Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 6.djvu/598

 also followed in the "Abderiten" (1780), in which the provincialism of the small town is satirized. His masterpiece is the romantic heroic epic "Oberon" (1780), for which he drew his inspiration from the old French romance "Huon de Bordeaux." His last work, "Aristipp," is a novel in epistolary form, like the "Agathon" in dress, but otherwise modern. Wieland was not a great poet, but the smooth graceful style of his writings and their pleasant wit did much to win the sympathy of the upper classes for German literature.

While Wieland's influence on German literature has been small, that of Johann Gottfried Herder (1744-1803) was decisive and far-reaching, less through his own writings than through the new ideas he proclaimed and the influence of his personality on others, notably Goethe. Rousseau's summons to return to nature was applied by Herder to poetry. Not imitation, but native power makes the poet.

Poetry was to be judged as the product of historic and national environment. Natural and popular poetry like the folk-song was preferred to artistic poetry. These views were developed in a series of essays "Fragmente ueber die neuere deutsche Literatur" (1767) and "Kritische Waelder" (1769) and were still further elaborated in essays on Ossian and Shakespeare in "Von deutscher Art und Kunst einige fliegende Blätter" (1773). Then followed "Stimmen der Voelker in Liedern" (1778), a collection of 182 folk-songs from every age, clime, and nationality. Herder's skill translator or adapter is exhibited here, as also in "Der Cid," a free version from the Spanish through the medium of the French. His original poems, mostly parables and fables, are of little importance. Herder, the founder of the historical method, could not but be hostile to rationalism with its unhistoric methods and one-sided worship of reason. In "Vom Geiste der hebraeischen Poesie" (1783) he showed what a wealth of poetry the Bible contained. In his last work, "Ideen zur Philosophie der Geschichte der Menschheit" (1784-91), the history of the human race is regarded under the aspect of evolution; humanitarianism is the ultimate goal of religious development. This work pointed out the way for the philosophical study of history.

The effect of the work of Klopstock, Herder, and Lessing was immediate. The national movement was taken up by the "Göttinger Hain" poets, of whom the best-known are Johann Heinrich Voss (d. 1826), the translator of Homer, Ludwig Heinrich Christoph Hoelty (d. 1776), the elegiac singer, and the two brothers Stolberg. Connected with them, though not members of the circle, were Matthias Claudius (d. 1815) and the gifted but dissolute Gottfried August Buerger (d. 1794), the ballad writer, whose "Lenore" (1773) has become widely known.

The protest voiced by Rousseau against the existing social order produced in German letters the so-called Sturm und Drang (Storm and Stress) movement, which dominated the decade (1770-80). It was a passionate revolt against conventional traditions and standards and manifested itself in the wild dramatic products of such men as von Klinger, Friedrich Müller or Maler Müller, and Lenz, and the lyric effusions of Schubart (d. 1791). But the movement found its best expression in the early work of Germany's greatest poets, Goethe and Schiller.

Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1749-1832) while a student at Strasburg had come under Herder's influence and come under Herder's influence and caught the revolutionary spirit. In his "Goetz von Berlichingen" (1773), the first great historical German drama, the poet gave vent to his dissatisfaction with the social and political conditions of his time. In spite of its irregular form, due to a misguided enthusiasm for Shakespeare the national content of the drama and the forceful diction carried the public by storm. Its popularity was exceeded by "Die Leiden des jungen Werthers" (1774), a novel in letter form, reflecting the morbid sentimentalism of the age; the hero kills himself under the spell of a hopeless passion for the affianced of his friend. The years from 1775 to 1786 were not so fruitful; political and social activity interfered with literary production. The spirit of storm and stress gradually subsided and gave way to the classicism which, especially after his return from Italy (1788), left its stamp on all of Goethe's subsequent work. The apostle of this neo-Hellenism was Johann Joachim Winckelmann (d. 1768), the founder of the historical study of art. He postulated the canons of ancient Greek art as absolute. The classicism that he inaugurated was directly opposed in spirit to the national tendency championed by Herder. Lessing's work had shown the influence of this neo-Hellenism. Now Goethe became its pronounced follower. The works that he wrote under its influence exhibit perfection of form, notably the dramas "Egmont" (1788), "Iphigenie auf Tauris" (1787), and "Torquato Tasso" (1790). Goethe's literary productions during this period, before 1794, are not numerous; they include the "Romanische Elegien" and the epic "Reineke Fuchs" (1794), a free version in hexameters from the Old Low German. The dramas that arose under the influence of the French Revolution are not very important. In fact Goethe's chief interests at this time were scientific rather than literary. After 1794, however, under the inspiration of Schiller's friendship, the poetic impulse came with new strength. The period of Goethe's and Schiller's friendship (1794-1805) marks the climax of the poetic activity of these two great men. The satiric epigrams known as "Xenien" were the fruit of their joint activity. Then followed a number of their finest ballads. In 1796 Goethe completed "Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre," a novel of culture, discursive and didactic, with the stage for its principal theme. The exquisite idyllic epic, "Hermann und Dorothea" (1797), though written in hexameters, is thoroughly German in spirit and subject-matter. After Schiller's death (1805) Goethe's poetic productivity decreased. Some fine lyrics produced in this period are in the "Westoestliche Divan" (1819), a collection of poems in Oriental garb. Most of the poet's work now was in prose. "Die Wahlverwandtschaften" (1809), a psychological novel, depicts the tragic conflict between passion and duty and upholds the sanctity of the marriage tie. In the autobiographical romance "Dichtung und Wahrheit" (1811-33) the poet tells with poetic licence the story of his life. A number of stories were loosely strung together in "Wilhelm Meisters Wanderjahre" (1821), a long didactic novel given over largely to the discussion of ethical and sociological problems. The greatest work of Goethe and of German literature is "Faust," a dramatic poem, the composition of which occupied the poet's entire life. The idea was conceived while Goethe was still a young man at Frankfurt; a fragment containing the Gretchen episode appeared in 1790. Under the stimulus of Schiller's sympathy the first part was completed and published in 1806. The second part was not finished until eight months before