Ossian in Germany Part 23

One striking feature of the Highland scenery according to Ossian is the fact that everything-forest and heath, bay and stream, grove and vale, hill and isle, rocks and fields and banks and walls and numerous other things-is very susceptible to the echo, "the son of the rock," and the fondness that Klopstock and the bards begin to exhibit for the echo about this time must be traced back largely to Ossian. In addition to the pa.s.sage just quoted, we have in Sc. 2, _e. g._, "Wir haben ... den Gesang in den Felsen des Wiederhalls gehort," "La.s.st die Namen ... in allen Felsen des Wiederhalls laut tonen," etc. In the same scene the bards sing:

Ruf in des Wiederhalls Felsengebirg Durch das Graun des nachtlichen Hains, Da.s.s ... ...

Es ertone wie ein Donnersturm!

In Sc. 11: "Wiederhalls Kluft," etc.

A few words as to the poet's att.i.tude towards Ossian in his old age may complete our consideration of Klopstock. As he grew older, and other affairs, above all else the French Revolution, began to engross his attention, Ossian gradually lost interest for him, although he was never entirely forgotten. As late as 1797, Klopstock writes to Bottiger under date of November 9:[109] "Wissen Sie schon etwas von der Ausgabe von Ossians Gesangen, die jetzt in England in seiner Sprache gemacht wird?

Ist die ubersezung getreu? Sind Anmerkungen uber das Zeltische dabey?"

Unfortunately he died before the longheralded edition was finally published. When his enthusiastic admiration for Ossian subsided and took on a saner aspect, when his views on the subject of the relation of the Celts to the old German tribes a.s.sumed a more scientific character, he could not allow Ossian to occupy the position a.s.signed to him at first.

Although Klopstock's fondness for the Celtic Homer diminished in the course of years, it nevertheless possessed a more lasting character than that of Goethe and of Schiller, to whom, as we shall see, it was merely a pa.s.sing inspiration. Klopstock's sober second thought revealed to him that he had occasionally gone too far in his blind adoration, and so we find that in later revisions of his works Ossianic reminiscences are occasionally expunged. The eulogistic verses that appeared in the first edition of the _Gelehrtenrepublik_ (1774)[110] were omitted in the second; the ode "Teutone" (1773) gives the first fiftytwo lines of "Unsre Sprache" (1767) almost literally, but subst.i.tutes sixteen new lines for the eight lines of encomium found in the latter.[111] In the first two _Bardiete_, the bards play an almost overwhelming role with their numerous songs, whereas in _Hermanns Tod_ the bards appear in one scene only, the fifteenth. Then two pa.s.sages appeared in the first edition of the _Hermannsschlacht_ that were omitted or revised in the second, as _e. g._, the chorus beginning "h.o.r.et Thaten der vorigen Zeit!" in Sc. 2.-Late in life Klopstock in his correspondence with Bottiger occasionally refers to Ossian. One letter has been quoted from.

Under date of January 6, 1798, he writes to Bottiger: "Hierbey Macd[onald] und einige Aufschr[iften]. Ich werde eher keinen bestimten Begriff von Ossian bekommen, als bis man mir (konte es nicht Macd.

thun?) merklich verschiedene Stellen aus ihm vollig wortlich ubersezt. Sie sehen, da.s.s ich nur Stellen meinen kan, die Oss. gewiss zugeh.o.r.en."[112] If we read between the lines, we can see feelings of doubt and if we are to place entire confidence in a letter of Sir James Mackintosh to Malcolm Laing,[113] Klopstock at last lost his faith in the authenticity of the songs of Ossian altogether-a strange ending to his earlier unbounded enthusiasm. Sir James writes: "I consider your Ossian and Farmer's 'Essay' on Shakspeare's pretended learning as the two most complete demonstrations of literary positions that have ever been produced ... You know how bitterly old Klopstock complained of you for having dispelled his Ossianic illusions ..."

--2. The Bards.[114]-Gerstenberg.

The bardic poetry, the way for which had been prepared by Mallet's influential work, the _Introduction a l'histoire de Danemarc_ with its _Supplement: Monumens de la Mythologie et de la Poesie des Celtes et particulierement des Anciens Scandinaves_, and which had received its impulse from Macpherson's Ossian, aided by the mistaken acceptation of the _barditus_ mentioned by Tacitus, soon gained other supporters, among whom the most prominent were Gerstenberg, Denis and Kretschmann. The various other representatives of the poetry, which, carried to an extreme, became ridiculous and was justly characterized as the _Bardengebrull_ or _Bardengeschrei_, were on the whole devoid of talent and scarcely call for serious treatment.

Much of what has been said with reference to Klopstock's reception of Ossian applies also to the bards, only we see that the thing deteriorated into a fad through imitation. It began to take on the character of mere play; the poets styled themselves bards and gave themselves bardic names, _e. g._, Klopstock-_Werdomar_, Gerstenberg-_Thorlaug_, Denis-_Sined_,[115] Kretschmann-_Rhingulph_, Hartmann-_Telynhard_, Dusch-_Ryno_, Haschka-_Cronnan_, etc.[116]

Just as Klopstock had sacrificed the lyre for the _telyn_, so his followers. The harp of the bards replaced the Zionitic harp. The poet, or rather bard,[117] was no longer crowned with the laurelwreath but with the leaf of the oak. Today we smile at these vagaries, but these men were very earnest in their play. Kretschmann, and not Klopstock, is responsible for most of the nonsense. The most pleasing phase of the movement is its patriotic character, and we must give the bards credit for the earnestness with which they strove to inculcate a feeling for national unity. Then they praise virtue and maidenly modesty, a cheerful sign for that age.

If these bards had restricted themselves to singing the mighty deeds of the past, it would not have been so bad, but when Arminius and the old Germani had become exhausted, they came down to the present and endeavored to surround it with an air of antiquity. As a result bardic poetry became largely a matter of _vers d'occasion_. The unfavorable critics seized upon the aberrations and made a laughingstock of the whole school, and so the few good ill.u.s.trations had to suffer with the large majority of those whose poverty of conception and general inability have prevented their names from being handed down to posterity. Thus long before Ossian's influence in Germany had ceased, bardic poetry was a thing of the past. Much of the machinery of Ossian's bards was borrowed by the German bardic poets and even the druids were transferred to German soil. The old Norse mythology, which found such ready acceptance by Klopstock and Gerstenberg, is not so important in the poetry of Denis, Kretschmann, and the numerous minor bards. What the bards copied then from Ossian were the general paraphernalia, the characteristic motifs, the tone of the harp, the echoing grove, the ghosts of the departed,[118] and the like. The love for the dismal heath, the stormy sea, and other phases of Ossianic description of wild and forlorn nature, can not be said to predominate in the bardic poetry, although it is frequently noticeable, as _e. g._, in Maler Muller, who in his bardic poetry loses himself absolutely in the Ossianic descriptions of nature.[119] The importance of Ossian's landscape painting lay in the circ.u.mstance that it acted upon the mood of the reader, and although the general tone of the nature depicted in Ossian does not change much, it was a marked advance to have a description of nature invested with some internal significance, to bring nature and the feelings into interaction with each other. Ossian again and again inserts a picture of nature at the opening of an episode and this device was frequently copied in the bardic poetry, with this only difference: in Macpherson the connection between the introductory description and the following action is evident, whereas in the bardic imitations it generally strikes the reader as something irrelevant. When Ossianic comparisons are introduced, as they frequently are, they usually bear the stamp of servile imitation, being cold and showing no trace of intense personal feeling. At the same time, however, an attempt is occasionally made to enter into the _Stimmung_ of Ossian, reflected at first in mere imitation, but finally striking out for itself.[120] What the bards did not copy were his peculiar delineations of character, his management of the action,[121] although the n.o.ble qualities of Fingal and his heroes are transferred to the princes who are being extolled.

All details will be left for the separate discussions to follow.

Heinrich Wilhelm Gerstenberg.

We have included Gerstenberg among the bards, but he was far from being a bard as we apply that term to Denis and Kretschmann. Denis wrote little poetry that was not in the bardic vein, whereas Gerstenberg moved in many spheres. Gerstenberg was not a prolific writer, yet three productions of his were quite influential in their day: The _Briefe uber Merkwurdigkeiten der Litteratur_, the _Gedicht eines Skalden_, and _Ugolino_; and in all three the shades of Ossian are visible in one form or another. His early productions, including the _Tandeleien_, written in the Anacreontic manner, do not concern us here and we shall turn our attention at once to the _Schleswigische Litteraturbriefe_.[122] An account of the place that these letters occupy in the history of German literature, of their tendency and their influence, would lead us too far afield. We are interested here solely in the eighth letter and more particularly in the first portion of the letter which discusses the "Memoire eines Irrlanders uber die ossianischen Gedichte."[123] Here for the first time in a German journal we meet with serious doubts as to the genuineness of the poems. Gerstenberg has occasionally been praised, and deservedly so, for having had the sagacity to see through the forgery at once; and he deserves particular credit also for having had the courage to stand by his convictions and to publish personal opinions that were almost certain to be received, if not with scorn, at least with indifference. It was no doubt Gerstenberg to whom Herder referred in his _Briefwechsel uber Ossian_ as one who so "obstinately doubted the truth and authenticity of the Scotch Ossian." Gerstenberg realized that he stood almost alone in his opinion and he refers to the unanimity of the critics near the beginning of his letter. His doubts were not called forth by the "Memoire," but had presented themselves to him upon his first perusal of the songs. He says in the letter: "Da.s.s entweder Hr.

Macpherson seinen Text ausserordentlich verfalscht, oder auch das untergeschobne Werk einer neuern Hand allzu leichtglaubig fur ein genuines angenommen hatte, glaubten wir gleich aus den mancherley Spuren des Modernen sowol, als aus den verschiednen kleinen _hints_, die der Dichter sich aus dem Homer _x._ gemerkt zu haben schien, wahrzunehmen."[124] The more direct proofs he lacked at first were furnished by the author of the "Memoire," a synopsis of whose arguments he proceeds to give in a few lines, closing with the words: "... ich enthalte mich aber eines weitern Details, da Sie diess alles in der Urschrift selbst nicht ohne Vergnugen nachlesen werden." It is unfortunate that Gerstenberg did not pursue the subject further; his views would no doubt have been exceedingly interesting and rather refres.h.i.+ng. He then pa.s.ses over to the _Reliques_, which he stamps as more reliable than the songs of Ossian.

DER SKALDE (1766).-The same year in which the first two collections of the _Schleswigische Litteraturbriefe_ were published also marks the appearance of the _Gedicht eines Skalden_, or _Der Skalde_, as it was called later, one of the best poems written in the bardic manner, and one that exerted great influence upon the bardic poetry. Old Norse mythology was here introduced and combined with a few Ossianic touches.

Knowing that Gerstenberg disbelieved in the authenticity of the poems, we should scarcely expect traces of their influence at this time. _Der Skalde_ actually contains but few Ossianic reminiscences, particularly when compared with what we find in some of the poems of Denis. As Pfau has pointed out,[125] Gerstenberg no doubt derived from Ossian the idea of having the ghost of Thorlaug (Himintung) arise from his grave. There is nothing in old Norse mythology corresponding to the ghostworld of Ossian, and the only thing that distinguishes the appearance of Thorlaug's ghost from that of one in Ossian is that Gerstenberg has breathed a Christian spirit into his resurrection, in contradistinction to the dismal and sometimes terrible apparitions of Ossian. We are reminded of Ossian's ghosts when Gerstenberg sings:

(1. Canto.)

... Wo ruht Mein schwebender Geist auf luftiger Hoh?[126]

(2. Canto.)

Welch feierliches Graun Steigt langsam uber diese Hugel, Wie im Nachtgewolk Neugeschiedner Seelen, auf?

Mir schwindelt! durch Jahrhunderte Blick' ich, durch trube ferne Nebel.[127]

Compare "CathLoda," Duan iii, first four ll.[128] The tone is Ossianic in the third canto when Thorlaug sings:

Einst, da ich einsam und verla.s.sen, ... ... . .

Am Ufer irrt', und jeden Hauch Der Luft, der nach der Kuste blies, Mit meinen Seufzern flugelte ...[129]

'Lonely' and 'forlorn' are standing epithets of Ossian, and "Fingal,"

Bk. iv, p. 252, last line, has: "My sighs shall be on Cromla's wind;"

etc., etc. Pfau[130] has suggested that Ossian may be responsible for the abrupt manner in which the strife between Thorlaug and his foe is commenced, for Ossian's heroes are always ready to draw the sword. I think it very questionable that Ossian's influence was at work here.

Pfau, however, has correctly observed that the epithet 'red' as applied to the eye of Thorlaug's foe (3. Canto) must be ascribed to Ossian:

Zur Wuth erhitzt und Funken spruhend Aus rothem Auge, ... .[131]

Occasional scenic resemblances to Ossian are also found, _e. g._, in the second canto we have the "silent stone of the hills"[132] and:

Im Schatten dieses Eichenhains,

Die stolzesten der Wipfel rauschten, Und leise Bache murmelten.

Vom Hugel braust im Bogenschuss Ein breiter Quell, schwillt auf zum breitern Fluss, Springt donnernd uber jahe Spitzen,

Der volle Busen wallt auf zarten Wogen.

Die sternenvolle Nacht umschwebet sie, ... ... ... .

Sieh den gelindern West ihr Haar umfliessen!

O sieh den h.e.l.lern Mond zu ihren Fussen![133]

Compare "DarThula," p. 281, ll. 234: "The blast came rustling in the tops of Selama's groves;" "Fingal," Bk. i, p. 216, ll. 167: "murmuring rivulets;" "Temora," Bk. iii, p. 326, l. 36p. 327, l. 1: "On Crona ...

there bursts a stream.... It swells in its ... course.... Then comes it white from the hill;" "Temora," Bk. iv, p. 338, l. 33: "Streams leap down from the rocks," etc. Ossianic in spirit is also the following description: (4. Canto.)

... rauh und wuste, In trubem Dunkel schauerte die Kuste; Kein Himmel leuchtete mild durch den Hain.

In Hohlen lauschte Graun ...

Und was am Ufer scholl, war Kriegsgeschrei.[134]

IDUNA. ARIADNE AUF NAXOS.-Gerstenberg very soon turned his attention completely away from the old Norse mythology and we have only one other poem written under its spell, _Iduna_, which also contains several traces of Ossian's influence, _e. g._, the line: "So glitt ich auf Dunsten dahin!"[135] "Am Busen des Windes"[136] recalls Ossian's "on the bosom of winds,"[137] as "Des Madchens mit den weissen Armen"[138]

suggests Ossian's "white armed maidens." The influence is visible also in occasional touches in the cantata _Ariadne auf Naxos_ (1765), for example when Ariadne sings:

Wie weint' ich heimlich Freudenthranen! ach, Wie hob sich diese Brust!

Wie wallte sie, ...[139]

we involuntarily recall the secret tears of joy and the rising and swelling of the b.r.e.a.s.t.s of Ossian's maidens, and when she speeds "wie ein Strahl vom Himmel seinen Armen zu"[140] we are reminded of Ossian's frequent comparisons of a hero or heroine to a beam of the sky or from heaven, or to a stream of light, to a sunbeam or a moonbeam. The entire atmosphere of the cantata is really Ossianic: the maiden lamenting on a desert rock surrounded by the wild ocean:

Mit fliegendem Haare! wohin!

Irr' ich am Ufer, und bin Das Spiel der Winde![141]

What is more, the plot reminds us very much of a portion of "Berrathon,"

as will be seen by a look at the argument of the latter.