias,' sounded that morning call of joyous idealism and
exalted individualism which was to be the dominant note of the best
in all modern German literature. The magic spell which the name
of Klopstock exercised upon all aspiring minds of the middle of the
eighteenth century has been vividly described by Goethe, in Werther's
account of the thunder-storm which he and Lotte observed together.
“In the distance the thunder was dying away; a glorious rain fell
gently upon the land, and the most refreshing perfume arose to us
out of the fullness of the warm air. She stood leaning upon her
elbow; her glance penetrated the distance, she looked heavenward
and upon me; I saw her eyes fill with tears; she laid her hand upon
mine, and said — Klopstock! ! I at once remembered the beautiful ode
Die Frühlingsfeier' (The Spring Festival) which was in her mind,
and lost myself in the torrent of emotions which rushed over me
with this name. ”
On the other hand, Schiller has well expressed the limitations of
Klopstock's genius, when in trying to define his place among modern
poets he says: “His sphere is always the realm of ideas, and he
makes everything lead up to the infinite. One might say that he
robs everything that he touches of its body in order to turn it into
spi rit, whereas other poets seek to clothe the spiritual with a body. ”
It is undoubtedly this lack of plastic power, this inability to create
living, palpable beings, which prevented Klopstock from attaining the
high artistic ideal which his first great effusions seemed to prophesy.
The older he grew, the more he withdrew from the actual world, the
more he surrounded himself with the halo of superhuman experiences,
the more he insisted on describing the indescribable and expressing
the inexpressible; until at last the same man whose first youthful
*A portion of this sketch is drawn from the author's work, (Social Forces
in German Literature,' by the kind permission of its publishers, Messrs. Henry
Holt & Co. of New York.
## p. 8692 (#308) ###########################################
8692
FRIEDRICH GOTTLIEB KLOPSTOCK
utterances had set free mighty forces of popular passion, was intelli-
gible only to a few adepts initiated into the mysteries of his artificial,
esoteric language.
And yet it is easy to see that it was precisely through this exag-
gerated and overstrained spirituality that Klopstock achieved the
greatest of his work. He would never have produced the marvelous
impression upon his contemporaries which he did produce, had he
attempted to present life as it is. That task had been done by the
realistic comedy and novel of the seventeenth century.
What was
needed at Klopstock's time was a higher view of human existence,
the kindling of larger emotions, the pointing out of loftier aims. A
man was needed who should give utterance to that religious idealism,
which, though buried under the ruins of popular independence, was
nevertheless the one vital principle of Protestantism not yet extinct;
a man who, through an exalted conception of nationality, should in-
spire his generation with a new faith in Germany's political future;
a man who, by virtue of his own genuine sympathy with all that is
human in the noblest sense, and through his unwavering belief in the
high destiny of mankind, should usher in a new era of enlightened
cosmopolitanism. It was Klopstock's spirituality which enabled him
to assume this threefold leadership; and the immeasurable services
rendered by him in this capacity to the cause of religion, fatherland,
and humanity, may well make us forget the artistic shortcomings by
which they were accompanied.
Klopstock led German literature from the narrow circle of private
emotions and purposes to which the absolutism of the seventeenth
century had come near confining it, into the broad realm of universal
sympathy. He was the first great freeman since the days of Luther.
He did not, like Haller, content himself with the sight of an inde-
pendent but provincial and primitive life, as afforded by the rural
communities of Switzerland. He did not, like Gellert, turn away from
the oppressed and helpless condition of the German people to a
weakly, exaggerated cultivation of himself. He addressed himself to
the whole nation; nay, to all mankind. And by appealing to all that
is grand and noble; by calling forth those passions and emotions
which link the human to the divine; by awakening the poor down-
trodden souls of men who thus far had known themselves only as
the subjects of princes to the consciousness of their moral and spir-
itual citizenship,- he became the prophet of that invisible republic
which now for nearly a century and a half has been the ideal coun-
terpart in German life of a stern monarchical reality.
From the asthetic point of view, Klopstock is above all a master
of musical expression.
His odes — in which he celebrates nature,
friendship, freedom, fatherland -remind us of Richard Wagner in
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FRIEDRICH GOTTLIEB KLOPSTOCK
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-
the boldness of their rhythmic effects and in their irresistible appeal
to passionate emotion. Even his great religious epic 'Der Messias )
(The Messiah) is not so much an epic as a high-pitched musical
composition. Reality of events, clearness of motive, naturalness of
character, directness of style, — these are things for which in most
parts of the poem we look in vain. Throughout its twenty cantos
we constantly circle between heaven, hell, and earth, without at
any given moment seeming to know where we are; and instead of
straightforward action we often must be satisfied with a portentous
glance, an effusive prayer, or a mysterious sigh. But these defects
of the Messiah' as an epic poem are offset by an extraordinary
wealth of lyric motives. Indeed, the narrative part of the poem
should be looked upon merely as the recitative element of an ora-
torio, connecting those passages with each other in which the com-
position rises to its height,— the arias and choruses. Nearly every
important speech in the Messiah) is a lyric song, and at least one
entire canto — the twentieth — is given over to choral effects: from
beginning to end this canto is a succession of crowds of jubilant souls
thronging about the Redeemer, as he slowly pursues his triumphal
path through the heavens, until at last he ascends the throne and
sits at the right hand of the Father. It would be hard to imagine
a more impressive finale than this bursting of the universe into a
mighty hymn of praise echoing from star to star, and embracing the
voices of all zones and ages; and it is indeed strange that a poet
who was capable of such visions as these should have been taken to
task by modern critics for not having confined himself more closely
to the representation of actual conditions.
Klopstock was a true liberator. He was the first among modern
German poets who drew his inspiration from the depth of a heart
beating for all humanity. He was the first among them greater than
his works. By putting the stamp of his own wonderful personality
upon everything that he wrote or did,- by lifting himself, his friends,
the objects of his love and veneration, into the sphere of extraor-
dinary spiritual experiences,— he raised the ideals of his age to a
higher pitch; and although his memory has been dimmed through the
greater men who came after him, the note struck by him still vibrates
in the finest chords of the life of to-day.
Kunofrance
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE. Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock was born at
Quedlinburg on July 2d, 1724. During his school-days at Schulpforta
he conceived the plan of the Messiah. ' The first three cantos were
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FRIEDRICH GOTTLIEB KLOPSTOCK
published anonymously during his university career at Leipzig in
1748, and made a deep impression upon Germany. Frederick V. of
Denmark invited him to Copenhagen and offered him a pension to
enable him to finish the poem. He accepted. The last cantos ap-
peared in 1773 With Klopstock a new era in German verse began,
for he abandoned the formal mechanical rhyming for the rhythmic
swing of classic measures. It is in his odes that he reaches the
height of his poetic genius. He died in Ottensee near Hamburg, on
March 14th, 1803.
THE ROSE-WREATH
I
FOUND her by the shady rill;
I bound her with a wreath of rose:
She felt it not, but slumbered still.
I looked on her; and on the spot
My life with hers did blend and close:
I felt it, but I knew it not.
Some lisping, broken words I spoke,
And rustled light the wreath of rose;
Then from her slumber she awoke.
She looked on me; and from that hour
Her life with mine did blend and close;
And round us it was Eden's bower.
THE SUMMER NIGHT
W"
HEN o'er the woods that sleep below,
The moonbeam pours her gentle light,
And odors of the lindens flow
On the cool airs of night, -
Thoughts overshade me of the tomb,
Where my beloved rest. I see
In the deep forest naught but gloom;
No blossom breathes to me.
Such nights, ye dead, with you I passed !
How cool and odorous streamed the air!
The moonbeam then, so gently cast,
Made Nature's self more fair!
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HERMANN AND THUSNELDA
H^
A! THERE comes he, with sweat, with blood of Romans,
And with dust of the fight all stained! Oh, never
Saw I Hermann so lovely!
Never such fire in his eyes!
Come! I tremble for joy; hand me the Eagle
And the red, dripping sword! come, breathe, and rest thee;
Rest thee here in my bosom;
Rest from the terrible fight!
Rest thee, while from thy brow I wipe the big drops,
And the blood from thy cheek! — that cheek, how glowing!
Hermann! Hermann! Thusnelda
Never so loved thee before !
No, not then, when thou first, in old oak shadows,
With that manly brown arm didst wildly grasp me!
Spell-bound I read in thy look
That immortality then
Which thou now hast won. Tell to the forests,
Great Augustus, with trembling, amidst his gods now,
Drinks his nectar; for Hermann,
Hermann immortal is found!
“Wherefore curl'st thou my hair? Lies not our father
Cold and silent in death? Oh, had Augustus
Only headed his army,-
He should lie bloodier there ! »
Let me lift up thy hair; 'tis sinking, Hermann:
Proudly thy locks should curl above the crown now!
Sigmar is with the immortals!
Follow, and mourn him no more!
THE TWO MUSES
I
SAW — Oh, tell me, saw I what now takes place?
Beheld I the future ? —I saw the muse of Germany,
Side by side with her of Britain,
Fly with hot speed to the goals of coronation.
Two goals, dimly gleaming, far as the eye could reach,
Bounded the race-ground. O'er one in majesty
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FRIEDRICH GOTTLIEB KLOPSTOCK
Oaks cast their shadows; near the other
Palm-trees were waving in evening splendors.
At home in contest, stepped she of Albion
Out on the arena, - proudly as when of old
So matched with Grecian muse and Roman,
She trod the hot sand for the prize of glory.
There stood the youthful, trembling combatant;
With inanly emotion she trembled, and fiery
Flaming blushes, vi ory's omens,
Streamed o'er her cheek, and her golden hair flew.
E'en now, with labor, fast in her heaving breast
She holds the breath down; bent on the goal she hangs;
She seems to see the herald's trumpet
Rise to his lips,- and her drunken eye swims.
Proud of her rival, prouder of herself, then
Spake the lofty Britoness, and measured with noble mien
Thee, Thuiscona:– “Yes, by the Bards, I
Grew up with thee in the ancient oak grove.
“But Fame had told me thou wert not living now.
O Muse, forgive me, if thou immortal art,
Forgive, that now so late I learn it;
But at the goal must it yet be taught me!
“Lo, there it stands! But mark'st thou the crowned one
So far beyond it ? Maiden, this proud reserve —
This self-command — this glance of fire
Downward to earth cast -- I know its meaning.
« Yet weigh, one moment, ere, big with danger, sounds
Yon herald's trumpet! Was it not I who once
Measured the ground with her of Thermopylæ,
And with the famed of the seven hills too ? ”
She spake. The herald drew nearer, and with him came
Swift the decisive moment. — "I love thee! »
With flaming look quick spake Teutona :
“Britoness, yea, I do wildly love thee;
<< Yet more, far more I love immortality
And yonder palms! Then touch, if thy genius
!
So wills it, touch them first; yet the moment
When thou shalt seize it, the crown is mine too.
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8697
And, oh, how I tremble! O ye immortals,
Haply I may reach the proud goal before thee.
Then, oh, then may I feel thy hot breath
Stir my loose locks as thou pantest after. ”
»
The trumpet rang. They flew as on eagles' wings.
Far along the race-ground boiled up the clouds of dust.
I looked: beyond the oak yet thicker
Rolled the dark mass, and my eye had lost them.
PROPHECY
ROM the charger's glances, the hoof's uplifting,
F, ,
The bards foretold fate; I too see,
And my eye pierces the future.
Will it gall forever? Thy yoke, Germania,
Soon it will fall: one more century yet,
And then it is done; then the rule
Of the sword yields to the reason.
For with curving neck through the forest rushed he,
Bounded along, tossed his mane to the wind, -
The steed,- as an omen, with scorn
For the storm's rage and the stream's rage.
On the meadow stood he, and stamped and neighing
Lifted his eyes; careless grazed he, and proud,
Nor looked on the rider who lay
In his blood, dead by the merestone.
It is not forever! Thy yoke, Germania,
Soon it will fall: one more century yet,
And then it is done; then the rule
Of the sword yields to the reason.
Translated for (A Library of the World's Best Literature) by Francis J.
Lange
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FRIEDRICH GOTTLIEB KLOPSTOCK
FROM "THE SPRING FESTIVAL)
Wur
that I might praise thee, O Lord, as my soul thirsts!
Ever more gloriously dost thou reveal thyself!
Ever darker grows the night around thee
And more replete with blessings.
Do ye see the witness of his presence, the sudden flash ?
Do ye hear Jehovali's thunder ?
Hear ye his voice,
The convulsing thunder of the Lord ?
Lord! Lord! God!
Merciful and kind!
Adored and praised
Be thy glorious name!
And the blasts of the tempest ? They carry the thunder!
How they roar! How they surge through the forest with resounding
waves!
And now they are silent! Slowly wanders
The sombre cloud.
Do ye see the new witness of his presence, the winged flash ?
Hear ye high in the clouds the thunder of the Lord ?
He shouts — Jehovah! Jehovah!
And the shattered woods reek.
But not our hut!
Our Father commanded
His destroyer
To pass by our hut!
But the kind and copious rain
Resounds across the fields.
The thirsting earth is refreshed
And heaven unburdened of its blessings.
And lo! Jehovah comes no more in the tempest!
In the softly whispering gentle breezes
Jehovah comes,
And beneath Him bends the bow of peace.
Translated for (A Library of the World's Best Literature) by Francis J.
Lange
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TO YOUNG
D'
IE, aged prophet! Lo, thy crown of palms
Has long been springing, and the tear of joy
Quivers on angel-lids
Astart to welcome thee!
Why linger? Hast thou not already built
Above the clouds thy lasting monument ?
Over thy Night Thoughts, too,
The pale free-thinkers watch,
And feel there's prophecy amid the song
When of the dead-awakening trump it speaks,
Of coming final doom
And the wise will of Heaven.
Die! Thou hast taught me that the name of death
Is to the just a glorious sound of joy!
But be my teacher still;
Become my genius there!
Translation of W. Taylor.
MY RECOVERY
ECOVERY,
R Though not for immortality designed, —
The Lord of life and death
Sent thee from heaven to me!
Had I not heard thy gentle tread approach,
Not heard the whisper of thy welcome voice,
Death had with iron foot
My chilly forehead pressed.
'Tis true, I then had wandered where the earths
Roll around suns; had strayed along the path
Where the maned comet soars
Beyond the armèd eye;
And with the rapturous, eager greet had hailed
The inmates of those earths and of those suns;
Had hailed the countless host
That throng the comet's disk;
Had asked the novice questions, and obtained
Such answers as a sage vouchsafes to youth;
Had learned in hours far more
Than ages here unfold !
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-
But I had then not ended here below
What, in the enterprising bloom of life,
Fate with no light behest
Required me to begin.
Recovery,- daughter of Creation too,
Though not for immortality designed, -
The Lord of life and death
Sent thee from heaven to me!
Translation of W. Taylor.
THE CHOIRS
D
EAR dream which I must ne'er behold fulfilled,
Thou beamy form, more fair than orient day,
Float back, and hover yet
Before my swimming sight!
Do they wear crowns in vain, that they forbear
To realize the heavenly portraiture ?
Shall marble hearse them all,
Ere the bright change be wrought?
Hail, chosen ruler of a freer world!
For thee shall bloom the never-fading song,
Who bidd'st it be,- to thee
Religion's honors rise.
Yes! could the grave allow, of thee I'd sing:
For once would inspiration string the lyre, -
The streaming tide of joy,
My pledge for loftier verse.
Great is thy deed, my wish. He has not known
What 'tis to melt in bliss, who never felt
Devotion's raptures rise
On sacred Music's wing;
Ne'er sweetly trembled, when adoring choirs
Mingle their hallowed songs of solemn praise,
And at each awful pause
The unseen choirs above.
Long float around my forehead, blissful dream!
I hear a Christian people hymn their God,
And thousands kneel at once,
Jehovah, Lord, to thee!
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The people sing their Savior, sing the Son;
Their simple song according with the heart,
Yet lofty, such as lifts
The aspiring soul from earth.
On the raised eyelash, on the burning cheek,
The young tear quivers; for they view the goal,
Where shines the golden crown,
Where angels wave the palm.
ong
Hush! the clear song wells forth. Now flows
Music, as if poured artless from the breast;
For so the Master willed
To lead its channeled course.
Deep, strong, it seizes on the swelling heart,
Scorning what knows not to call down the tear,
Or shroud the soul in gloom
Or steep in holy awe.
Borne on the deep, slow sounds, a holy awe
Descends. Alternate voices sweep the dome,
Then blend their choral force, -
The theme, Impending Doom;
Or the triumphal Hail to Him who rose,
While all the host of heaven o'er Sion's hill
Hovered, and praising saw
Ascend the Lord of Life.
One voice alone, one harp alone, begins;
But soon joins in the ever fuller choir.
The people quake. They feel
A glow of heavenly fire.
Joy, joy! they scarce support it. Rolls aloud
The organ's thunder, - now more loud and more,-
And to the shout of all
The temple trembles too.
Enough! I sink! The wave of people bows
Before the altar,— bows the front to earth;
They taste the hallowed cup,
Devoutly, deeply, still.
One day, when rest my bones beside a fane,
Where thus assembled worshipers adore,
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The conscious grave shall heave,
Its flowerets sweeter bloom;
And on the morn that from the rock He sprang,
When panting Praise pursues his way,
I'll hear — He rose again
Vibrating through the tomb.
Translation of W. Taylor.
FROM THE MESSIAH)
SY
(
EVEN times the thunder's stroke had rent the veil,
When now the voice of God in gentle tone
Was heard descending: “God is Love,” it spoke;
“Love, ere the worlds or their inhabitants
To life were called. In the accomplishment
Of this, my most mysterious, highest act,
Love am I still. Angels, ye shall behold
The death of earth's great Judge, the eternal Son;
And ye shall learn to know the Deity,
With adoration new to invoke his name.
Should not his arm uphold ye, at the sight
Of that dread day in terror ye would fade;
For finite are your forms! ” The voice now ceased.
Their holy hands the admiring angels clasped
In silent awe. A sign the Almighty made,
And in the face divine, Eloa read
The mandate given. To the celestial host
He cried, “Lift up your eyes to the Most High,
Ye chosen, favored children! Ye have longed
(God is your witness) to behold this day
Of his Messiah, this atoning day!
Shout, then, ye cherubim! behold your God;
The First and Last, the great Jehovah, deigns
To meet your wish. Yon seraph, messenger
From the eternal Son on your behalf,
Is to the altar sent. Had ye not been
Permitted thus to view the wondrous work
Of man's redemption, secret it had passed
In solitary, silent mystery.
But now, while sons of earth shall joyful sing
This day throughout eternity, our voice
In shouts shall join their chorus.
With glad eye
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Of piercing vision shall we contemplate
This mystery of atonement; clearer far
Shall we perceive it than the weeping band,
Who, though in error clouded, faithful still
Surround their Savior. Ah, what shall befall
His hardened persecutors! From life's book
Their names have long been blotted. Light divine
Jehovah grants alone to his redeemed;
No more with tears shall they behold the blood
For their atonement shed, but see its stream
Merge in the ocean of immortal life.
Oh, then in the soft lap of peace consoled,
The festival of light, and endless rest,
Triumphant shall they celebrate! Ye hosts
Of seraphim, and ye blest ransomed souls
Of righteous patriarchs, the jubilee,
The Sabbath of eternity, draws near!
Race after race of man shall thronging join
Your happy numbers, till, the reckoning filled,
The final doom pronounced, with glorious forms
All shall anew be clothed, and jointly taste
One universal bliss! Now, angels, haste!
Bid the seraphic guardians, who by God
To rule the spheres are stationed, straight prepare
To solemnize the great mysterious Day!
