Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 14.djvu/207

Rh to egoism. Joy has less need of sympathy: the happy are apt to be self-sufficient. He can afford to share some of his pain with his brethren; but joy is a matter much in demand, and he cannot well spare a particle of it—that, unless it can be increased by division, is devoured alone.

And, finally, there are fewer expressions of joy, because contentment is essentially a unit, is one, or at least is so in its perfect state, toward which we strive. There is a homely German saying, "Satter wie satt kann man nicht werden." Satiety is the one point, and all that is above or below this point is not enjoyable. When we are contented we have arrived at the normal state of existence; there is no other way of expressing it, for it is unique, and cannot be split into various shadings. And we are generally driven to express different shadings of joy by the physical concomitants of that feeling, as elation, thrilling, etc. It is the one positive point.

All these causes will evidently influence lyric poetry, the musically-poetical expression of emotions. It is very difficult to say more than that we are happy, while we may tell many things of our peculiar feelings of misfortune. And we are not inclined to show our smiling face without hope of having it reciprocated; while we may fail to reproduce in our readers the sad mood which drove us to write a sad poem and still not feel ridiculous. The measured tone of sad words and their context is more adapted to musical rhythm than the rapid, short expressions of mirth. As in sculpture the wofulwoeful [sic] expression is more plastical than the joyful, so in poetry the sad strives toward harmonious form more readily than the happy, and therefore we shall have fewer poems expressive of joy than of sorrow.

But to return to the main topic: The greatest distinction between the German and English language is perceived when we compare the expressions of the bright side of emotions. Let us again attempt an incomplete enumeration, omitting the numerous foreign words adopted into the German language, as well as the compounds which express so definitely certain fine shadings: Entzücken, Ergötzen, Tubel, Wonne, Seligkeit, Glückseligkeit, Freude, Freudigkeit, Glück, Lust, Vergnügnen, Frohsinn, Frohmuth, Heiterkeit, Munterkeit, Scherzhaftigkeit,