Ossian in Germany Part 24

A number of Gerstenberg's shorter poems make use of the grove with its moss and the oak, the echo, the harp, and other bardic properties, without, however, acquiring the real bardic character. Ossian's influence is here too inconsiderable to warrant a discussion of the poems in detail.

UGOLINO.[142]-The influence that this drama, which was finished in 1767, exerted upon the _Storm and Stress_ movement, its important bearing upon the popularization of Shakspere in Germany, and questions of a similar tenor cannot be entered into here, yet we cannot pa.s.s by the drama without pointing out at least some phases of Ossian's influence, which, while not comparable in importance to that of Shakspere, is nevertheless not inconsiderable. The danger confronts us of attributing Shaksperian characteristics to Ossian. The bard's influence is noticeable particularly in the figurative language, _e.

g._, when Ugolino in the first act says: "Da.s.s ich nicht in dem gerechten Zorne meiner Seele mich erheben ... konnte!"[143] Compare Ossian's "rage of his soul," "rise in wrath," and the like. In the same act Anselmo says: "Dein Kommen ist mir erwunschter als der jugendliche Morgen,"[144] to which compare "Comala," p. 139, l. 22: "bright as the coming forth of the morning." Jacobs[145] suggests that Gerstenberg probably had his Ossian in mind when he had Francesco say in the first act: "Wenn er sich nur nicht ... herab sturzt, gleich dem erhabnen Vogel, der sich ins Steinthal wirft."[146] Compare "Temora," Bk. ii, p.

321, ll. 312: "Descending like the eagle of heaven, ... the son of Trenmor came;" Bk. viii, p. 369, ll. 112: "... the windy rocks, from which I spread my eaglewings," etc., etc. In the second act, Anselmo considers himself "fluchtiger als ein junges Reh,"[147] a comparison of which Ossian is exceedingly fond.[148] Gaddo and Anselmo shed regular Ossianic "tears of joy." In the second act Anselmo refers to Francesco having ridden off "auf dem Rucken des Windes";[149] compare "The War of Caros," p. 193, l. 26: "The rustling winds have carried him far away;"[150] "Temora," Bk. viii, p. 366, l. 21: "From this I shall mount the breeze." Ossianic furthermore are Anselmo's exclamations: "La.s.st die Horner tonen am hallenden Fels!"[151] and "o du mit der finstern Stirne!"[152] which call up Ossian's 'echoing rock' and his 'dark' or 'gloomy brow.'

When Gerstenberg has Ugolino say of his wife in the third act: "Kalt [ist] der Schnee ihrer Brust,"[153] and when he speaks of the "Seufzer ihres Busens,"[154] he was no doubt thinking of the snowy b.r.e.a.s.t.s of Ossian's maidens and of the sighs of their bosoms. In the same act Francesco uses a comparison that is taken directly from Ossian:[155] "Du wirst fallen," he says, "wie der Stamm einer Eiche, alle deine aste um dich hergebreitet."[156] Compare "Temora,"[157] Bk. iii, p. 328, ll.

256: "Like a young oak falls Turlathon, with his branches round him,"

etc. In the last act Ugolino, speaking of the death of his son, says: "Wann ward dieser erste Ast vom Stamme gerissen?"[158] His opening monolog in the fourth act shows a decided Ossianic influence; _e. g._, "sein bleifarbigtes wa.s.seriges Angesicht tobte vom Sturm seiner Seele; er walzte seine ... Augen weit hervor,"[159] etc. In Ossian we have a "watery and dim face," a "grey watery face," and a soul "folded in a storm," and as for rolling eyes, that is a property that no Ossianic warrior may be without, and one of the first that a _Storm and Stress_ poet would be led to adopt. Further along in the monolog, Ugolino says: "Doch der grosse Morgen wird ja kommen! schrecklich, dunkelroth und schwul von Gewittern wird er ja kommen! In seinem schwarzen Strahle will ich erloschen! In seiner gebarenden Wolke soll, wie Feuer vom Himmel, mein Geist uber Pisa stehn!"[160] This picture is as Ossianic as it can be. The ghosts of Ossian sit upon their clouds; they ride on beams of fire, and are compared to meteors of fire or to a terrible light.

Ossianic spirits appear again a little later in the act, when Francesco says of Anselmo: "... seine Geister scheinen sich zu sammeln,"[161] and in the last act, where we read of a "wandernden Geist," which shall remain near the beloved ones.[162] And then Francesco: "Ah! deine Geister sind im Aufruhr! Sammle sie, geliebter theurer Anselmo." All this, however, is only a weak foretaste of the great importance that the ghosts of Ossian a.s.sume in Gerstenberg's later drama, in _Minona_, to the discussion of which I shall proceed after a short reference to _Der Waldjungling_. The ill.u.s.trations given are not intended to be exhaustive, but to give a general idea of the character of Ossianic traces as they are exhibited in the various works.

DER WALDJuNGLING.-As an appendix to his treatise on _Ugolino_, Jacobs published a fragment by Gerstenberg ent.i.tled _Der Waldjungling_, which in spirit shows a combination of Rousseau's doctrine of the return to nature _plus_ the leaning towards Norse antiquity, towards the poetry of the bards. The combination is attempted by sketching the life of a primitive man, _un homme sauvage_, transferred to the woods of Scandinavia. The small portion of the drama that has been preserved to us was written probably in 1770.[163]

As it incorporates the bardic spirit in its very essence, we shall not search in vain for reminiscences of Ossian, which, as in _Ugolino_, are met with in large part in the epithets and images. The Scandinavian scenery partakes of the characteristics of the Scotch Highlands as pictured by Ossian. The names of the characters, Hvanar, Cindiskraka (cp. Ossian's Craca), Svanhilde, Arnas, Flino, Heener, Mimur, have Celtic as well as Germanic elements, and these characters talk much like the characters of Ossian. Mimur, _e. g._, in l. 122 laments in the strain of Ossian: "Ich bin alt und schwach," etc. In l. 9, Cindiskraka is addressed as "Du Bewohnerinn der Felshohle mit dem krahschwarzen Haar," to which compare Ossian's "dweller of the rock,"[164] and hair "dark as the raven's wing."[165] Further along (l. 36) we have a flute "Die des armen Madchens verschwiegenen k.u.mmer einsam seufzt." This is a typical line. Ossian's maidens have a habit of sitting 'alone,' nursing their 'silent grief,' giving vent to their sorrow in 'secret sighs.'-Mimur styles Hilde (l. 78) in true Ossianic language: "Der Ruhm der Hirtinnen auf dem Gebirg," and invests the forest youth in ll. 1145 with the characteristic attributes of the ideal heroes of Ossian, 'terrible' in battle, but in peace 'generous and mild':[166]

... furchtbar an Kraft des Arms, Doch sanft, doch freundlich, doch gut; ...

Ossianic is Hvanar's characterization of himself (l. 152): "Ich bin ein Sohn des Meeres, rauh, wie der Sturm, ..." and a few Ossianic images from nature also occur.

MINONA.-We have no conclusive proof that Gerstenberg later in life lost his early scruples in regard to Ossian's authenticity, but if circ.u.mstantial evidence carry any weight, there can be no doubt that he came to regard Ossian as genuine, at least for a time. And this evidence is furnished by the drama _Minona_, first published in 1785, Gerstenberg's favorite production and one that gave him the greatest concern in the preparation of the edition of his works late in life. For this edition (18156) he worked over the entire drama and increased it from four acts to five, and by a.s.signing to it the place of honor at the head of the list, furnished testimony to his fondness for this particular child of his muse. The action of the drama is laid in Britain in the fifth century, at the time when the Low German continental tribes were called over by the Britons to a.s.sist them against the incursions of the Picts. The Romans, who had refused to aid the British province against the Picts, also play an important part. Everything is mixed together, and of course anachronisms abound: Norse G.o.ds, skalds, druids, bards, Ossianic spirits, all are thrown together in one multicolored complex. The spirit of the play is Ossianic throughout, and external as well as internal characters of Ossian's influence are not lacking.

Several of the characters are taken directly from Ossian, others only in name, _e. g._, Trenmor, King of Morven; Minona, his sister; Ryno, a bard of Ossian; Swaran, Lord of Lochlin. Edelstan, the hero, lord of Inisthona, is a son of Frothal and a grandson of Bosmina. During the perusal of the drama we are continually reminded that the author has made a thorough study of his Ossian. Selma is the name of the royal residence in Morven, just as it is in Ossian. Minona is a typical Celtic maiden as described by Ossian, just as Ryno is the Ossianic bard _comme il faut_. Just as Ossian's Minona was possessed of the gift of song,[167] so Gerstenberg's Minona has the reputation of being the "gesangreichste der Harfen Selma's."[168] In the review of the drama that appeared in the _Allgemeine deutsche Bibliothek_,[169] Minona is characterized as "gross.m.u.thig und liebevoll, aber auch sittsam und duldend, eine wurdige Schulerin der Barden," and Ryno as "ein kraftvoller, biedrer Barde." The Roman azia betrothed to Aurelius, a Roman commander, in spite of her dazzling personal charms, suffers in comparison with the modest Celtic maiden in much the same way as the heroes of Homer were often put to shame by their Celtic rivals.

The Ossianic scene _par excellence_ is the third division of the first scene of the second act, where azia and Edelstan are interrupted in a _teteatete_ by Ryno, the bard of Ossian. Nothing can convey a better idea of the hold that Ossian had on Gerstenberg than to quote a pa.s.sage from this scene.[170] Ryno announces himself as:

"ehemals Ferchio's Gefahrt' in jener beruhmten Schlacht deines Vaters Frothal zu Inisthona, ein Barde Ossians, heisse Ryno."

_Edelstan._ Ryno?-ein Gefahrte Ferchio's?-ein Barde Ossian's?-Welche Thaten, welche andre Zeiten, ... rufst du in mein Gedachtniss zuruck?-Ryno?-... der mich jene unvergesslichen Gesange von den Schlachten Lochlin's lehrte, wie Ossian, die Stimme Selma's, seinen geliebtern Oscar, den Mann aus andern Zeiten, nach Angeley-in der Sprache Morvens wie tonender! nach Inisthona-zu Hulfe sandte dem Vater meiner Vater, dem trauernden Annir-

_Ryno._ Wie der blutige Cormalo dem Arm des Starken aus Morven erlag, 'da.s.s die Sohne der vergifteten Lano, wo die Wolke des Tages rastet, gleich dunkelbraunen Hindinnen dahinflohen, unfahig den Gram ihres Stolzes zu rachen;' wie Fingals holde Tochter, Bosmina mit den schwarzrollenden Augen, Runa's tonende Halle betrat, ein wiederkehrender Stern dem Abend der Tage Annirs:-Bosmina spater vermahlt dem gewaltigen Ina, der einzigen ubriggebliebenen Stutze des jammernden Annir, da Ruro fiel! da Argon fiel! dem hinterla.s.senen Sauglinge Ruro's, die Mutter des koniglichen Frothal, der erhabne Stamm deines so herrlich wieder aufbluhenden Geschlechts ...

_Edelstan._ ...

_Ryno._ ... Gesegneter, wenn ich mich dir ein Bote des Friedens genaht hatte, wurdig erfunden, den getrennten Stamm einer Eiche wieder aufzurichten, da.s.s er noch einmal umherschaue, wie er vormals stand, sein tausendastiges Haupt weit umher verbreitend von Selma's Halle bis zur Halle Runa's, von Inisthona's wogigem Strande bis uber Morven's fernher rauschende Thale!"[171]

How characteristically a bit of Ossianic history is told here and how faithfully the language of the poems of Ossian is copied! We should have to search long to find a pa.s.sage in German literature that shows a more complete immersion in the spirit of Ossian.

In the scene from which we have just quoted, Fingal is called "das finstre Auge Morvens," Trenmor "zog mit dem Winde seiner Kuste luftig daher," Fingal draws his sword against Lochlin "da Cuchullin unter Swaran's Zehntausenden schw.a.n.kte," Ossian is referred to as "die Harfe aus andern Zeiten,"[172] etc., etc. It is scarcely necessary to give parallels from Ossian. Any one who has ever read a poem of Ossian will be struck by the close resemblance of all that has been quoted above.

The historical allusions, the comparisons, the metaphorical expressions, the standing epithets, are all taken directly from the songs of Ossian.

Before taking up the spirits of Ossian, and in that connection the lyrical pa.s.sages which are given much prominence throughout the drama-especially in the third act-I shall quote a few more instances of borrowings from Ossian. We have in the drama a hand "blendender als Schnee"[173] and a "blendend weisse Hand;"[174] Minona has darkblack hair, which "floss vermuthlich in niedlichen Ringelchen uber ihren blendend weissen Nacken herunter."[175] Ryno and Edelstan "glaubten ...

ein Sausen in der Luft zu h.o.r.en, als wenn der Wind sich erhebt."[176]

The motif of Edelstan's delivery from the cave is taken from Ossian, "Calthon and Colmal,"[177] as is Minona's imprisonment in a cave on the isle of ghosts.[178] The scenic description of the cave in which Minona is held captive is characteristic: "Scene eine dunkle Hohle; uber der Hohle der Mond im ersten Viertel, der ein schwaches Licht in das Innere der Hohle wirft."[179]

Nothing gave the critics so much concern upon the first appearance of Minona as the machinery of the spirits. They begin their influential incantations in the second act, and from that moment on occupy a prominent position in the economy of the play to the very end. Some of these lyrical pa.s.sages are by no means of a mean order, but we are now and again at a loss to grasp the poet's meaning. The critic in the _Neue Bibliothek der schonen Wissenschaften_, speaking of the songs at the close, says: "Diese Gesange sind, uns wenigstens, verschlossene Worte;"[180] and again, speaking of that of the spirits in the second act: "Da.s.s uns manche Stellen dieses Liedes ganz unerklarbar geblieben sind, hat uns desto weniger befremdet, da, wie Ryno oben versicherte, selbst nur wenigen Barden die atherischen Strome dieses Gesanges verstandlich sind."[181] And in the same strain the critic in the _Allgemeine Literaturzeitung_ writes: "In dem was die Geister zuletzt singen ... sind schone Verse: Aber manche so schwer zu verstehn, da.s.s der Leser, geschweige der h.o.r.er ihren Sinn nicht fa.s.st..".[182] The same reviewer refers to the unusually lofty, simple Ossianic tone of the spirit scenes. The importance a.s.signed to these spirits in the structure of the drama can best be judged by reading Gerstenberg's own view as expressed in the second _Schreiben_ prefixed to his works: "Mit den Ossianischen Geistern, uber die mancher damalige Kunstrichter den Kopf schuttelte bin ich weniger verlegen: sie sind die Unterlage des Ganzen, und ich brauche der Anlage nach, ihnen nur mehr Spielraum zu verschaffen; mein Drama von den Angelsachsen wurde nicht zugleich meine Oper von Minona und der Zukunft seyn, wenn ich die Geister aus dem Spiele liesse."[183] This is not the place to discuss the question whether Gerstenberg was justified in the introduction of this mystic spiritworld into his drama, and so I shall proceed to look at the songs at once. The ghosts, or rather the voices of the ghosts, make their first appearance, as has been observed, in the second act. Minona, captive in the cave is singing a song to the accompaniment of the harp, when enchanting spirit voices become audible and cause her to be filled with rapture. This song, in which she is interrupted, as well as her other airs and recitatives, are Ossianic in tone and motif, indeed, wherever Gerstenberg falls into the lyric strain, Ossian's influence becomes apparent in one feature or another:

In deiner sussen Stimme will ich zittern, Ein Seufzer der Liebe, Suss wie ein Harfenton!

Wenn leisere Luft dich umweht, Vernimm das Wehen meiner Liebe: Minonens Geist schwebt uber dir!

Hinweg du Wolke zwischen ihm und mir!

Horch! durch die Halle saust Der Wind der Mitternacht.[184]

Minona gives expression to her rapture in ecstatic terms, of course in Ossianic language, and what is more, in Macpherson's rhythmic prose. A paragraph or two may serve for ill.u.s.tration:

Diese Fluth von wunderbaren Tonen, die sich wie ein Meer uber mich ausgiesst, die durch den hohlen Abgrund der Felsen im Donner des Wohllauts daher rollt, ist sie ein Spiel der Lufte in den Wolbungen der Tiefe? widerprallend an den jahen Wanden des innern Gebirgs?[185]

[Ist's] Vielleicht Fingal's Schild aus der hangenden Wolke herab?

vielleicht Fingals geistige Hand, die an dem Schilde voruberrauscht?

Vielleicht die tonvolle Harfe aus andern Luften, Ossians Harfe aus andern Zeiten?[186]

These voices have given Minona a foretaste of the delights beyond the grave:

Wo, mich schwesterlich bewillkommend, Malvina, Bosmina, Comala, Guthona, die holdseligen, von ihrem und meinem Ossian so edel besungenen, Tochter der Vorzeit alle, in der Begeisterung seines erhabenen Gesanges zu seinen Fussen hingelagert und horchend, beisammen sa.s.sen, und ich, seine neu angelangte ... Zuh.o.r.erin, in Wonnethranen der namenlosesten Gefuhle uberflosse![187]

The ghosts that chant these songs are endowed with all the qualities of their Ossianic prototypes-especially with the gift of foretelling the future-and why should they not, seeing that they are intended to represent the incarnation of the songs of Ossian.[188] They are the spirits of Ossian, and the spirits of Ossian "sind die veredelte Menschlichkeit selbst."[189] As for the songs of the ghosts, the solos, duets, choruses, and what not, as they begin in this act and are continued throughout the third and fifth acts, it would be impossible to take up each verse in detail. Suffice it to say, that the songs bear the ideal stamp of the influence of Ossian, which is expressed in more ways than one. I quote one or two pa.s.sages in ill.u.s.tration. Several voices sing in the second act:

Stolzern Tritts erhebt vom Saum der Wolke sich Fingal, den Arm auf seinen Schild gelehnt.[190]

Compare "Fingal," Bk. vi, p. 261, l. 24: "Fingal leaned on the s.h.i.+eld;"

also Ossian's skirt, edge, or side of the cloud. So in the third act Minona sings:

Schnell wie ein Blitz der Mitternacht, Zerriss, aus seiner Wolke Saum, Der Felsen aufgethurmte Last Ein starkrer unnennbarer Arm.[191]

Compare "The War of InisThona," p. 206, ll. 156: "Stormy clouds ...

their edges are tinged with lightning," etc.-Minona is referred to by the ghosts as the 'daughter of Selma,' and Edelstan as the 'star of InisThona,' and the 'star of night.' Towards the end of the third act the voices sing:

Auf flugelschnellster der Sturme, Gleit' auf der Woge dahin

Rolle deine krausen Locken Im Silberschaume der Fluth!

Fahr' hin auf dem rothesten Strahle des Dampfs,[192]

Und hole vom Mond mir den Blitz herab![193]

In rebellious opposition to these spirits of Ossian are the druids, who refer to the songs of the ghosts as "die verfuhrerischen Gesange Ossians, des Tonangebers der ganzen harfnenden Bande,"[194] and again as "die aufruhrerischen Gesange eines unserer Barden-Ossian hiess der Erzketzer."[195] The druids rely on the spirits of Brumo,[196] the G.o.d of human sacrifice, and Brumo's spirits, says the chief druid, "pflegen nicht in dieser weibisch weichen ... Ossianssprache ... zu reden."[197]

Brumo corresponds very closely to Ossian's Loda, to his 'terrible spirit of the circle of stones.' Ossian likewise furnished abundant material for the rites of the druids as they are described in the last act.

In addition to the songs of the ghosts, we have two _Bardiete_ in the drama, one in Act 4, 8, the other in Act 4, 9. Needless to say, Ossian's influence is plainly discernible. The first begins thus:

Aufdammernd hinter Wolken schlief Der junge Morgen im truberen Roth!...

Und warnend thurmte die Wolke sich auf; Und aus der Wolke brach, verkundigt von Blitz, Mit tausend Spiessen der Tag hervor.[198]

In the first edition the ending of the drama was somewhat differently motivated, inasmuch as azia, clothed in the armor of a warrior, allows herself to be captured by some of Edelstan's soldiers and makes an attempt to a.s.sa.s.sinate Minona, but is foiled in the effort by Ryno.

Undoubtedly this motif of the disguise was taken from Ossian, where we find almost a dozen examples of maids taking on the disguise of a youth.[199]