Ossian in Germany Part 27

Er h.o.r.et am schweigenden Monde Gesange vergangener Alter.

The fourth complaint is an elegy on the death of Joh. v. Nep. Hohenwart, a friend of Denis, whose ghost is asked to appear.-The concluding stanza of the fifth contains an Ossianic comparison (p. 276): "Sein Leben bleibt ... ein Strom von ewigh.e.l.lem Lichte." Compare "Temora," Bk.

i, p. 311, ll. 223: "My life shall be one stream of light." Several Ossianic touches in the last poem of the collection, "Urlaub von der sichtbaren Welt," have been referred to. Ossianic furthermore is the following picture (p. 284):

Kuhle Lufte sauseln, Wiesenquellen lauten, Durch die Tannenzacken Blinkt der milde Mond; Aber schweigend, schweigend steht der Hugel, Der den Barden deckt.

'Silent' as a standing epithet frequently goes with 'hill' in Ossian, and the hill covering the dead has been noticed; we have it again on pp.

2878.

Having now considered the poems of the first collection, we are ready to turn our attention to the new offspring of Denis's muse that found a place in the first edition of _Ossians und Sineds Lieder_ (1784), the first three volumes of which contain the translation of Ossian, revised with reference to the English edition of 1773.[270] Aside from the alterations necessitated by the conformity to the new English edition and the working over of "Comala" referred to above (p. 124), the changes are inconsiderable. The fragment of a Norse poem, "Fithona," given by Macpherson in the preface to the edition of 1773, is translated and inserted among the songs of Sined, Vol. 4, pp. 98100.-In his preface "An den Leser" in the first volume, Denis defends his choice of the hexameter in a few words and states: "Er [Denis] glaubt noch Ossians Aechtheit, obwohl er sich, als ein Zeitgenoss des XVIII.

Jahrhundertes freuen musste, wenn dieses Jahrhundert einen solchen Genius hervorgebracht hatte." He is strengthened in his belief by the statement made by Sturz that he (Sturz) had seen the originals.[271] The preface contains also a chronological bibliography of Ossianic publications from 1762 to 1783, which is by no means complete and contains several errors. The _Fragments_ of 1760 are not mentioned at all. The songs of the five bards given by Macpherson in his note to "Croma" are translated and placed at the end of the third volume under the t.i.tle "Die Octobernacht. Eine alte Nachahmung Ossians."

I shall point out the most striking Ossianic characteristics in the poems that have not yet been dwelt upon. The poem "An Gott," the first in the list,[272] contains nothing deserving of attention. In "Sined und der Tag seiner Geburt" (pp. 1135), we have the hill covering the dead, the grove of oaks, druids, ghosts, etc. Towards the end Denis addresses his father:

Hattest du Lieder von Selma gehort, Hattest du Sined gesehn im Kreise der Barden, dein Antlitz Hatte von inniger Wonne geglanzt!- Aber hangst du denn nicht ...

Itzo den thauenden Himmel herab? etc.

In "Der Fremde und Heimische," the stranger asks whether the native has ever heard of Denis (p. 131):

Du kennst den Sanger nicht, der Ossians Gepriesen Lied, das einst in Morven klang, Den Kindern seines Volks ins Harfenspiel Zu singen unternahm?

Next we have a series of five poems, "Sineds Traume," in which we shall find occasional traces of Ossian's influence, particularly in the second dream.

A typical bardic song is "Der Neugeweihte und Sined," which contains several pa.s.sages worthy of note. In the one beginning (p. 164):

... Als sich Fingals Sohn Auf seinem leichten Nebel einst in Nacht Zum Ohre meiner Ruhe niederliess,

Denis speaks of the reception of his Ossianic imitation. The following comparison at the end of the pa.s.sage (p. 164) is Ossianic: "Und steht so fest Dem Tadel, wie den Wogen Morvens Fels."-"Das Kunstfeuer" contains a reference (p. 207) to an episode in the songs of Ossian, viz., Fingal's encounter with Swaran, "CathLoda," Duan i:

... Ist es Uthornas Nacht Beschwert mit Himmelszeichen, als Lodas Geist Aus seiner Wolkenburg nach Fingal Gluhende Schrecken umsonst versandte?-

In "Der Jugendgefahrte" Denis's lament (p. 216) sounds truly Ossianic:

Jungling! Sined ist todt. Von seiner verla.s.senen Halle Tonet kein freundlicher Laut, Leitet kein Fusstritt in Schatten. Ihm haben die Sohne der Lieder Traurig sein Grabmaal erhoht.

Ossianic touches also occur in the poems that have been added to the fifth volume. In the "Funfte Reise" Denis speaks of bad advice disappearing "gleich dem Nebel" (p. 89); Ossian has frequent comparisons to the departure of mist. The first line (p. 91) of the "Sechste Reise"

is typical: "Das Grau der Vorzeit h.e.l.lt sich dem Barden auf." "Der Zwist der Fursten," a series of three poems, contains several things of interest. In the first song we have Ossian's striking on the s.h.i.+eld as a sign of battle (p. 111). In the second Joseph's s.h.i.+eld is said to be "gleich dem Monde Mitten in Gewittern" (p. 113). Compare "Temora," Bk.

i, p. 306, ll. 45: "His s.h.i.+eld is ... like the ... moon ascending through a storm," and numerous other comparisons of a s.h.i.+eld to the moon.-The lines (p. 117):

Die schauernde Gegend erglanzte Von Waffen, wie feurige Flut.

recall "Fingal," Bk. iv, ll. 23: "The heath flamed wide with their arms." Ossianic in "Wiens Befreyung" (p. 124) is "Die Wolke des Tods,"

"the cloud of death."[273]-The line (p. 132): "Dein Rath ist Licht, und Flamme dein Muth," reminds us of "Fingal," Bk. ii, p. 228, l. 12: "Thy counsel is the sun," and "Temora," Bk. iv, p. 338, l. 23: "Valour, like a ... flame."-Ossian calls the dew the "drops of heaven,"[274] and so Denis in "Der Blumenstrauss" (p. 157) "des Himmels Tropfen."

The sixth volume, the _Nachlese zu Sineds Liedern_ compiled and edited by Joseph von Retzer, contains but little that demands our attention. It includes several religious songs, a few translations, and a number of occasional poems. Some of the poems were written prior to Denis's acquaintance with Ossian, and these of course do not concern us here, but even the bardic songs contain little that is Ossianic, only now and then do we meet with a trace of the bard's influence, as _e. g._, in "Der Heldentempel Oesterreichs" (p. 54): "Aus jeder Brust gedrangte Seufzer steigen," reminding us of Ossian's "The crowded sighs of his bosom rose."[275]

The edition of 17912 is virtually identical with that of 1784.

Testimony to the high rank the poems of Ossian still occupied in the minds of the German people is given in the preface, where we read: "Auch nur ein Wort von dem Werthe der Werke, ... zu sagen, ware von mir eine unverzeihliche Kuhnheit. Ossians Gesange haben das Alter aherner Denkmaale uberlebt, ..."

A cursory perusal of the facts collected above will at once lead us to the conclusion that Ossian meant much more to Denis than he did either to Klopstock or to Gerstenberg. When we consider the fact that Denis became wholly saturated with Ossian while working on his wellknown translation, we no longer marvel at the circ.u.mstance that the characteristics of Ossian took such firm hold of him in the composition of his own songs. Again, it requires but a glance to see that at no time was Ossian's influence stronger than during the years in which the translation was under way and those immediately following, that is, the influence is more noticeable in the poems contained in the edition of 1772 than in those written between 1772 and 1784. While the majority of his productions are of a mediocre character, they nevertheless furnish an extremely interesting picture of the extent to which the imitation of the old bard could be carried. And when we compare his original poems with his translation-instead of with Macpherson's original-the similarity will appear even more p.r.o.nounced. As Klopstock later on turned to the Revolution, as Gerstenberg found solace in the study of Kant, so Denis later in life became engrossed in bibliographical labors, and his Ossianic poetry fell into neglect.

--4. Karl Friedrich Kretschmann.[276]

In the same year that the first two volumes of Denis's translation made their appearance and created such a stir in the literary world of Germany, another prominent example of bardic literature loomed up in a different quarter, "Der Gesang Rhingulphs des Barden als Varus geschlagen war," which was published in the autumn of 1768, although the t.i.tlepage bears the date 1769. This is the first instance we have of the employment of a bardic pseudonym. Kretschmann tells us that he received his impulse through Gerstenberg, whose "Gedicht eines Skalden"

had appeared two years previously, and we can easily see that the form and conception of Kretschmann's song are borrowed from Gerstenberg's poem. The "Gesang" was followed in 1771 by "Rhingulphs Klage," which served to establish firmly the contemporary fame the "Gesang" had gained for its author. In both of these poems the influence of Klopstock goes hand in hand with that of Ossian, just as is the case in so much of Denis's poetry. But while Denis's original poetic efforts were confined almost exclusively to _vers d' occasion_, Kretschmann tried his hand not only at bardic and lyric poetry, but also at epigrams, fables, allegories, and even dramas and tales. The bardic fever thus forms a mere episode in Kretschmann's poetic activity, and, although stray pieces in the bardic vein appear later, the influence of Ossian did not last much beyond the middle of the seventies. As it was, Kretschmann borrowed fewer poetic motifs and expressions from Ossian than Denis did and, on the whole, was influenced less by him. He was extremely sensitive to the opposition that the _Bardengebrull_ evoked, and he turned his attention into other channels just about the time that Denis began to devote most of his time to bibliographical researches.

Kretschmann's epigrams, fables, dramas and tales do not, of course, concern us here, nor do the hymns, in which Klopstock's influence predominates, and, although in his lyric poetry Gleim's influence reigns supreme, the latter's anacreontic tone occasionally appears side by side with Ossianic machinery and Klopstockian grandeur. We have, therefore, in addition to the bardic songs to consider mainly his lyric productions.[277] Most of that portion of Kretschmann's work in which the influence of Ossian is traceable is contained in the first volume of his collected writings. The poetical productions in the volumes are preceded by a sketch "Ueber das Bardiet." It goes without saying, that Kretschmann was a firm believer in the authenticity of the poems of Ossian, and his admiration for the Celtic bard is apparent, when, in the strife over the priority of the bardic work of Klopstock, Gerstenberg, and himself, he takes the stand that "Vater Ossian war doch eher, denn wir alle!"[278] His theories as to the characteristics of the old Germanic bardic songs are based largely upon Ossian. "Vater Ossian, ein Kelte so gut als die Barden Germaniens," he says, "uberzeugt uns, da.s.s dieses wirklich der Charakter der teutschen Bardenlieder gewesen seyn musse."[279] Ossian's great success he attributes largely to the combination of the epic and lyric elements in his poems. Of course the venerable Ossianic fragments must be regarded as the great models of the new _Bardiet_. While he opposes the hexameter as the form in which the _Bardiet_ shall be cast, yet, because of the beauty of the versestructure, he cannot condemn Denis's translation. Of Ossian's fame in the days that are to come he is a.s.sured.[280]

The first poetic production in the volume is "Der Gesang Rhingulphs," to some of the Ossianic touches in which attention will be called. Norse mythology is introduced in the song, but not to the same extent as in Gerstenberg's or Klopstock's synchronous work along similar lines. The bardic paraphernalia, the moon, the grove, the oak, the echo, the harp, and so forth, meet us here as they do in Denis, and it will not be necessary to point them out. Laying aside these bardic properties, there really is little in the song that can be traced directly back to Ossian.

In the first four cantos as well as in "Rhingulphs Klage" and other poems of Kretschmann, we meet with the form _Tohro_ for Thor.[281]

Scheel is no doubt correct in attributing this odd form to the frequency of names in _o_ found in Saxo Grammaticus and to the fondness of Ossian for similar forms,[282] _e. g._, Aldo, Artho, Branno, Brumo, etc., etc.

A real bardic scene is presented in the following lines of the first song (p. 51):

Der machtge Wohlklang fullte den Hain, Da brausten die Eichen, Da rauschten die Tannen Holdselig darein.

And in the same song we have the "Geist der Lieder" (p. 56)[283] as well as a typical Ossianic ghost (p. 55). In the second canto we read (p.

62):

Frisch wie der Eichenbaum, Wachst Teutschlands Jugend auf.

Compare "CarricThura," p. 152, l. 20: "Thy family grew like an oak."-In this song we have two Ossianic pictures, the one (p. 64):

Auf einmal tritt ....

Die Sonn' empor, und vorger Nacht Lezte graue Nebel fliehen.

And the other (p. 72):

... in den Luften flog der Sturm, Und Sausen war im alten Haine.

The echo makes its appearance in the second canto (p. 72): "Und Fels und Wald erklang," in the third (p. 79), the fourth (p. 107), and elsewhere.[284] I do not wish to imply that the author thought of Ossian each time he employed the echo, but there can be no doubt of the fact that Ossian is in large measure responsible for the fondness which the bardic poets had for the echo.[285] "Die mosigte Hole" (p. 72) goes back to Ossian's mossy cave.[286] In the fourth canto we come to the battle proper and here Ossianic imagery is not lacking, _e. g._, the lines (p.

96):

Dort, wo der kuhnsten Krieger Mengen Sich wie Gewitterwolken drangen?- Dort wird der Fuhrer Varus stehn!

suggest Ossian's "Their heroes follow, like the gathering of the rainy clouds;"[287] "Like the clouds, that gather to a tempest ...! so met the sons of the desert round ... Fingal;"[288] etc. Further along we have (p. 97): "Sein Schwert ... strahlt wie Blitz."[289] When we read of warriors being hewn down like thistles by the mower (p. 100), we are reminded of the pa.s.sage in "Fingal," Bk. ii, p. 231, ll. 123: "Cuthullin cut off heroes like thistles."-The fifth song opens with a comparison in the Ossianic vein (p. 111):

Wie wenn der lezte Wintersturm Noch eine Nacht mit Sausen, Mit Schnee und Hagel, furchterlich Durchwutete; dann schnell entwich, Auf fernem Geburge zu brausen: Der erste goldne Fruhlingstag, Der lauschend hinter Wolken lag, Steigt freundlich nun hernieder;

So weicht von uns des Krieges Wuth.

The comparison of wrath to a storm is not foreign to Ossian,[290] and the entire pa.s.sage bears a resemblance to a paragraph in "The Songs of Selma."[291] In the same song we have druids (p. 115) and the thistle again (p. 117),[292] also the compound "SchildZerbrecher" (p. 118), which is Ossian's "breaker of the s.h.i.+elds."[293]

The next poem to be considered is "Die Klage Rhingulphs des Barden,"

which is divided into four cantos and shows Ossian's influence in much the same way as the "Gesang." Ghosts are introduced at the very beginning (p. 131). Both Ossian and Klopstock no doubt are represented in the lines (p. 132):