Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 7.djvu/58

 ORIMALDI

34

GRIMALDI

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preferment was denied him, and he never got beyond the position of director of the Hofkammerarchiv, to which he was promoted in 1832. His application in 1834 for the directorship of tlie university hbrary was rejected; he was thus compelled to retain his uncon- genial position until 1850, when he retired with a pen- sion and the title of Hofrat. Repeatedly he sought distraction in travel. In 1819, prostrated by the shock caused by his mother's suicide, he obtained a furlough and visited Italy, travelling unofficially in the retinue of the empress. While in Rome he wrote

the well-known

poem on the ruins of the C'ampo Vac- cino, which gave offence to the Catholic party and drew upon the poet the censure of the emperor. This unfortunate affair was largely responsible for the setliacks which (irillparzer subse- i|uently experi- enced in his official career. In 1826 he visited Ger- many, and ten years later Paris and London. Another journey was made to Greece and the Orient in 1843, followed by a second visit to Germany in 1847. Subsequently he could not be induced again to leave Vienna.

If the poet's public career was full of disappoint- ment, his private life was equally unhappy. He had several love affairs; but the attachment of his life was to the handsome and accomplished Katharina Froh- lich, to whom he was betrothed in 1821. Each of the lovers possessed an unyielding personality, and, though the engagement was not formally broken, they were never married. In 1849, Grillparzer took up hfs abode with the Frohlich sisters, and in their house he spent his remaining years. When his comedy. " Weh dem. der liigt ", had been rudely hi.s.sed by the Viennese public, the poet in despair and anger withdrew from the stage and lived henceforth in strictest seclusion. The recognition and honours that finally came to him left him unmoved. In 1871, the enthusiasm with which his eightieth birthday was celebrated through- out Germany and Austria proved that at last his greatness was recognized. When he died the next year, he was accorded a public funeral.

Grillparzer's earliest drama, " Blanka von Kasti- lien" (1S07), was written while he was still a student. The play that first made him famous was " Die Ahn- frau" CThe Ancestress), performed in 1817. It is one of the so-called fate-tragedies, in such vogue at the time, and, though crude and full of horrors, it shows unmistakable signs of dramatic power. In his next drama. "Sappho" (1818), the poet turned to ancient Greece for inspiration and took for his theme the legendary love of the famous Greek poetess for Phaon. This tragedy was received with enthusiasm, and trans- lated into several foreign languages. To this day it has remained Grillparzer's most popular play. It was followed in 1821 by the trilogy- "Das goldeiie Vhess", a dramatization of the story of Jason and Medea. It has three parts: " DerGastfreund" (the Guestfriend), a kind of prologue, " Die Argonauten ", and " Medea ". By many critics this trilogy is regarded as the poet's greatest work; on the stage, however, it was not as successful as his former plays. After this he turned to

history for his subjects. " Konig Ottokars Gluck und Ende" (King Ottokar's Fortune and End) presents in dramatic form the downfall of the Bohemian kingdom and the rise of the House of Hapsburg. An episode from Hungarian history is treated in " Ein treuer Diener seines Herrn" (a" faithful Servant of his Lord) (1828) — a drama which glorifies the spirit of self-sacri- ficing loyalty. For his next effort the poet again turned to Greece, and produced one of his most fin- ished dramas in " Des Meeres und der Liebe Wellen" (1831) (The Waves of the Sea and of Love) ; its theme is the story of the love of Hero and Leander. With the exquisite dream-play " Der Traum ein Leben " (1834) (Dream is Life) Grillparzer again won a popu- lar success. Its title suggests the influence of C'ahier- on's " La Vida es Sueiio", but the plot was suggested by Voltaire's story " Le Blanc et le Noir". In 1838 appeared the poet's only attempt at comedy, "Weh dem, der lugt" (Woe to him who Lies). Its failure cau.sed his retirement from the stage, and with the exception of the beautiful fragment. "Esther", which appeared in 1S63, the poet's laterdramas were not pub- lished until after his death. They are: "Ein Bnider- zwi.st im Hause Habsburg", treating a theme from .\ustrian history; "Die .Jiidin von Toledo", lia.sed on a play of Lope de Vega, and " Libus.sa ", the subject of which is the legendary story of the foundation of Prague.

Grillparzer also wrote critical essays and studies, especially on the Spanish theatre, of which he was a great admirer. He is also the author of twoprose- .stories, "Das Kloster bei Sendomir" and "Der arme Spielmann ". His lyric poems are as a rule too intel- lectual; they lack the emotional quality which a true lyric should pos.sess. He excels in epigram. His autobiography, which he brought down to the year 1836, is invaluable for a study of his life. But his title to fame rests on his dramas. As a dramatic poet he stands in the front rank of German writers, by the side of Schiller and Kleist. His complete works have been edited by August Sauer (Stuttgart, 1892-93, 5th ed.. 20 vo1s.),"M. Necker (Leipzig, 1903, 16 vols.), Al- fred Klaar (Berlin. 1903, 16 vols.), Albert Zipper (Leipzig, 1903, 6 vols.), Minor (Stuttgart and Leipzig, 1903), W. Eichner (Beriin, 1904, 20 vols.). A critical selection was edited by Rudolf Franz (Leipzig and Vienna, 1903-05, 5 vols.). His letters and diaries were edited bv Carl Glossy and A. Sauer (Stuttgart and Beriin, 1903, 2 vols.).

Of the numerous biograptiical and critical worlds concern- ing Grillparzer we mention those of Volkelt, Grillparzer ah Dit-hter des Traijischen (Munich. ISW) ; KiimiKRD. Le Ihtulrc en Autriche (Paris. 1900), transtaterl into German l)y Necker (Munich, 1902); Sauer, Gesammelle Reden und Aujsiitze zur Gesehichte der Literatur in Oesterreieh und Dcutsrhland (Vienna and Leipzig, 190:^), 4 essays, pp. 102-2:10; Sittenbergeh, 0., sein Leben und Wirken (Berlin. 1904); Pollak, F. G. anil the Aitstri^n Drama (New Yor]<. 1907). Consult also the introduc- tions to the editions mentioned above, ancl especially the annual publications of the Grillparzer-GcselUchaft, Jahrhueh, cd. Glossy (since 1891).

Arthur F. J. Remy.

Grimaldi, Fr.vncesco M.\ri.\, Italian physicist, b. at Bologna, 2 April, 1613; d. in the same city, 28 Dec, 1663. He entered the Society of Jesus, 18 March, 1632; and, after the usual course of stvidies, spent twenty-five years as professor of belles-lettres in th° colleges of the order. His tastes were, how- ever, scientific, and he found time for study and re- search in physics and astronomy, to which he devoted himself almost entirely in his later years. He a.ssisted P. Riccioli in his experiments (1640-1650) on falling bodies, and in his surveys, in 1645, to determine the length of an arc of the meridian. He was also a close observer of the inoon's surface and constructed a map which was incorporated in Riecioli's "Almagestum Novum". He gave the names of illustrious philoso- phers and astronomers to the elevations and depres- sions on the moon to which Hevelius, before him, had