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HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 BY 
 
 FREDERICK HENRY ADLER 
 
 A. B. Ohio State University, 1909 
 A. M. University of Illinois, 1911 
 
 THESIS 
 
 Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the 
 Requirements for the 
 
 Degree of 
 DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 
 
 , IN GER1V1AN ,» 3 > 
 
 THE GRADUATE SCHOOL 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
 1913 
 
P7>36¥ 
 
 AW 
 
 TO MY PARENTS 
 
PREFACE 
 
 It is difficult to understand the whole creative and classical 
 period of German literature without taking into considera- 
 tion Klopstock's significant position in its history and the 
 powerful influence he exerted upon its greatest personalities. 
 His wonderful originating powers brought forth a new ideal ,* 
 of humanity, the influence of which has been felt in all 
 succeeding periods ; his thoughts, and the language he clothed 
 them in, may be traced in the works of Germany's greatest 
 masters. 
 
 The chief aim of the present work has been to present 
 in a new light the relation of Klopstock to Herder, one of 
 his great contemporaries, whose genius aided in causing to 
 grow and flourish the seed sown by the poet. The first 
 part resolves itself into an objective treatment of the per- 
 sonal relations of the two men, of Herder's knowledge of 
 Klopstock's works, and of his critical estimate of them. In 
 the second part an attempt has been made to show how the 
 spirit of the new world of ideas, as created by Klopstock, 
 found sympathetic response in Herder, and how it in turn 
 received expression in his own life and works. The last 
 chapter attempts to present the source of Klopstock's new 
 poetical language ; by means of a comparison with Herder's 
 language, it aims to give a more detailed presentation of the 
 intellectual world of the two men. 
 
The author wishes to express his sincere gratitude to 
 Professor Julius Goebel, of the University of Illinois, whose 
 inspiration and kindly guidance has made this work possible, 
 Also to his friend, Mr. J. Allan Nevins, who read most of 
 the present work in its original draft, and offered many 
 valuable criticisms regarding style, the writer desires to 
 express his most hearty thanks. 
 
 Then, finally, to his friend, Dr. Irma E. Voigt, for her 
 friendly assistance, the writer extends his most heartfelt 
 gratitude and appreciation. 
 
 F. H. A. 
 
 Cleveland, March, 1914. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 PART I. 
 
 Chapter 1. Personal Relations 1 
 
 Chapter 2. Herder and the "Messiah" 18 
 Chapter 3. Herder and Klopstock's Lyrical Poetry 38 
 
 PART II 
 
 Chapter 1. The Conception of the Poet 58 
 
 Chapter 2. Religious Views 73 
 
 Chapter 3. Patriotic Endeavors 101 
 
 PART III. 
 
 A Treatment of Klopstock's and Herder's 
 
 Poetic Language 148 
 
 Conclusion 224 
 
 Bibliography 226 
 
 Vita 232 
 
HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 PART I 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 PERSONAL RELATIONS 
 
 The spirit of the eighteenth century, which, by causing 
 man to realize once more his true humanity, transformed 
 his intellectual, religious, moral, and political life, first mani- 
 fested itself in England and France; from these countries 
 it spread into Germany, where it found its fullest expression 
 and gave rise to a new German culture. Literature and 
 criticism were the active forces which probably did most 
 to create this new spirit; they sought the real, the natural, 
 and the beautiful in art and life, as opposed to the imitative, 
 the unnatural, and the artificial. Philosophy, however, 
 joined hands with criticism, and the search for the aesthetic 
 became at the same time a search for nature and for true 
 humanity. The bearer of this new message was primarily 
 the poet, the genius as the highest type of man, in whom 
 all the human faculties were most perfectly developed and 
 most harmoniously combined. 
 
 The influences at work in the eighteenth century were a 
 protest against the intellectualism of the preceding age. 
 During the seventeenth century man had looked with distrust 
 upon his emotional nature and had allowed the philosophy 
 
2 HEADER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 taught by Descartes to determine his world of thought. 
 Reason ruled supreme and dominated man's whole life. 
 Customs, fashions, and manners were artificial, cut and 
 trimmed to satisfy a false code of etiquette and morals; 
 nature herself suffered at the hands of the architect and 
 gardener ; religion, except among the Pietists, was a matter 
 of form and tradition, and not of inner experience; art and 
 literature were not spontaneous structures of the imagina- 
 tion, built upon a vivid experience of life, but cold products 
 of the intellect working by the rules of a restrained imitation. 
 Man had discovered the narrowness of the bounds which 
 hedge in the usefulness of unaided reason; it had proved 
 itself unproductive of the highest expression of art, of liter- 
 ature, and of life, and a reaction was inevitable. Human- 
 ity was bound to assert itself ; man's feelings and imagina- 
 tion were again to play a part in human affairs. It was 
 the advent of a new era. 
 
 The first poet to give this new spirit full expression was 
 Klopstock. He, indeed, had his forerunners in Brockes, 
 who was the first to leave his books and return to nature 
 for inspiration ; in Drollinger and Haller, who went further 
 than Brockes and made man the object of their poetry; 
 and above all in his own teacher, Gellert, who attempted to 
 bring about a reconciliation between man and the universe 
 by making the heart the source of man's happiness. Klop- 
 stock, however, passed at a bound far beyond these men; 
 his genius was of a distinctly higher order. In him the old 
 axiom, "poeta non fit sed nascitur", the real meaning of 
 which had been forgotten, again proved its vitality and truth. 
 Here was the great genius, the true poet, for whom German 
 literature had been waiting. His work proved that the 
 highest art is an unconscious product of life and nature, 
 and an expression of the full, healthy man himself. As a 
 genius, Klopstock was at once the creator of a new poetic 
 
PERSONAL RELATIONS 3 
 
 world ; a world so vast, so sublime, that only the few were 
 able to comprehend it. The introduction of the classical 
 form in his poetry, too, hindered his attaining such popu- 
 larity as had Gellert. It was inevitable that a poet pos- 
 sessed with such an endowment should not be understood 
 by all at his first appearance. 
 
 The first person to appreciate Klopstock fully was Herder; 
 he possessed that height of feeling and intellect which alone 
 could kindle at the divine spark which burned in Klopstock's 
 poetry. Like the great poet, Herder, too, was a path-finder, 
 a prophet, and a leader seeking truth. He sought inspira- 
 tion for the new life in the history of the past, while Klop- 
 stock more often sought it in the present. But both sought 
 it in experience; in life, and not in abstract thinking. 
 Herder, as thinker, was rather the critical interpreter of 
 the new spirit; Klopstock, as poet, was its creator. 
 
 Herder's youth was passed in those years in which the 
 new life brought by Klopstock was for the first time mak- 
 ing itself felt most powerfully in the younger generation. 
 As one just entering upon his literary career, he was more 
 susceptible to its influence than was Lessing, who was of 
 the older generation, and whose position in the literary 
 world was already established. Again, the new spirit was 
 able to make a deeper impression upon Herder than it did 
 later on the members of the Gottinger Hainbund; or on 
 Goethe and Schiller, and, later still, on Fichte, for it was in 
 all its freshness and vigor when he caught it up and carried 
 it onward. Near the close of his own life, when "Ger- 
 many's first singer" had just passed away, Herder recalls 
 the time of Klopstock's first appearance and the effect his 
 poetry had on him. It was like "a festive morn rising up 
 over icy mountains. " He acknowledges his remarkable 
 genius as the creator of a new language, of a greater poetry, 
 and a new life. When as a youth he read the first lyrical 
 
4 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 poems of Klopstock, it seemed to him as if the ancients had 
 been brought home to him, and Horace and the muses had 
 come down from heaven. Thus early even, Herder found 
 in the poet the spirit of humanity, and the elements of true 
 culture, which he had met in the ancient classics. 1 
 
 Until the age of eighteen Herder lived in his native town 
 of Mohrungen; the last two years of this period, from 
 1760 to 1762, he lived in the house of Pastor Trescho, acting 
 as his secretary, and making use of his library for his own 
 edification. A great deal of Klopstock's work had already 
 been published, 2 but exactly how much of it Herder found 
 among Trescho's books it is impossible to determine; it is 
 a reasonable presumption, however, considering the many 
 works he did find there, 3 that he made the acquaintance of 
 the "Messiah", if not of more, during these years. Even 
 though a man of Trescho's temperament could scarcely have 
 appreciated Klopstock's full power, yet, considering his 
 
 iSuphan, XXIV, 202, 277, (1803). Compare Suphan, I, 165, 
 (1767); 11,42, (1768); XXIV, 293, (1803). 
 
 2 Up to 1762 there had appeared of Klopstock's works : — 1748, 
 "Der Messias", songs I to III, in "Bremer Beitrage" ; 1749, a 
 reprint by Hemmerde in Halle; 1751, volume I of the "Messiah", 
 songs I to V, (Hemmerde, Halle) ; 1752, reprint of songs IV to V; 
 1755, revised edition of volume I, and first edition of volume II 
 with songs VI to X, (Copenhagen) ; 1756, volume II, published 
 separately; 1760, a new edition of volume I. Beginning with 1748, 
 in the "Bremer Beitrage", Klopstock's odes and elegies appeared 
 each year in various publications, sometimes without the author's 
 knowledge. "Der Tod Adams", Klopstock's first drama, appeared 
 in 1757, (Copenhagen and Leipzig). In 1758 appeared the first part 
 of the "Geistliche Lieder". Of Klopstock's prose writings there 
 was published in 1753, "Drei Gebete eines Freigeistes, Christen und 
 guten Konigs", (Hamburg) ; while in the edition of the "Messiah" 
 of 1755 appeared the two essays, "Von der heiligen Poesie" and 
 "Von der Nachahmung des griechischen Sylbenmaases im Deut- 
 schen". 
 
 3 Erinnerungen I, 29, — Opitz, Haller, Hagedorn, Gellert, Uz, 
 Lessing, Creuz, Young, Kleist, Simon Dach. Haym (I, 14) believes 
 Herder read the "Messiah" in Trescho's library. 
 
PERSONAL RELATIONS 5 
 
 pietistic views, the religious enthusiasm expressed in Klop- 
 stock's poetry, particularly in the "Messiah", must have 
 attracted Herder's master. 
 
 Herder possessed a religious, lyrical nature, derived in 
 some part from his parents' teaching and his early training ; 
 and the religious, lyrical tones in Klopstock's poetry un- 
 doubtedly found ready response in his heart. 1 He himself 
 tells us what a powerful impression the poet made on him : 
 "My power of imagination in a healthy mental condition 
 is much too cold for my ever becoming an enthusiast; but 
 this much I know, that individual passages in Klopstock 
 made such a deep impression on me, that for days at a time 
 my soul was attuned to them, (stimmte den Ton meiner 
 Seele)". 2 
 
 From the summer of 1762 to the autumn of 1764 Herder 
 lived in Koenigsberg. Here Hamann, who was already 
 well acquainted with Klopstock's works, recognized the 
 young critic's unusual talent and became his teacher. 
 Indeed, Hamann had read and studied Klopstock's "Lie- 
 der", 3 odes, and prose writings, 4 Meta's posthumous works, 5 
 and the "Messiah", 6 — practically all that had appeared of 
 the poet. As early as 1759 he recognized Klopstock's lyr- 
 ical genius and his great talent as a writer of prose. 4 A 
 year later 6 he compared Klopstock and Bodmer with 
 
 iSuphan, XXIV, 277, (1803). Lebensbild I, 1, p. 154. 
 
 2 Suphan, I, 523. 
 
 3 Hamann, I, 298. Hamann to G. E. Lindner, Sept. 16, 1758. 
 
 4 Hamann, I, 414. Hamann to J. G. Lindner in Riga, July 20, 
 1759. 
 
 Hamann, II, 22, (1759). Hamann recalls the fact that Klop- 
 stock had said the Germans had not studied Luther's language 
 enough. 
 
 5 Hamann, I, 447, 466, (1759). 
 
 6 Hamann, III, 6. To his brother in Riga, Jan. 9, 1760. Hamann 
 says Bodmer and Klopstock both studied Homer. 
 
 Hamann, III, 199. To J. G. Lindner, June 29, 1763. Hamann 
 considers v. Moser's epic the best before Klopstock and Gessner. 
 
6 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 Homer. He considered Klopstock a master of the Ger- 
 man language and prosody, while he called his prose "a 
 model of classical perfection". 1 In the very year Herder 
 came to Koenigsberg, Hamann termed the poet "a great 
 singer of Germany" 2 and the "great restorer of the lyric". 3 
 Even if Herder had not read Klopstock before coming 
 to Koenigsberg, which seems improbable, there can be no 
 doubt but that Hamann aroused an appreciation for the 
 German poet, as he did for Shakespeare, in his young 
 pupil. 4 Herder's early poetical works, in spirit and lan- 
 guage, reveal an influence of Klopstock; 5 his other work, 
 too, shows that the poet had taken a place in his intellectual 
 life during his stay in Koenigsberg. The outline made for 
 "Ueber die altesten Urkunden des Menschengeschlechts" 
 shows that the treatise was intended to be a comparative 
 study of the modern and ancient epic. The writings of 
 Klopstock, Milton, Bodmer, Gessner, and of other poets 
 were to be compared with the oldest poetic monuments. 5 
 Among his other productions were an outline for a history 
 of poetry, 6 a comparative study of Horace and Pindar, and 
 of the Greek and French tragedy, 7 and an essay on the 
 ode. 8 Thus, even at this early age (he was scarcely twenty 
 years old), Herder's talent in the field of comparative criti- 
 cism in all forms of literature manifested itself. Klopstock 
 and Milton aroused his interest in the epic ; Shakespeare en- 
 
 i Hamann, II, 305, (1762). 
 
 2 Hamann, II, 163, (1762). 
 
 3 Hamann, II, 303, (1762). 
 
 4 Erinnerungen I, 114. Lebensbild I, 2, pp. 5, 9, 116. When 
 Herder went to Riga he and Hamann continued their interest in 
 Klopstock and sent each other manuscript copies of his works. 
 
 5 Erinnerungen I, 90. Compare Haym I, 63, 281, 416. 
 
 6 Lebensbild I, 3, a, pp. 98ff. 
 
 7 Lebensbild I, 3, a, pp. 8ff. 
 
 8 Lebensbild I, 3, a, pp. 61—98. 
 
PERSONAL RELATIONS 7 
 
 listed his mind in a study of the drama. 1 Klopstock's lyrics, 
 most probably, and the simple songs in the great English 
 poet's plays, became a new source of inspiration for Herder's 
 love for the lyric and song. This love had been awakened 
 when, early in his youth, he learned to read the Bible and 
 hymnal at his father's knee ; 2 later it was to break forth in 
 his enthusiasm for the Volkslied. 
 
 In 1764, the year he went to Riga, Herder showed in a 
 discussion of the drama, "Salomo", that he had already 
 comprehended Klopstock's genius. An unfavorable crit- 
 icism of the play, wherein it had been measured by the tra- 
 ditional dramatic rules of the critic and been found want- 
 ing, had just appeared. This Herder answers by condemn- 
 ing the critic who compares every new work with a stand- 
 ard and so neglects entirely that very element of genius 
 which makes the new author's production distinctive from 
 all other recognized masterpieces in the same department 
 of literature. 3 Herder recognizes that the true genius is 
 original and produces his own laws. He repudiates all 
 attempts to manufacture formulae and to pronounce an 
 epic, a drama, impossible unless it follows the Greek or 
 Latin classics as models. If the critic were to do this, he 
 protests in the "Fragmente", Shakespeare and all the unborn 
 Shakespeares for whom the German stage hopes, Ossian 
 and Klopstock, and all future Ossians and Klopstocks for 
 whom German literature is waiting, would cry out against 
 him. 4 Here we see clearly that these three, Shakespeare, 
 Ossian, and Klopstock, are for Herder three orginal gen- 
 iuses, true poets, born and not made, who threw aside all 
 
 1 Haym I, 61. Hamann introduced Herder to "Paradise Lost" 
 and "Hamlet". 
 
 2 Erinnerungen, I, 70. Lebensbild I, 1, p. 154. 
 ^Suphan, IV, 311. 
 
 4 Suphan, I, 437. 
 
8 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 existing rules and conventionalities and became a law unto 
 themselves. 
 
 We get a personal touch of Herder's interest in his 
 contemporaries in a letter written to Gleim in February, 
 1767. He tells us that in his study in Riga hung the 
 pictures of several favorite Germans, with none of whom 
 he became personally acquainted till later. The pictures 
 were hung in a triangle; at the top was Klopstock, then 
 Gleim and Kleist, and below, Haller, Winckelmann, and 
 Bodmer. 1 Klopstock and Winckelmann, Herder considered 
 two extremes of the German genius, two margraves of 
 German majesty. 2 
 
 It was Herder's belief that even the poet himself, in 
 reading his own productions, could never again attain the 
 height which his emotions had reached at the time of the 
 original inspiration, although he could approach it more 
 nearly than any other mortal. 3 He was anxious, therefore, 
 to hear an author, who alone could evoke the best from his 
 work, declaim it. Accordingly he writes to Scheffner, in 
 1766, that he is very anxious to go on a journey to hear 
 Ramler, Ebert, and Klopstock recite their poetry. 4 We will 
 recall here that Herder often said that the human soul could 
 be reached more perfectly through the sense of hearing 
 than through any of the other senses ; hence the importance 
 of hearing poetry read aloud. He was not to set out, how- 
 ever, till three years later. 
 
 On May 24, 1769, he left Riga, and set sail on June 5th. 
 From the "Reisejournal" (1769) we learn how anxious 
 Herder had been to get out of his study and away from his 
 writing-table, and to enter upon a wider world of actuality 
 
 iLebensbild I, 2, p. 237. 
 2Suphan, III, 250, (1769). 
 3Suphan, V, 365, (1772). 
 4 Lebensbild I, 2, p. 192. 
 
PERSONAL RELATIONS 9 
 
 and humanity; upon a larger quest of personal develop- 
 ment and actual experience of life. Hence we can under- 
 stand why he took few or no books with him when he set 
 sail. 1 But when he later, on board ship, regrets not having 
 brought Klopstock's "Messiah", "Lieder" and "Hermanns- 
 schlacht", 2 the place which Klopstock's works occupied in 
 Herder's inner life becomes most significant. It was his 
 earnest intention to disembark at Copenhagen and visit 
 Klopstock, but a series of unfortunate circumstances pre- 
 vented this and carried him on to France. 1 How deeply he 
 regretted this failure, and how much he hoped to have 
 gained from a personal acquaintance thus begun, we learn 
 a few months later from the "Reisejournal". He breathes 
 a devout wish that he might have become acquainted with 
 Klopstock's wonderful mind and personality. He would 
 have read the "Messiah" together with him; have heard 
 him recite his own poetry, and have obtained a proper idea 
 of his meter; have learned of his great conception of the 
 "Messiah" and of his religion ; have discussed current events 
 with him. Above all he wishes he could have caught "a 
 spark of his fire". 3 
 
 Klopstock knew of Herder's journey, and, it would seem, 
 expected a visit from him, for in a letter to Gleim, written 
 September 7, 1769, he refers to the critic's voyage. He 
 speaks of Herder as a "critical mountain which has given 
 birth to mice and squirrels." A critic, he adds, has but a 
 single voice, and of this voice he demands that it be not 
 of small volume, if it would make itself heard. 4 He does 
 not recognize, or does not wish to acknowledge, Herder's 
 
 1 Briefwechsel mit Nicolai, p. 46. To Nicolai, August, 1769. 
 
 2 Lebensbild II, 14. Erinnerungen I, 139. To Hartknoch, Tune, 
 1769. 
 
 3Suphan, IV, 434, (1769). 
 
 4 Klamer Schmidt II, 234. 
 
10 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 superior talents as a critic. This is characteristic of Klop- 
 stock; he always felt a pride in being a poet, and a poet 
 alone, and master of his own productions. Only four years 
 before his death he wrote to Herder : "I have never wished 
 to rule over others in anything; but (thanks to you once 
 more, my genius !) neither have others ever ruled over me." 1 
 
 In Nantes, during the summer of 1769, Herder regards 
 himself an exile from German literature, for he is unable 
 to procure a single book in German. Among other works 
 he longs to see again Klopstock's "Messiah", "Lieder" and 
 "Hermannsschlacht", 2 just as he had longed for them on 
 board ship. He regrets that the French know nothing of 
 Germany but its name. The "Litteratur Briefe", he says, 
 were mistaken in their estimate of the impression made by 
 the "journal etranger" on the French. The latter know 
 only corrupted names and possibly a few fragments, but 
 little of the real status and content of German literature. 
 Gessner is best known and most admired of the German 
 poets; Klopstock, certainly, is not adapted to the French 
 taste. The French philosophers, he believes, even to 
 Diderot, the greatest of them, know only too little of 
 German philosophy. 3 
 
 Before 1771 Klopstock's odes had not appeared in book- 
 form and were circulated largely in manuscript among his 
 friends and admirers. Herder was one of the most ardent 
 collectors of the poems, for which he wrote from one end 
 of Germany to the other. 4 In the summer of 1770, Herder 
 and Caroline Flachsland, his beloved, read Klopstock to- 
 
 1 Lappenberg, p. 418. To Herder, November 13, 1799. 
 2 Lebensbild II, 40. Brw. mit Nicolai, p. 47. To Nicolai, Aug. 
 1769. 
 
 3 Brw. mit Nicolai, p. 53. To Nicolai, Paris, Nov. 30, 1769. 
 
 4 Lebensbild III, 1, pp. 157, 224, 276, 308, 325. Lebensbild 1, 2, 
 p. 116. 
 
PERSONAL RELATIONS 11 
 
 gether in Darmstadt; particularly the lyrical poems, so 
 carefully gleaned from many sources, which they recited 
 and sang together. 1 To his whole circle of friends in 
 Darmstadt Herder read the odes and the most beautiful 
 passages from the "Messiah". 2 It was in this city, too, 
 that the first edition of the odes was published early in 1771. 
 
 From October, 1770, to April, 1771, Herder was in 
 Strassburg undergoing medical treatment. During these 
 months, amid all his physical suffering, he opened up a 
 new world for the young genius, Goethe, and made him see 
 the true mission of the poet. In his dreary hours of soli- 
 tude, however, he turned for relief and comfort to the 
 ancient classics, to Ossian, to Shakespeare, and to Klopstock. 3 
 In Bikkeburg, where he went from Strassburg, he was still 
 reading Klopstock. 4 In a love-letter to Caroline he draws 
 upon the strength of his admiration for Klopstock for a 
 forcible image of passionate emotion: "You are as much 
 to me as the chapters in the Koran, which the angel, Gabriel, 
 brought to him, were to Mohammed; every letter is worth 
 more than an ode of Klopstock! — for it is truth, an out- 
 pouring of the most beautiful and the fullest heart; sim- 
 plicity itself ; yea and amen !" 5 
 
 Herder also recognized the deeper meaning of Klopstock's 
 poetry, for in his knowledge of the human soul he places 
 Klopstock with Homer, Sophocles, Dante, and Shakespeare, 
 "who have contributed more toward psychology and the 
 knowledge of human nature than the Aristotles and Leib- 
 nitzes of all peoples and all times." 6 In Herder's opinion 
 
 1 Nachlass III, 81. Erinnerungen I, 154. 
 
 2 Erinnerungen I, 154. 
 
 3 Erinnerungen I, 161. 
 
 4 Nachlass III, 81, 125. 
 
 5 Nachlass III, 344, 458. 
 6 Suphan VIII, 171, (1778). 
 
12 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 the great poet is at the same time a great philosopher. 
 Shakespeare, as poet and philosopher, penetrated deeply into 
 the very fundamental elements out of which human nature 
 grows ; Klopstock succeeded in attaining the height at which 
 a spiritual soul detaches itself from objective and earthly 
 things, and realizes its own nature. 1 Homer and Sophocles, 
 Shakespeare and Klopstock, are poets of the emotions, of 
 passions, of love ; they know the human heart to its greatest 
 depths; they do not pick to pieces, philosophize over mo- 
 tives, impulses, emotions, and feelings until no real enjoy- 
 ment, no real life is left for the reader; they are creators 
 and exhibitors of the human soul ; they present the operation 
 of all motives, the play of all impulses. Thus they bestir 
 the blood, overwhelm the mind, and arouse the sympathy 
 of their readers. 2 In his power to express the thoughts and 
 feelings of the innermost depths of the soul, Klopstock is a 
 poet, philosopher, and psychologist, all in one. 3 
 
 In a letter to Lavater, written October 30, 1772, Herder 
 calls Klopstock a heavenly genius in a human body. 4 Four 
 months before he writes to his betrothed that he is very 
 anxious to meet Wieland, but he must confess he is more 
 anxious to know Klopstock. 5 Up to this time he had not 
 even written to the genius he admired so much. In the 
 spring of 1773, however, Herder sent his review of Klop- 
 stock's odes 6 and "Von Deutscher Art und Kunst" to 
 Klopstock by his friend, Claudius. In his letter to Herder, 
 May 5, 1773, Klopstock says that he had intended writing 
 before he heard from him, in order to ask him why he had 
 
 iSuphan VIII, 184, (1778). 
 2Suphan II, 174, (1767-68). 
 3Suphan II, 42, (1768). 
 
 4 Nachlass II, 42. 
 
 5 Nachlass III, 270. 
 
 6 Appeared in Nicolai's "Allgemeine Bibliothek". 
 
PERSONAL RELATIONS 13 
 
 criticized the "Hermannsschlacht" as lacking in dramatic 
 action, and to inquire what his ideas concerning this drama 
 were. It seems the proposed discussion was never con- 
 summated. 
 
 This first letter, the beginning of the correspondence 
 between the two men, is very important; written in 1773, 
 when the poet was forty-nine years old, it shows how much 
 he thought of Herder as a critic, although the latter was a 
 full twenty years younger. It is evident that since his 
 letter to Gleim, in 1769, Klopstock has learned to appreciate 
 the young critic's superior ability. He remarks : "In all my 
 life, I have never written to one who — even in the best 
 sense of the word — was a critic ; you are the exception, and 
 will doubtless remain the single exception. The main 
 reason for this is that you are a critic by virtue of your 
 delicacy of taste (sehr starke Empfindung)". 1 
 
 Herder visited Lessing and Claudius in Hamburg in 
 April, 1770, 2 but he did not meet Klopstock, who was still 
 in Copenhagen. According to a letter which J. G. Zimmer- 
 mann wrote (October 14, 1774) in answer to Herder's 
 letter of September 27th, it seems the latter had intended 
 going to Hannover on September 11th to see Klopstock, 
 who visited Madame Alberti on that day. 3 The first week 
 in April, 1775, the poet came to Hannover again, 4 but 
 Herder was not to make his acquaintance till eight years 
 later. 
 
 In the spring of 1783, Herder, accompanied by his nine- 
 year old son, Gottfried, went to Hamburg, where he met 
 Klopstock for the first time. 5 In acknowledgment of this 
 
 1 Lappenberg p. 249. 
 
 2 Lebensbild III, 26. Nachlass I, 357. 
 
 3 Nachlass II, 342. 
 
 4 Nachlass II, 349. 
 
 5 Nachlass II, 238. Erinnerungen II, 238. Herder's Familien- 
 leben, p. 18. 
 
14 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 visit Herder writes to Klopstock, July 3, 1783: "Indeed, 
 dearest Klopstock, I wish my visit with you had been more 
 than a visit — could have become friendship. I have always 
 had the highest regard for you ; now I love you, and the tran- 
 quillity (Ruhe) 1 which hovers about you, often comes to 
 me. I wish I could live near you, in happy Holstein ; yet ! 
 — and yet — 'oft He fulfils, what the longing', — or He gives 
 us something better. I desire nothing more in this life !" 2 
 How different would have been the result if Herder had 
 met the poet in 1766, when he longed to leave Riga and go 
 on a pilgrimage; or even if he had seen him in 1769, when 
 he hoped to catch "a spark of his fire!" Herder was but 
 a youth then, and the world was still but opening before 
 him; Hamann had helped to awaken in him a taste for the 
 genuine in art, and in Klopstock he would have found a 
 second great teacher, and the realization of his idea of a 
 genius. Nevertheless, it was still an event for him to be 
 able to make the personal acquaintance of the great man 
 who had expressed his own feelings and thoughts, whose 
 language and verse he had studied, whose odes he knew by 
 heart, whose footsteps he had followed in his own poetry. 
 He had assimilated Klopstock's spirit so fully that there was 
 little new for him to learn when he made the poet's personal 
 acquaintance. The best that was in Klopstock's soul he had 
 long before discovered, and incorporating it in his own 
 heart, had expressed it in his own work and life. 
 
 This short visit in Hamburg was but a pleasant memory 
 for Herder, until Frau Johanna Elizabeth von Winthem, 
 who may be ranked among the "Klopstockianer" in her 
 admiration for the poet, cast a cloud over it. Someone had 
 called her attention to the nineteenth of the "Theologische 
 
 1 This tranquillity was lacking in Herder's nature. 
 2 Lappenberg, p. 310. 
 
PERSONAL RELATIONS 15 
 
 Briefe", in which Herder criticized adversely the use of 
 Biblical history as a subject for epic treatment. She con- 
 sidered such a criticism an indirect condemnation of the 
 "Messiah", and became suspicious of the way in which the 
 critic avoided a direct mention of Klopstock's masterpiece. 
 She was unable to understand how anyone could hold such 
 a view and yet have an honest admiration for Klopstock's 
 genius as a poet ; she wrote a long letter to Herder, in which 
 she demanded an explanation. Herder, in all probability, 
 did not answer this letter, and there is no evidence of any 
 direct correspondence between him and Klopstock for a 
 period of twelve years or more. 1 <— 
 
 After the year 1795, however, the relations of the two 
 men became more and more friendly. The disfavor with 
 which both viewed critical philosophy, 2 their dislike for 
 Goethe and Schiller, 3 their attitude toward English litera- 
 ture, 4 their linguistic and aesthetic studies, their patriotic 
 endeavors, — all this kept their interest in each other alive. 5 
 Friends, acquaintances, or young proteges frequently 
 brought tidings from one to the other, and thus the bond of 
 friendship was drawn more closely together. 6 In July, 
 1797, Herder's son visited Klopstock. 7 On March 21, 
 1797, Klopstock sends his friend the ode, "Unsere Sprache 
 an Uns", which had been omitted from the Goschen col- 
 lection. 8 He sends Herder a few epigrams "for his desk or 
 
 AHaym II, 189. 
 
 2 Lappenberg, p. 402. Archiv fur Litt. Gesch., 1873-74, Vol. Ill, 
 407. 
 
 3 Archiv. fur Litt. Gesch., Vol. Ill, pp. 396, 400, 409. 
 
 4 Archiv. fur Litt. Gesch., Vol. Ill, pp. 393, 407. Lappenberg, p 
 
 5 Compare Muncker, "Klopstock", p. 537. 
 
 6 Lappenberg, pp. 379, 402, 417, 422. Archiv fur Litt Gesch. 
 Vol. Ill, 266. 
 
 7 Archiv fur Litt. Gesch., Vol. Ill, 268. 
 
 8 Lappenberg, p. 379. 
 
16 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 for the 'Aurora' " on November 13, 1799, and follows them 
 with more two weeks later. 1 Finally, in his letter of 
 December 5, 1799, Herder bids Frau Klopstock send him a 
 copy of Gluck's composition of Klopstock's odes. 2 
 
 Indeed, although the men had not written to each other 
 for twelve years or more, Herder had never forgotten Klop- 
 stock. In the twentieth of the "Theologische Briefe" 
 (1780-85) he calls the poet one of the greatest composers 
 of hymns; 3 and in the forty-seventh "Brief " he considers 
 him perhaps the first poet in the expression of sublime 
 v majesty (stille Majestat) and of "sanfte Gute". 4 In the 
 essays dealing with Ossian and Homer (1791-96), Klopstock 
 is considered greater than Milton, and to be compared only 
 with Homer and Ossian. 5 In the second part of the 
 "Terpsichore" (1795) Herder apostrophizes Klopstock: "O 
 great, amiable poet, speaker of the purest emotions of our 
 soul, thou canst sometime bow thy head happily; in thy 
 songs thou hast become a swan, whose voice will die away 
 only with the last notes of our language." 6 
 
 Both great men died the same year, — Klopstock on March 
 14th, and Herder on December 18, 1803. Their mutual 
 friend, Gleim, preceded both in death. Caroline Herder 
 writes to Georg Muller concerning the death of her hus- 
 band's two friends : "Good old 'fiery' Gleim worried enough 
 over this delusion (philosophy) ; may he be at rest now, 
 that man of intellect and heart ! And so, too, may Klopstock 
 rest, that heavenly soul ! The death of these two men affec- 
 ted my husband very much." 7 
 
 1 Lappenberg, pp. 418, 419. 
 2 Lappenberg, p. 423. 
 
 3 Suphan XI. 
 
 4 Suphan XI, 81, (1781-1786). 
 
 5 Suphan XVIII, 590 
 
 6 Suphan XXVII, 172, (1795). 
 
 7 Preussische Jahrbucher, Vol. 29, p. 158- 
 
PERSONAL RELATIONS 17 
 
 When the great poet died, Herder poured out his soul 
 once more in praise of him. He was about to compare 
 Horace with two of his emulators, with Klopstock and 
 Ramler, when the news of the death of "Germany's first 
 singer" reached him; his pen dropped from his hand, and 
 refused to compare Klopstock with anyone. Klopstock 
 stands alone! Herder sees the poet's sacred muse appear 
 before him, and hears her proclaim his merits. 'Before 
 Klopstock's appearance the German poets were "thruming 
 on a wooden chopping-board" of Alexandrines, rhymed 
 iambics, trochees, and dactyls ; but Klopstock's muse brought, 
 whence she came, an entirely new meter. In spite of 
 scorn, mockery, and complaint, Klopstock continued in his 
 new path, for he knew he was seeking the highest simplicity 
 in form and the purest grace and charm. The highest 
 poetry was his goal, — the poetry of the heart. He made 
 the whole German language melodious in his own original 
 way. In his "Messiah" he gave the Germans their first 
 classical book, excepting Luther's translation of the Bible. 
 He recreated the poetic language of Germany, and his crea- 
 tion will remain as long as the echo resounds in the woods 
 and in the mountains. His voice will never die away as 
 long as the German language lives, but his peaceful soul 
 dwells above.' 1 Thus Herder summarizes his estimate of 
 Klopstock, the first great modern poet of Germany. 
 
 iSuphan XXIV, 220, (1803). 
 
PART I 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 HERDER AND THE "MESSIAH" 
 
 For centuries the epic had been considered the most ele- 
 vated and commanding form of poetry. The highest ambi- 
 tion of the poet was to become a German Homer just as 
 Virgil had become a Latin Homer. In the period following 
 Opitz, translations were made of French and Italian epic 
 poetry by Tobias, Hiibner, and Dietrich von dem Werden; 
 and attempts at writing an epic, dealing in large part with 
 heroes of the Thirty Years' War, were made by Johann 
 Sebastian Wieland, Johann Freinsheim, Georg Greflinger, 
 and Freiherr von Hohlberg. Beginning with the eighteenth 
 century, the epic took the place of the earlier prose ro- 
 mances; we find among its composers, Christian Heinrich 
 Postel, Johann von Besser, Johann Valentin Pietsch, Johann 
 Ulrich von Konig, Daniel Wilhelm Triller, Ludwig Fried- 
 rich Hudemann, Franz Christoph von Scheyb, and Karl 
 Gustav Heraus. Bodmer made an outline for his "Noah" 
 in 1742. In imitation of Boileau and Pope the burlesque 
 epic also found its exponents in Germany in Zacharia and 
 Uz. The epic had secured its noblest expression, however, 
 outside Germany, in England and France ("Paradise Lost" 
 and the "Henriade") ; the English poem was to be a source 
 of inspiration for the greatest of the modern German epics. 
 When Klopstock, therefore, attempted to write a German 
 
HERDER AND THE "MESSIAH" 19 
 
 epic, he was not treading upon new territory, as far as the 
 literary form was concerned. 
 
 It is notable that when the first three songs of Klopstock's 
 "Messiah" appeared in the "Bremer Beitrage", early in 
 1748, Germany was not prepared to receive a work of such 
 high merit. The public taste was not sufficiently developed 
 to comprehend and appreciate the lofty flight of Klopstock's 
 genius. 1 Among the Swiss school of critics, however, it 
 aroused the greatest interest and enthusiasm. The work, 
 which was ultimately to bring about the downfall of their 
 literary opponents in Leipzig, immediately became an object 
 of adoration for its Swiss admirers. They recognized in it 
 the perfect application of the new theories which they had 
 brought forth, and greeted the young poet with the most ex- 
 travagant enthusiasm. Klopstock is hailed as a poet on whom 
 the spirit of Milton rests; 2 he is thought, even, to surpass 
 Milton, and is considered greater than Virgil and Homer. 3 
 To compare him with Virgil would be like comparing Newton 
 with Euclid. 4 Klopstock's poetry is proclaimed not merely 
 a novel and unprecedented addition to German literature, 
 but indicative of a hitherto undreamed-of scope of German 
 genius. 5 The "Messiah" is acclaimed as great a hero as 
 Achilles and Ulysses; 6 the poem is called the sixth epic of 
 
 1 Bodmer to Gleim, Sept. 11, 1748; Gessner to Gleim, Jan. 24, 
 1755 ; Sulzer to Bodmer, Nov. 19, Dec. 24, 1774— Wm. Korte, pp. 95, 
 228, 416, 423. Herder to Gleim, Feb. 20, 1767— Lebensbild 1, 2. See 
 also D. F. Strauss, Vol. 10, pp. 51-59, for the effects of the "Messiah". 
 
 2 Bodmer to Gleim, Sept. 12, 1747— Wm. Korte, p. 66. 
 
 3 C. F. Meier in "Beurtheilung des Messiahs", 1749 — Hamel. 
 Lessing's "Verhaltnis zu Klopstock" — Muncker, p. 25. 
 
 4 Sulzer to Bodmer, Jan. 8, 1749— Korte, p. 95. 
 
 5 Kleist to Gleim, June 10, 1748— Hamel. Sulzer to Bodmer, 
 Jan. 8, 1748— Korte, p. 103. Bodmer to Gleim, Sept. 11, 1748— 
 Korte, p. 95. 
 
 6 Bodmer to Gleim, Sept. 11, 1748— Korte, p. 95. 
 
20 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 the world, ranking with Homer, Virgil, Milton, Tasso, and 
 Voltaire. 1 With Klopstock the Golden Age of German 
 literature is believed to have dawned; 2 German poetry has 
 come into her own, and is able to vie with the great litera- 
 tures of other nations. 3 So chorused the Swiss critics and 
 their followers, and an interest was soon taken in the poet 
 himself. Many ardently desired an opportunity to meet 
 him and form an intimate acquaintance with him, even to 
 become his friend. 4 His greatest admirers began to be con- 
 cerned about his physical comforts and welfare ; 5 some con- 
 fessed a fear of his possible death before having completed 
 his great work. Indeed, until the king of Denmark so 
 generously provided for him, proposals were constantly 
 made of plans by which Klopstock's merits might gain 
 material recognition. 6 
 
 Various criticisms appeared during the first year after 
 the publication of the "Messiah", all filled with enthusiastic 
 admiration for the new work; but none showed a true 
 appreciation of it as a piece of poetry, or pointed out its 
 significance for German literature. The merits of Klop- 
 stock's poem, indeed, were recognized by those who possessed 
 a genuine taste for poetry from the very beginning ; but his 
 genius had soared high above the minds of most readers 
 and critics, and a genuine conception of his originality, and 
 a critical estimate of it, did not appear till later. Bodmer 
 championed the cause of the poet and did most to accelerate 
 
 *Lange in "Der Gesellige", Feb. 15, 1749— Hamel. 
 
 2 Bodmer to Lange, Easter, 1748 — Korte, p. 84. 
 
 3 Wieland to Bodmer, Oct. 29, 1751 — "Lessing's Verhaltnis zu 
 K." p. 26. 
 
 4 "Lessings Verhaltnis zu Klopstock", p. 27. 
 
 5 "Lessings Verhaltnis zu Klopstock", p. 27. "Klopstock" — 
 Muncker, p. 148. 
 
 e Bodmer to Gleim, Sept. 11, 1748; Sulzer to Bodmer, Sept. 27, 
 1749, and April 21, 1750— Korte, pp. 95, 112, 131. 
 
HERDER AND THE "MESSIAH" 21 
 
 the celebrity of the poem in Germany. He had published 
 an article in the "Freimutige Nachrichten", in September, 
 1748, and had inspired some of the articles in other maga- 
 zines j 1 now he caused C. F. Meier to write a more complete 
 criticism, "Beurtheilung des Heldengedichts der Messias" 
 (Halle, 1749). This was not an aesthetic appreciation of 
 the poem, but a panegyric which ran riot with criticism and 
 showed little genuine taste for poetry. 2 It served its pur- 
 pose, however; a universal interest in the "Messiah" was 
 aroused, and friends were won for Klopstock throughout 
 Germany. It gave rise to a wealth of literature dealing 
 with the poem, and criticism after criticism appeared, not 
 only in Switzerland, but in Germany itself. Inspired by 
 such men as Bodmer, Hagedorn, and Wieland, minor critics 
 like Hess, Lange, Reichel, Paulli, and Buschung were un- 
 bounded in their enthusiasm; in their wild praise they lost 
 sight of what true criticism means. Haller, Spalding, Ram- 
 ler, Sulzer, and Schroker were more restrained in their great 
 admiration for Klopstock, and did not fear to utter serious 
 comments. They saw the danger of over-praise, and 
 realized that blind enthusiasm would work evils for the 
 poet. 3 Tscharner's and Waser's criticisms of the "Mes- 
 siah" came closer to being real, impartial, scientific discus- 
 sions, in which praise did not swallow up blame, than any 
 which appeared before Lessing's articles in 175 1. 4 
 
 In two years after the publication of Meier's criticism 
 (1749), Klopstock was known throughout Germany. His 
 name was honored, respected, and praised by the adherents 
 of the Swiss School; it was despised, scorned, and con- 
 
 1 Bodmer to Gleim, Sept. 11, 1748— Korte, p. 95. 
 
 2 "Klopstock"— Muncker, p. 145. 
 
 3 Sulzer to Bodmer, Jan. 8, 1749; Sept. 27, 1749— Korte, pp. 103, 
 111, 120. 
 
 4 "Klopstock"— Muncker, p. 151. 
 
22 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 demned by their rivals, the followers of the Leipzig school. 
 The "Messiah" became the battle-ground for the two par- 
 ties. Up to 1751 Gottsched and his pupils remained quiet 
 and did not make an open attack upon Klopstock; hoping, 
 probably, that the wild fire of enthusiasm would burn itself 
 out. They contented themselves with turning their wrath 
 upon Kleist's "Fruhling" (1749), thus striking an indirect 
 blow at Klopstock. But in 1751 Gottsched himself began 
 to attack the new poetry; at first carefully avoiding the 
 mention of names and basing his assault upon principles 
 alone. Satires and parodies of the "Messiah" and of the 
 new poetic language appeared by Triller, Stockhausen, and 
 Borner. Johann Heinrich Stuss, in his support of the Ger- 
 man hexameter, and in his recalling the fact that Gottsched 
 himself had, as early as 1730, recommended blank verse, 
 aroused Gottsched's ire. The Leipzig critic published his 
 own attack upon Klopstock's meter and the use of Biblical 
 subjects for an epic in January and March, 1752. Rather 
 than a genuine criticism, it was an attempt to ridicule. One 
 of the members of the Leipzig school, Schonaich, was even 
 bold enough to publish his epic, "Hermann oder das bef reite 
 Deutschland", in 1751, and hoped to have it rank with 
 Klopstock's poem. Instead he helped thereby to hasten the 
 down-fall of Gottsched's theories. The authors of the 
 "Bremer Beitrage", together with Dommerich and Stuss, 
 replied to the attacks made by the Gottsched party and 
 upheld the new school. 
 
 No impartial, individual, genuinely critical examination of 
 Klopstock's work had been made till Lessing's criticism 
 appeared in his monthly, "Das Neueste aus dem Reiche des 
 Witzes", during 1751. Lessing rises above party feeling; 
 he scoffs at Gottsched and his followers, but at the same 
 time he distinguishes Klopstock very carefully from his 
 
HERDER AND THE "MESSIAH" 23 
 
 imitators, and recognizes the unreasonableness of his pane- 
 gyrists. He blames and ridicules them quite as much as he 
 does the Gottschedians, only with more leniency. He treats 
 Klopstock always with respect and admiration; in him he 
 sees Germany's greatest genius. 1 He admires the "Mes- 
 siah" as an immortal song by which the German tongue first 
 penetrated into heaven, and which he cannot but envy the 
 author. 2 By it, he believes, Germany has proved that she 
 possesses creative geniuses. 3 It is by contrasting with them 
 the high dignity of Klopstock's poetry that he points his 
 condemnation of the poetic labors of the Leipzig school. 4 
 Yet, in contrast to this general praise, Lessing published a 
 sharp analysis of the sixteen beginning verses of the poem 
 in "Das Neueste", of September, 1751, which was repub- 
 lished and enlarged in the "Briefe aus dem Zweiten Teile 
 der Schriften", in 1753. With the penetrating eye of the 
 critic, he attempts to analyze minutely Klopstock's verse, 
 applying the principles of logic to the language of the heart. 
 Indeed, Lessing undoubtedly went too far in his application 
 of reason to poetry; yet in this he was moved by motives 
 of the utmost sincerity. He differed from Klopstock both 
 in his character and temperament. He was not a born lyric 
 poet ; reason occupied a higher place in his life than feeling, 
 and great emotional flights of poetry were utterly beyond 
 him. In the same way the mystic coloring of the "Messiah" 
 did not appeal to him, for his religious experiences and 
 convictions differed entirely from those of the poet of this 
 epic. Lessing was incapable of placing himself in full sym- 
 
 1 Lachmann III, 209. 
 
 2 Lachmann I, 194. 
 
 3 Vossische Zeitung, Mar. 27, 1751, — quoted in "Lessings Ver- 
 haltnis zu Klopstock", p. 75. 
 
 4 Lachmann III, pp. 206, 250, 251. 
 
24 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 pathy with the author, and drawing from the "Messiah" 
 the best that was in it. 1 
 
 Patzke, Moses Mendelssohn, and Nicolai were attracted 
 to Lessing's position above party quarrels. Nicolai's pub- 
 lication, in 1755, of "Briefe iiber den itzigen Zustand der 
 schonen Wissenschaften in Deutschland," sounded the close 
 of the battle between the Zurich and Leipzig schools. After 
 this, Volquarts, Hudemann, and Schonaich ("Die ganze 
 Aesthetik in einer Nuss oder Neologisches Worterbuch", 
 1754) were unable to have much effect; but the supporters 
 of the "Messiah" lifted their voices in defences and refuta- 
 tions with just as little avail. The quarrel lasted a few years 
 longer with Schonaich and Reichel as champions for the 
 Gottschedians ; but from 1755 onward it gradually died out. 2 
 
 During all this storm of controversy, in spite of over- 
 praise and blame, Klopstock's poem was read with the 
 warmest admiration by those who possessed a genuine taste 
 for poetry. Klopstock himself, his mind and heart en- 
 grossed with sublime and original ideas, engaged in none 
 of the disputes, and suffered friends and enemies to write 
 as they pleased. Among those who relished the beauty and 
 sentiment of the great poem was young Herder. He 
 probably first read the "Messiah" in Trescho's library during 
 the years 1760 to 1762. 3 Undoubtedly the sacredness of 
 the subject and the religious tone of the work appealed to 
 him as much as its lyrical qualities and the beauty of its 
 poetry. Herder's love for poetry had been aroused in his 
 
 1 In "Litteratur Briefe", number 19, Lessing takes up the "Mes- 
 siah" (the first and second volumes had appeared in 1755 with the 
 first ten songs) and discusses the changes the first five songs had 
 undergone since the edition of 1751. Regarding these he says : 
 "Changes and corrections which a poet like Klopstock makes in 
 his works deserve not alone to be noted, but also to be studied most 
 carefully. In them one studies the finest rules of art; for whatever 
 the masters of art consider worthy of attention is rule". 
 
 2 "Klopstock"— Muncker, p. 180. 
 3Haym I, 14. 
 
HERDER AND THE "MESSIAH" 25 
 
 early youth by constant reading of the Bible and the hym- 
 nal, and now in the "Messiah" he found the same religious, 
 musical, and poetic qualities which these two books possess. 
 Herder's nature was as harmoniously responsive to Klop- 
 stock's as Lessing's had been ill-keyed ; he was a born poet, 
 even if his innate lyricism never found an adequate expres- 
 sion. His religious experiences, too, were similar to those 
 of Klopstock. If anyone was able to bring to a criticism 
 of the German poet an appreciative and sympathetic touch, 
 which could comprehend fully the greatness of his poetry, 
 it was Herder. 
 
 While in the city of Riga he read the "Messiah" aloud 
 to his friends, and was always happy to receive new manu- 
 script copies of the parts which had not yet appeared in 
 print. 1 Here, also, he wrote his first criticism of the poem, 
 which appeared in 1767. He considers the poem the "most 
 sublime Oriental-German work," and would scrutinize it 
 carefully ; he believes "the great piece" has not yet received 
 as thorough an examination as it deserves. 2 Some had not 
 wished to criticize it, he says, because it was incomplete; 3 
 but Herder has no sympathy with this attitude; he believes 
 he can judge the spirit of a fragment and its poetic quality 
 as well as he can that of a finished product, without neces- 
 sarily having to foresee the end of the work or being unjust 
 to the author. Nay, the beginning of a product, he affirms, 
 should be judged even more particularly than a completed 
 work, as an aid to the author in his endeavors ; by having 
 
 1 Erinnnerungen I, 114. See Lappenberg, p. 241 — Herder to 
 Klopstock, Dec. 5, 1799. Herder writes his friend that he possesses 
 all editions of the "Messiah" but one (probably one of the editions 
 of 1780), and this one he requests Klopstock to send him. 
 
 2 Herder to Scheffner, 1766. Herder expresses dissatisfaction 
 with the criticism of the "Litteratur Briefe". Lebensbild 1, 2, 
 p. 146. 
 
 3 See Lessing, "Litteratur Brief" 15. 
 
26 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 his first deliverances criticized sincerely, an author can cor- 
 rect his mistakes and avoid future pitfalls. 'In Klopstock's 
 case, if the poet had found a critical friend at the very 
 beginning instead of a trumpeting eulogist (and here Herder 
 undoubtedly has Bodmer in mind) ; if he had not received 
 such blind applause and had not seen even more blind imi- 
 tation of his poem, probably a good deal in his excellent 
 work would be even more excellent than it is.' But such, 
 Herder believes, is always the case. Critics are always 
 found in plenty to criticize the attempts of mediocre writers ; 
 to pass judgment upon the works of novices and ap- 
 prentices ; but if a genius appear, like Pallas from the head 
 of Jupiter, heaven and earth resound with their mighty cries 
 of adoration. Herder realizes, as others had done before 
 him, 1 that the Swiss critics had gone too far in their wild, 
 unrestrained enthusiasm, and had not benefited Klopstock 
 in their exaggerated eulogies. Almost twenty years later, in 
 the twentieth of the "Theologische Briefe" (1780-85), he 
 expresses his disgust for the "Klopstockianer." He says, 
 Klopstock's disciples demand that their master should only 
 be looked upon with awe; should only be marvelled at; 
 but this is hard work for him, "even harder than sawing 
 closely-grained timber with one's head erect and eternally 
 gazing upward". One of the poet's disciples had said that 
 there had been two great days for the salvation of the world, 
 one on which it had been delivered through Christ, and one 
 on which it had been sung about by Klopstock. A second 
 added the crown of thorns which both Christ and Klop- 
 stock had worn for the same cause (both suffered for 
 humanity). But Herder would not put his hand upon this 
 wreath, nor add to the laurels which the poet already wore. 
 Of what use is it to compare Klopstock's poem with history, 
 
 iKorte, p. 120— Sulzer to Bodmer, 1749. 
 
HERDER AND THE "MESSIAH" 27 
 
 Herder says; to compare the poet with the Evangelists, 
 since one of his pupils said, Klopstock has improved the 
 Evangelists and Christ himself. 1 
 
 Herder presents his first criticism of the "Messiah" in 
 the form of a dialogue between a Jewish rabbi and a Chris- 
 tian; one, the representative of the Old Testament religion, 
 of Oriental traditions and imagination ; the other, the repre- 
 sentative of the newer religion, of European history and 
 literature. In these two personages Herder represents 
 Klopstock's three sources, the Bible, Homer, and Milton. 
 He emphasizes the fact that the poet of the "Messiah" 
 has succeeded in composing an epic without the use of 
 Greek mythology; insofar he has had the courage and 
 power to break away from the classical model of all epics ; 
 he has struck out a new path in the composition of the epic, 
 and has thus passed beyond the great Milton. 'Klopstock 
 has composed an original work in spite of certain Miltonic 
 features; he shows his great genius in having been able 
 to produce a poem, an epic, and a Christian epic, out of a 
 short historical account/ But has he succeeded in produc- 
 ing a really genuine national poem? Herder strikes the key- 
 note of his criticism, and at the same time the one great 
 fault of the "Messiah", in the sentence, "Everything, every- 
 thing, is beautiful in parts in Klopstock, very beautiful, only 
 in the whole there is lacking the real epic spirit." The 
 poem lacks national spirit. If it was intended to be a 
 Biblical epic, an epic of the Orient, Klopstock should have 
 made more use of Biblical history; he should have intro- 
 duced some features of the Old Testament. The scene of 
 his epic is not really Jewish ; the whole work should breath 
 more of the national spirit and temper of the Jews. Klop- 
 stock should have concerned himself more with the national 
 
 iSuphan X, 228, (1780-85). 
 
28 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 opinions of the Jews, the poetic import of the Old Testa- 
 ment, and with the taste of those times. The "Messiah" 
 is not a Biblical epic; it is not a full, objective expression 
 of the national life of the times of Christ. If Klopstock 
 intended his poem to be a song of the origin of the Chris- 
 tian religion, it would have been necessary for him to em- 
 phasize the founding of the Church with all its vicissitudes ; 
 he would have had to bear in mind the historical events 
 which took place at that time. The poem lacks historical 
 background.' 
 
 'Nor has Klopstock succeeded/ affirms Herder, 'in making 
 his hero the real subject of a tragic epic. His crucifixion 
 is not sufficiently motivated. The Messiah possesses too 
 much of the sublime, prophetic spirit and does not appear 
 human enough ; he does not accomplish enough through the 
 ordinary course of human strife and endeavor. If he had 
 wandered about in all the splendor which Klopstock gives 
 him, he could not have aroused the bitter hatred of his 
 enemies. Inasmuch as whatever Jesus has done to stir up 
 their hatred is related and is not a natural result of some- 
 thing we see him do, we have effect without cause. There 
 is too much frame-work, and too little structure ; too much 
 is related, and too little acted out. As creator of his own 
 work, Klopstock should have made the Messiah more vivid- 
 ly real ; in failing to do this he has fallen short of the Bible, 
 for the Biblical Messiah is more human. Klopstock depicts 
 him either as superhuman, or with a gentle, yielding heart, 
 one which speaks and suffers but does not act. Unless one 
 had read the Gospels first, a perusal of the poem would 
 leave one wholly ignorant of the genuine grandeur of Christ. 
 The prophets, too, Klopstock should not have represented 
 as gentle, loving youths, but he should have given them 
 human weaknesses, and at the same time have shown 
 
HERDER AND THE "MESSIAH" 29 
 
 through their actions the possibility for future greatness in 
 them as pillars of the Church/ 
 
 'In presenting superhuman beings/ continues Herder, 
 'Klopstock again fails to make them live, active beings with 
 human qualities. The angels are not made an integral part 
 of the poem; they are machines which their poetic creator 
 does not know how to use. They possess little of the great- 
 ness (das Hohe) of those in the Old Testament; Klopstock 
 forgets the external in his emphasis upon the internal. The 
 poet's devils, also, lack the really human element; they are 
 pure spirits whose malicious deeds against a God, whom 
 they know too well, and against a Messiah, whom they 
 know too little, are not fully motivated. They act out of 
 a principle of envy, rather than from an inner impulse. 
 Everything for which the poet uses the devils he could have 
 developed out of the human soul. The devil ought to be 
 more a devil of this world, the lord of the elements, with 
 power over death and misfortune; he would then be a 
 worthy adversary for Jesus to overthrow in the end/ 
 
 'But the beauties of the poem/ Herder is convinced, 'far 
 outshine the faults and even cause them to disappear. When 
 one reads the work one very rarely finds anything to crit- 
 icize adversely; one enjoys it; one enters intensely into its 
 essence and meaning. The poet is best in the subjective, 
 lyrical parts/ (where he can exercise the wonderful powers 
 of his genius to the greatest advantage). 'Nowhere is 
 Klopstock greater than when he, as one who knows the 
 human heart, succeeds in bringing up out of the depths of 
 the soul a storm of thoughts and emotions, and permits this 
 storm "to roar up to heaven" ; when he stirs up an eddy of 
 doubts, griefs, and fears, as in his Philo, his despairing 
 Ischariot, his Peter, and especially in that great creation 
 of his imagination, Abbadonna. In the tender scenes one 
 
30 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 always sees Klopstock describing his own heart — in Benoni 
 and Lazarus, in Cidli and Maria, in Portia, Mir jam, and 
 Debora'. 
 
 'Klopstock often emphasizes the sublime and the moral,' 
 says Herder, 'at the expense of the epic; insofar he is the 
 son of his time/ He has, therefore, not succeeded in writ- 
 ing a true epic; his poem is not an impersonal expression 
 of national life and spirit; a natural product of the con- 
 sciousness of a whole people. But the greatness of his work 
 Herder recognizes, even as early as 1767, to lie in that very 
 personal and human element which Klopstock's genius 
 breathes into it. It is the thought and the spirit lying back 
 of the form which the critic feels makes the "Messiah" a 
 real masterpiece ; and when it is completed, "perfection and 
 beauty itself will have been born." 1 The effect of the great 
 poem upon the people of Germany, both high and low, 
 educated and ignorant, proves the truth of Herder's crit- 
 icism. 
 
 What Herder puts into the mouths of the Christian and 
 the Jew, he writes again to Caroline, in 1770. He is re- 
 reading the "Messiah" and enjoys the delicate lyrical quali- 
 ties of the poem, but again misses the human activity, the 
 live action and character, which makes the real epic poem. 2 
 
 Herder opposes Lessing's and Winckelmann's exaggerated 
 enthusiasm for all that is Greek. Classicism and humanity 
 were not one and indivisible for him, but humanity was 
 always the broader, and its spirit was not limited to any one 
 age. 3 He was loath to consider Homer a standard poet of 
 all times and all peoples; on the contrary, he would judge 
 him according to his nature and his age. 4 Hence he 
 
 iSuphan I, pp. 275 ff., (1767). 
 
 2Lebensbild III, 1, p. 138. 
 
 3 Suphan I, Kritisches Waldchen. 
 
 *Suphan I, Kritisches Waldchen, IV, 423, (1769). 
 
HERDER AND THE "MESSIAH" 31 
 
 despised the erection of immutably accepted models for the 
 works of art of all time and all people; he despised imita- 
 tion. He is far from seeking Homer, as the great epic poet, 
 reflected in Klopstock's work, for Klopstock, he says, must 
 be appreciated as a modern poet and not as a Greek. 1 
 Klopstock is a religious poet, and whatever moves his 
 readers is truth; human and Biblical truth, coming from 
 his own experiences, and that will remain immortal. 2 Klop- 
 stock sang his "immortal song" in the spirit of the religion 
 of his time, according to his thoughts and the impressions 
 of his heart ; 3 he sang as he felt, and presented the visions 
 his imagination saw. 4 The "Messiah" is a production of 
 Klopstock's own self. He must be read with a full under- 
 standing of his nature, his culture, his ideas ; he who would 
 grasp him most fully must be one heart, one soul with the 
 poet, stepping into his place, and seeing and feeling with 
 him. He who cannot do this will think the epic Talmudic, 
 or Arabian, or see other elements in it ; he will see only one 
 particular thing ; will not be able to get beyond his own men- 
 tal horizon and his own narrow world/ 5 
 
 Herder thinks of Homer, and proposes the question 
 whether Klopstock intended to be a German Homer. 
 'According to his essay on sacred poetry the poet seems to 
 think more of Virgil ; and he is rather more Virgilian than 
 Homeric. Perhaps he, as a sacred Virgil, sings of the 
 Orient, and perhaps it is just this Virgilian element which 
 charms us most in his poem. But Homer !' When Herder 
 reads the table of contents of the songs he thinks of the 
 element of the marvelous in them which relates them to 
 
 iSuphan III, 233, (1769). 
 
 2 Nachlass II, 205. Herder to Lavater, Nov. 3, 1780 
 
 sSuphan III, 233, (1769). 
 
 4 Suphan IX, 499, (1776). 
 
 sSuphan III, 233, (1769). 
 
32 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 Homer; when he reads the synopses of the chapters he 
 still is reminded of the rhapsodist; but when he reads the 
 poem itself he no longer thinks of the Greek poet. The 
 great wealth of words, of beautiful language, of description, 
 of figures of speech, all carries him away, so that he finds 
 no temptation to seek the ancient singer in him, — 'Homer, 
 who was poor in words and rich in action; who did not 
 describe his ideas, but clothed them about with live bodies 
 which beam forth with the light of dawn. Homer was 
 objective; Klopstock is subjective. But perhaps it is the 
 highest honor for the German poet not to have made use of 
 a single Homeric picture; perhaps it is more conformable 
 to his time that he paints his pictures so that they enter 
 into one's soul, just as the sentient Greeks enjoyed their 
 sentient Homer; perhaps the moral element in Klopstock is 
 greater than all the beautiful sentience in Homer; perhaps 
 his great talent in depicting the human soul is worth more 
 than everything contained in the Greek singer.' Herder is 
 hereupon moved to quote from the "Litteratur Brief e" : 
 "Homer was understood just as little by all the Greeks as 
 Klopstock by all the Germans. The genuine critics of poet- 
 ry are at all times and in all lands as rare as the poets them- 
 selves have been I" 1 
 
 In 1769 Herder compares Milton and Klopstock with the 
 ancients. Tn wisdom, power, majesty, in everything great 
 and at the same time incomprehensible in the Divinity, the 
 poets of the Orient are a rich, inexhaustible source. In 
 such pictures a Silius Italicus, Ovid, Virgil, and Claudian 
 compared with a Job, Moses, Jesaias, and David are like a 
 drop of water compared with the ocean ; and it is a pity to 
 lick a drop when a chasm of greatness, sublimity, and 
 majesty is before us. Only a critical soul, devoid of emo- 
 
 iSuphan I, 296, (1767). 
 
HERDER AND THE "MESSIAH" 33 
 
 tion, would place Milton and Klopstock behind a Silius 
 Italicus and Claudian ; would hold up the purple patches of 
 an Ovid and Silius as rarities, as precious models, before the 
 spiritual poets of the Christian religion; and would not see 
 the sunny sea of majesty, the rain-bow of splendid colors, 
 in which the sacred books and their great imitators had 
 painted the omnipotence and power of God. Klopstock has 
 surpassed Silius Italicus in his reflection of Oriental ma- 
 jesty/ 1 Many years later, in 1796, Herder again compares 
 Milton and Klopstock. He says that one is accustomed tc 
 call Klopstock the German Milton, but he wishes that they 
 were never mentioned together, and even that the German 
 poet had never known the English bard. 'Both poets wrote 
 sacred poems, but their muses are different. They are like 
 Moses and Christ; like the Old and the New Testament. 
 Milton's poem is a reflective structure resting on old pillars ; 
 Klopstock's poem is a magic picture which has its begin- 
 ning in Gethsemane, and in the most delicate human emo- 
 tions and scenes hovers out over earth and heaven. Milton's 
 muse is as masculine as his iambic verse ; Klopstock's muse 
 is a more delicate one, whose elegies and hymns stream 
 through our whole soul, its single objective.' 2 Milton's 
 poem is probably a truer epic, if one takes the Greek epic 
 as a model ; but this is only a question of form. Considering 
 what true poetry is, and what its effect on the human soul 
 should be, Herder places the German poem above Milton's 
 "Paradise Lost". 
 
 Herder does not agree with Klotz that the unholy should 
 not be blended with the holy; for in that case the heathen 
 characters in the "Messiah" would have to be eliminated. 
 The scenes of the prayer of the heathen woman, Portia, 
 
 iSuphan III, 248, (1769). 
 2 Suphan XVIII, 118, (1796). 
 
34 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 ("Messiah", Book Six), and the account of her dream of 
 Socrates move Herder very much; he counts them among 
 the most precious in the poem. He is convinced that the 
 hearts of his Christian readers will rarely have reached so 
 high a position in their adoration of Jesus as with this 
 heathen prayer. Herder knows that Portia's dream "pours 
 itself" into the reader's heart more than many another 
 episode of the "Messiah." 1 Here, as always, Herder seeks 
 and has found the human touch; this is more to him than 
 orthodoxy or dogmatic religion. 
 
 In 1773 the last five songs of the "Messiah" appeared, 
 and in the same year Herder published a criticism of the 
 whole poem. 'It is a "monument of German poetry and lan- 
 guage", full of the purest emotions and an imagination 
 which often approaches inspiration. Klopstock describes 
 the most hidden complex feelings of the human soul, and 
 pours them out into words. Not the least of the merits of 
 the poem is that it is full of religion and song, — song like 
 the echo of departed spirits out of a valley of innocence and 
 love. The language almost ceases to be language and be- 
 comes music (Ton) ! a resounding of golden strings, which 
 sounds forth religion/ 2 It is the subjective, the personal, 
 the lyrical quality of the poem which Herder praises; the 
 expression of the poet's soul, — and consequently the "Mes- 
 siah" is not a national epic like Homer and Ossian. Klop- 
 stock does not stand aside, leave out his personal feelings, 
 and give an objective, plastic, picture of national life and 
 spirit. 'Klopstock's soul soared too high above the earth 
 into realms beyond human ken; his hero is not national like 
 Homer's Achilles and Ossian's Fingal. The German nation 
 has not yet reached that point in its development in religion 
 
 iSuphan III, 244, (1769). 
 
 2 Compare Suphan X, 229, (1780-85). 
 
HERDER AND THE "MESSIAH" 35 
 
 and general human sympathies to embrace such a work, 
 great for all time and place, and to look upon it as its most 
 precious possession. In its plan the poem is more a work 
 of youth than of manhood; according to its first outline 
 more an emulation of Milton than an immediate revelation. 
 Christ, especially regarding his non-epic character, is more a 
 Christ of the Halle school than the great Christ of religion. 
 The last portion of the poem does not compare favorably 
 with the first; the poet has grown older, and despite his 
 endeavor to remain true to his early simplicity his work has 
 become a more conscious product. Time has overtaken the 
 poet; the German character and ideas have changed in the 
 twenty-five years which passed since the first appearance 
 of the "Messiah". The views of religion have changed; 
 and neither the most orthodox, nor the most pious reader 
 would be satisfied with the poem. The times demand "a 
 muse of more masculine, of firmer, and more philosophical 
 form." '* ' "The worthiest poem of Germany" is not a na- 
 tional poem, (a " Volksgedicht" ) , like Homer and Ariosto. 
 It is the most beautiful marionette of the world, of which 
 whatever regards Biblical history and true folklore (Volks- 
 glaube) is but the wooden stick which the poet could not 
 conceal carefully enough, as if he were ashamed of it. The 
 diction and meter are entirely Klopstock's own; that is, 
 poetic, bold, delicate, learned, and classic ; never, however, 
 or only rarely, language and song for the people, no matter 
 how high the people might climb in culture.' 2 
 
 In his criticism of the "Messiah" and the epic as a piece 
 of literature Herder succeeds in showing the absurdity of 
 an attempt by anyone, at this time and age, to write a gen- 
 
 iSuphan V, 258ff, (1773). In "Theologische Briefe", XIX, 
 Herder condemns the use of Biblical history for epic treatment. 
 (1780-85). 
 
 2Suphan VIII, 430, (1788). 
 
36 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 uine epic poem. From 1771 onward Herder believes 
 firmly in the ballad origin of the Homeric epics, 1 a concep- 
 tion which had occupied his attention before. The epic 
 must spring spontaneously out of the heart of the nation; 
 it must be a natural expression of national life and spirit; 
 must be of popular origin, "volkstumlich". The truth of 
 Herder's idea was proved by the unsuccessful attempts 
 made at writing epics after the appearance of the "Mes- 
 siah". 2 Even Schiller attempted to write an epic in his 
 youth; in "Wilhelm Tell" he had a most fitting subject for 
 epic treatment, but he made a drama of it. Goethe, the 
 born epic poet, attempted an epic but gave it up ; his success- 
 ful epic, "Hermann und Dorothea", is not a national poem, 
 but a village idyll. Herder struck a death blow to the old 
 idea that an epic, a national poem, could be produced by the 
 conscious effort of an individual. Klopstock had aimed 
 too high; he had left the earth and gone above the clouds 
 into unknown realms, whither few of his contemporaries 
 could follow. At the same time it must be recognized that, 
 by choosing the most exalted subject, he had hoped to reach 
 the highest goal. 
 
 One of Klopstock's greatest admirers and interpreters, 
 the poet Schubart, said of him: "Klopstock is a great man, 
 and in order thoroughly to understand and to appreciate 
 him one must oneself possess the disposition to greatness." 
 We may say that no other critic of the "Messiah" possessed 
 this appreciation of greatness as did Herder. While Les- 
 sing criticized the "Messiah" chiefly from the point of view 
 of formal aesthetics, Herder, in addition to this, divined the 
 
 1 Haym II, 601. 
 
 2 Epics were written by Bodmer, Schonaich, Wieland, J. E. 
 Schlegel, Kleist, Oest, Naumann, Gessner, Zacharia, Uz, Moser, 
 Hess, Lenz, Lavater, J. F. von Meyer (1800), Ronnenberg (1806-07), 
 Pyrker (as late as the second and third decades of the 19th century). 
 
HERDER AND THE "MESSIAH" 37 
 
 spirit of Klopstock's poetry in the creation of a new ideal 
 of man, based upon the belief in the innate greatness of 
 the human soul. It is not difficult to trace the influence of 
 this ideal in the subsequent development of German litera- 
 ture, for all of its great leaders, Herder, as well as Goethe 
 and Schiller, felt the spell of the inspiring power of Klop- 
 stock's world of ideas in their youth. And it is because 
 Herder recognized the full significance of the "Messiah" for 
 the development of German culture that, shortly before his 
 death, he summed up his final opinion of this work in the 
 words : "Klopstock wrote the first classical book of the Ger- 
 man language since Luther's translation of the Bible." 1 
 
 iAdrastea (1803). 
 
PART I 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK'S LYRICAL POETRY 
 
 Poetry always remained one of Herder's chief interests 
 in life; his love for it had been awakened, as we know, in 
 his early youth, when under his father's instruction he 
 learned to read the Scriptures and the hymnal. Whenever 
 Herder's own warm, lyrical nature was deeply moved, even 
 from the very first years spent in Mohrungen, it gave utter- 
 ance to its feelings in poetry. We can imagine with what 
 avidity, endowed as he was with so poetic a nature, young 
 Herder first read the works of prominent German poets 
 (Opitz, Haller, Hagedorn, Gellert, Uz, Lessing, Creuz, 
 Kleist, Simon Dach), all of which he found in Trescho's 
 library. It is possible that he also became acquainted with 
 some of Klopstock's lyrical poems, as well as with the 
 "Messiah", at this time (1760-62). Be that as it may, 
 without doubt he learned to appreciate fully the genuinely 
 lyrical qualities of Klopstock's poetry in Koenigsberg, where 
 he received invaluable instruction and inspiration from 
 Hamann. Klopstock's odes, as is well known, had appeared 
 periodically from 1748 onward in various pamphlets, and 
 were circulated largely in manuscript among the poet's 
 
HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK'S LYRICAL POETRY 39 
 
 friends and admirers. Some of these poems must have 
 found their way to Hamann, for we will remember that as 
 early as 1759 he had recognized Klopstock's lyrical genius, 
 and, in the very year Herder came to Koenigsberg, termed 
 the poet "a great singer of Germany" and "the great restorer 
 of the lyric". 
 
 Herder's interest in poetry, while a pupil of Hamann, 
 becomes evident in the essay on the ode and in his "Versuch 
 einer Geschichte der Dichtkunst", written before his de- 
 parture for Riga. Burdach affirms that the young critic 
 made use of Blackwell's "Homer" (published in 1735) in 
 writing these two works ;* but even if Blackwell helped him 
 to formulate his ideas concerning the ode, his moving impulse 
 had undoubtedly come from Hamann, and the realization 
 of true lyrical poetry in Klopstock. Herder's own intense 
 musical nature, too, contributed in no small degree toward 
 determining his conception of poetry. 2 
 
 In his essay on the ode Herder defines this form of verse 
 as "the first-born child of the emotions, the origin of poetry 
 and the very germ of its life". The first ode was a child 
 of nature, and bore the most intimate relation to man's emo- 
 tions ; it was a "song of the feelings". As such it combined, 
 Herder believes, epic, dramatic, and lyrical qualities, and 
 hence became the life and source of all other forms of 
 verse. The mother-tongue of the human race was poetry, 
 and the mother-tongue of the poet is song; hence poetry 
 and music were originally one, and remained so until art 
 separated them. In the most genuine poetry, Herder there- 
 fore affirms, music again assumes its original importance, 
 and the true genius can in his artistic creation once more 
 unite poetry and music. 3 This is Herder's idea of genuine 
 
 1 Deutsche Rundschau, vol. 142, p. 242. 
 
 2 Erinnerungen III, 207. 
 
 3 Lebensbild I, 3, a, pp. 61-93. 
 
40 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 lyrical verse, — an expression of the poet's own emotions ex- 
 pressed in rhythmic, melodious language. 1 
 
 Klopstock, as Schiller also recognized, was truly a musical 
 poet, and the creator of a new poetic language. 2 Herder 
 himself, in 1768, says that, like Hagedorn, Gerstenberg, and 
 Ramler (the last-named in his cantatas), Klopstock did not 
 write his poetry, but sang it. 3 In Klopstock Herder found 
 a poet who combined music and language, and whose work 
 consequently approached the merits of original, genuine 
 poetry. Thus we can understand why he later, in Riga, 
 chose Klopstock's free meter in his translation of some 
 parts of Ossian. 4 While Herder was in the Baltic city he 
 and Hamann kept their mutual interest in Klopstock alive 
 through correspondence, and notified each other of the dis- 
 covery of new odes. 5 
 
 Herder's first estimate of Klopstock's lyrical powers 
 appeared in scattered remarks in the "Fragmente" of 1767 
 and 1768. In this criticism he keeps constantly before us 
 his conception of lyrical poetry, — the simple, natural ex- 
 pression of the human emotions, unhampered by classical 
 rule and convention, in which words, thought, and feeling 
 become a perfect unit in harmonious rhythm. He says that, 
 before Klopstock and Ramler appeared, the best writer of 
 odes in Germany was Cramer, but that his poetry was 
 often nothing but tinkling rhyme (Geklingel von Reimen). 6 
 
 1 Erinnerungen III, 207. 
 
 2 Deutsche Rundschau, vol. 142, pp. 239f . 
 
 sSuphan II, 39. Compare XXIII, 569, (1802); XVI, 251, 
 (1793); V, 258, (1773); V 310, (1771); XX, 327, (1798). Brw. 
 mit Nicolai, p. 78— July 2, 1772. 
 
 4 Suphan IV, 494 (note). These translations are preserved in 
 Volkslieder II, 2, 14, 15 16. 
 
 5 Lebensbild I, 2, p. 5 — Herder to Hamann, Jan 1765; p. 116 — 
 Hamann to Herder, Feb. 20, 1766. Lebensbild III, 1, p. 102 — Herder 
 to Caroline, Sept. 12, 1770— Herder speaks of an ode of Klopstock 
 which is still among his papers in Liefland. 
 
 6 Suphan I, 169, (1767). 
 
HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK'S LYRICAL POETRY 41 
 
 Most of Klopstock's odes, on the other hand, seem to him 
 to approach the hymn. They are soliloquies of the human 
 heart. His "psalm" gives the emotions, in their rapid suc- 
 cession, an unchecked passage ; we hear one wave beating 
 upon the next; a final surge goes higher than all its prede- 
 cessors, and silence ensues; we are lost in meditation, till 
 suddenly a new succession of ideas intoxicates us with a 
 pleasant confusion of thoughts. 1 Klopstock knows how to 
 penetrate to the innermost recesses of the heart; and many 
 a song is a model in the expression of a calm, devout emo- 
 tion, especially of the gentler emotions.' Nowhere is the 
 poet more felicitous, Herder believes, than in his reflections 
 upon death. 2 
 
 The critic feels the individual quality of genius which 
 Klopstock has breathed into his poems and which makes 
 them at once distinctly modern and yet genuinely poetical. 
 It matters little to him whether or not they adhere to the 
 classical model of the ode. If the reader is not willing that 
 they should be called odes, Herder says, let them remain 
 what they are — lyrical pictures, images of the poet's fancy 
 which find expression in musical language. 3 Klopstock 
 does not permit his imagination to lose itself in the 
 "labyrinth of mythology" in those poems which sing his 
 emotions and arouse the feelings of the reader. 4 So, too, 
 Herder finds very little which would recall the classical 
 poet, Horace. The ode dedicated to Frederick of Denmark 
 and placed as a preface to the "Messiah" may seem at the 
 beginning to be an imitation of one of the Latin odes, — 
 however, in his portrayal of a Christian soul the German 
 poet soon enters a world of thoughts and emotions peculiar 
 
 iSuphan I, 467, (1767). 
 
 2Suphan I, 269, (1767). 
 
 sSuphan I, 209, (1767). 
 
 ^Suphan I, 436, (1767). 
 
42 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 to Klopstock himself, and treads a path utterly unknown to 
 Horace. In some other poems, as in the "Zurchersee", 
 Herder admits there are to be found excellent Horatian 
 qualities, but the final impression and the fundamental tone 
 he maintains to be entirely the contribution of Klopstock's 
 talent. 1 The psalm to the king of Denmark Herder con- 
 siders a model in the imitation of the unperiodic melody of 
 the Hebrew poets; he finds the Hebrew discerptation (Zer- 
 stiicklung) of language and at the same time the synthesis 
 of images peculiar to the Greek poets ; here and there appear 
 little water-falls, yet the whole remains a gentle stream 
 rolling along over smooth stones. This, Herder believes, is 
 probably Klopstock's most precious lyrical poem. 2 Of the 
 ode, 'Truhlingsfeier", he says, that, inspired by nature as it 
 is, it will always make a most touching appeal to a sensitive 
 heart which can respond to the delicate feelings expressed 
 by the poem, and which seeks something beside mere word- 
 pictures in a poem, or "non sens" of spiritual emotion. 3 
 We shall find opportunity later to discuss more definitely 
 the nature of Herder's interests and work immediately upon 
 his return to Germany after an absence of six years. It will 
 suffice to say here that many of his efforts in Strassburg and 
 Buckeburg were being directed toward arousing his country- 
 men to a recognition of their own talents and a realization of 
 the value of their own culture by awakening a live interest 
 in the past achievements of their race. Every subject that 
 could lend him or his people support in this wonderful 
 patriotic movement Herder studied zealously. He buried 
 himself in the literature of the Orient; and he contributed 
 his share, as well, toward the rediscovery of the language 
 
 iSuphan I, 467, (1767). 
 2Suphan I, 271, (1767). 
 3Suphan I, 485, (1767). 
 
HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK'S LYRICAL POETRY 43 
 
 and literature of the North, and the awakening of the spirit 
 of linguistic and historical research. 1 But what is most 
 significant, Herder's interest in Klopstock, and particularly 
 in Klopstock's odes, becomes more vital than ever before. 
 We will recall how he had longed for Klopstock's "Mes- 
 siah", "Lieder", and "Hermannsschlacht" on board ship upon 
 leaving Riga; how he had craved these same works in 
 Nantes to fill the void in his heart caused by his personal 
 contact and acquaintance with the French people, their liter- 
 ature and culture. Now in Strassburg we find him most 
 diligently collecting the odes; he writes from Hamburg to 
 Zurich, from one end of Germany to the other for them. 2 
 He reads the odes in connection with the poems of the old 
 German Minnesingers ; 3 in both he feels the breath of that 
 viril Germanic spirit which he hopes to reawaken in the 
 hearts of his countrymen, proof of the fact that this spirit 
 is still alive, needing only to be awakened from its dormancy. 
 But besides this larger critical interest, Herder also finds 
 a personal satisfaction in reading Klopstock's odes. In 
 Caroline Flachsland he had found his own "Cidli", and con- 
 sequently the feelings of love and friendship which Klop- 
 stock had expressed so passionately in his poetry appeal to 
 Herder as a re-echo of his own entotions. He writes to his 
 sweetheart, August 30, 1770: "Since nothing interests me 
 now which appeals alone to reason, you can judge how glad 
 I was when I found some odes of Klopstock which are new 
 to me and express the deepest emotions." 4 We can see 
 how sympathetic Herder's own nature was with that of 
 Klopstock in another letter written to Caroline, in which he 
 
 iLebensbild III, 1, p. 236— Herder to Caroline, Oct. 28, 1770; p. 
 263— to Hartknoch, Nov. 21, 1770. 
 
 2 Lebensbild III, 1, p. 157. To Caroline, September, 1770. 
 3Lebensbild III, 1, p. 89. To Caroline, Sept. 9, 1770. 
 4 Lebensbild III, 1, p. 78. Compare p. 94— Sept. 9, 1770. 
 
44 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 tells us that while reading one of the odes ("Als ich unter 
 den Menschen noch war") a feeling of reminiscence (eine 
 Anerinnerung) came over him — like certain emotions which 
 pass like lightning through the soul — as if he himself, years 
 before, had expressed those very feelings in that very poem 
 for no one but Caroline. 1 The lovers address each other, 
 too, as "Petrarca" and "Laura", the poetic names used by 
 Klopstock. 2 
 
 Herder recognizes, also, the ethical and moral value of 
 the odes, for he writes to Caroline : "However much I 
 detest an erudite woman, it seems beautiful to me that a 
 tender soul like yours should be able to realize such en- 
 nobling emotions." 3 Most of the letters which Herder wrote 
 to Caroline from Strassburg are full of references to the 
 odes. 4 He sends her all the new poems he can find, and 
 when he expresses his intention of making a collection of 
 some few German poems which seem to him to be "the true 
 expression of emotion and the outpouring of a soul", pro- 
 poses to include in it some of Gerstenberg's "Tandeleien", 
 but especially Klopstock's lyrical poems. 5 With this in view, 
 he bids Caroline copy some of the latter out of the collection 
 of "Bremer Beitrage" which is available to her ; he intends 
 to put them into a song-book (Gesangbuch), "and how glad 
 I should be", he says, "to secure some which I have not yet 
 seen". 6 Caroline replies to Herder's request, 7 but it seems 
 this collection never came to pass. 8 
 
 1 Lebensbild III, 1, p. 89. To Caroline, Sept. 9, 1770. 
 2Lebensbild III, 1. p. 127. To Caroline, Sept. 9, 1770. 
 
 3 Lebensbild III, 1. p. 102. To Caroline, Sept. 12, 1770. 
 
 4 Lebensbild III, 1, pp. 59, 101, 127, 138, 167, 169, 170, 191, 204, 
 241, 276. 
 
 5 Lebensbild III, 1, p. 78. To Caroline, Aug. 30, 1770. 
 
 6 Lebensbild III, 1, p. 94. To Caroline, Sept. 9, 1770. 
 
 7 Lebensbild III, 1, p. 151. To Caroline, Sept. 22, 1770. 
 
 8 Haym I, 420. 
 
HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK'S LYRICAL POETRY 45 
 
 It appears that, as early as 1752, Klopstock was collecting 
 his odes for the purpose of publishing an edition of them. 
 At any rate, he writes to Gleim, February 19, 1759: "I 
 beg you to send me the ode "An die Freunde" ("Wingolf"). 
 I am engaged in looking over my odes and bringing them 
 into shape". 1 Again, in 1767, he writes to this same friend 
 that he may expect the odes soon "either in print or in man- 
 uscript". 2 Still, we know that the poet always considered 
 his odes of minor importance compared with the "Messiah", 3 
 and his hope of seeing them published collectively evidently 
 never reached a high pitch of concern. The poems (forty- 
 seven in number), gleaned from all sources, and not all of 
 them genuine, finally made their first appearance in book- 
 form, without Klopstock's knowledge, 4 among that cultured 
 circle of the poet's admirers in Darmstadt whom Goethe 
 often called "the Darmstadt communion of saints". 5 The 
 members of this circle (Caroline Flachsland was a leader 
 among them) were animated by the spirit of human kind- 
 ness and love which glowed in Klopstock's poetry, and 
 remind one of that other group of admirers in Zurich who, 
 feeling the influence of Klopstock's wonderful personality, 
 all but worshipped him during his visit there in 1750. In 
 Darmstadt the nobility itself recognized the priceless value 
 of Klopstock's poetry, for the first printed edition was made 
 by command of Countess Karoline of Hessen-Darmstadt. 
 It appeared in the spring of 1771 with the title : "Klopstocks 
 Oden und Elegien. Vier und dreyssigmal gedrukt. Fur 
 Ihro Hochfurstliche Durchlaucht die Frau Landgrafin von 
 
 iArchiv fur Litt. Gesch., Vol. XII, 251. 
 
 2 Klopstock X, 431. Klopstock to Gleim, Dec. 19, 1767. 
 
 3 Weimar. Jahrbuch IV, 124. Klopstock to Gleim, Sept. 27, 1748. 
 4 Archiv fur Litt. Gesch., Vol. Ill, 396. 
 
 5 Lyon, p. 21. 
 
46 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 Darmstadt. Vignette. Darmstadt, 1771. ni Herder was 
 one of the thirty-four who were to receive copies, and upon 
 reading the collection he expressed his appreciation in the 
 following poem: 
 
 Zu einer Sammlung Klopstock'scher Oden und Elegien 
 1771 
 
 Ja, sammlet sie, die Blatter! die zerrissnen, 
 zerstreuten Waisen Deutschlands ! Siisse Bliithe 
 soil sie denn gar der Nord verwehn? 
 
 Versammlet sie! Dem Bard' am tiefen Sunde 
 soil hier auf Kattenhohn, auf Traubenbergen 
 sein Kranz der Wonnelieder bliihn ! 
 
 Denn seine Wonnelieder sind sie! Blumen 
 der ersten Fnihlingsseele ! sind die Braute 
 der Morgenrothefantasie 
 
 von Klopstocks Leben! Ach, der Bardej tingling 
 schuf damals noch sein Schafer-Eden ! schuf es 
 Weltiiber! denn auf dieser Welt, 
 
 wo ists? Rief Fanny, die er noch nicht kannte, 
 und Fanny, die er nie, nie kennen sollte, 
 sang seine Meta! Meta selbst 
 
 ward ihm ja Jugendtraum nur! Und in Anbruch 
 des Traums, in Ahndungs-, in Prophetenfarben 
 da wars! da taucht' er seinen Kiel, 
 
 und schuf sich Rosenhimmel ! Spricht mit Engeln 
 als Briidern! Mit dem Gott, der Engel Vater 
 als Liebezartes jiingstes Kind, 
 
 das ihm im Schoosse lacht. Lacht Himmel um sich, 
 und wo der Himmel Nacht wird, o da dammern 
 ihm Thranen neues Himmelreich. 
 
 Aufklaren sie die Blick' ihm, dass er Zeiten 
 weissagt, die kommen — weil sie kommen sollen ! 
 und laben ihn mit Ahndungstraum, 
 
 i Quellen und Forschungen, Vol. XXXIX, 82ff. 
 Two other editions appeared later in 1771 : "F. G. Klopstocks kleine 
 poetische und prosaische Werke. Chr. Fr. D. Schubart. Frankfurt 
 und Leipzig, 1771 ;" and another by Bode in Hamburg which Klop- 
 stock himself directed. 
 
HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK'S LYRICAL POETRY 47 
 
 mit Wiedersehn, mit Auferstehungsfreuden, 
 mit Dortumarmen, mit der Krone Dammerung, 
 die hier ihm ach ! ein Dornkranz ward ! 
 
 Eilt denn in Freunde-Chor hin, dichtet Freunde 
 sich hin ins Leben ; sollen's jetzt ihm werden, 
 und haucht sie mit Begeisterung 
 
 der Tauschungstund' an. Ach! der Bardej tingling 
 sah Menschen noch als Bilder! holde Schatten 
 des Teppichs ! Liebetrunkner Blick, 
 
 Du hattest nicht getastet, und die Bilder 
 so Wandeflach gefunden ! — Menschenschone 
 ist Aussenwerk, ist Hiille nur, 
 
 1st schone Farb' und Gliederwohllaut. Innen 
 in Eingeweiden der Natur, in Radern 
 des Kreiselaufs, wo ist sie da 
 
 die siisse Tauschung? Wo die Morgenrosen 
 der Wangen und der schone Puis des Busens 
 und aller Reize Zaubernacht? — 
 
 Doch weg, Zergliedrerstahl ! du Menschheitmorder, 
 der Morder aller Reiz' und Lebensfreuden, 
 weg in des kalten Todes Hand ! 
 
 Nicht in die Hand des Jiinglings. Geht, ihr Freunde 
 der Unschuldslieb' und Wonn' und ihrer Muse 
 und ihres Thranenlustgesangs, 
 
 Geht, Freunde Klopstocks! und der schonste Segen 
 der Menschheit segn' euch, "seid, o siissgetauschet 
 von Lied' und Wciin' und Lebenszeit !" 
 
 Ihr sollt mit Klopstock weinen ! Eure Thrane 
 aus schonem Herzen, soil ihn schoner schmiicken 
 als harter Meeresperlen Kranz ! 
 
 Ihr sollt mit Klopstock weinen! und in Blumen 
 des nahen Fruhlings hinzerfliessend, fiihlen 
 ihn fiihlen, Lebens ganzen Werth! 
 
 Ein Freud' — , ein Freundschaftsbeben ! zwischen Bergen 
 der alten guten Katten, an den Granzen 
 des trugverarmten Galliens ! 
 
 sollt euch da stilles Eden schaffen! Reben 
 des siissen Wahnes trunkner Stirn' umschlingen 
 und allvergessen, was die Welt, 
 
 (Die grosse Sklaven- Trug- und Narren-Erde!) 
 vergessen, was sie wurklich ist! und schaffen 
 in Euch und um Euch Eure Welt 
 
48 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 Und denn mit Klopstock jauchzen! Eure Fiirstin, 
 von Kon'gen einst und Koniginnen Mutter! 
 Heil Euch, dass sie mit Klopstock fiihlt! 1 
 
 We remember how, many years before, Herder had first 
 been moved by Klopstock's odes; with what eagerness and 
 zeal he constantly collected them ; and how much they meant 
 to him, especially in Strassburg. But here for the first time 
 he is able to read a whole collection of them (almost a half 
 hundred in one volume), and the strength, beauty, and truth 
 of their sentiment, thus composed into one wonderful 
 message, is so moving that he is forced to find relief for 
 his feelings in poetry. All the feelings of happiness, com- 
 fort, and elevation experienced at odd moments for many 
 years by the reading of individual odes are here gathered to- 
 gether in one overwhelming emotion of joy and thanks- 
 giving. 
 
 The significance of this collection seems to him to be 
 that these "tattered and scattered orphans of Germany" 
 have been brought together in safe keeping, — orphans be- 
 cause they belong to all of Germany. They are the offspring 
 of the heart of the German nation as it beats in the genius 
 of Klopstock. These sweet blossoms, he predicts, shall 
 thrive and flourish in their new home and do honor to their 
 creator who tarries in the North. They are songs of the 
 spring-time of the poet's life, colored by the wonderful dawn 
 of his youthful phantasy. Herder recognizes fully the 
 marvellous genius of the young bard in creating an ideal 
 world of love and beauty to satisfy the yearnings of his over- 
 flowing heart ; his genius even soars up into the very heavens 
 themselves, in its efforts to realize the exalted dream of 
 the poet. The young writer's unselfish humanity makes 
 him long for communion with his fellow-men, and his fancy 
 
 iSuphan XXIX, 347ff. 
 
HERDER AND KLOPSTOK'S LYRICAL POETRY 49 
 
 again aims to satisfy his cravings by conjuring up an ideal 
 world of friendship rilled with companions who completely 
 fulfill the demands of his ideal visions. Here Herder's 
 critical mind gets the better of his heart, and would reflect 
 for a moment upon the usefulness of this poetic world of 
 the imagination ; but he shakes off the temptation to use this 
 "dissecting-knife, — this murderer of humanity and of all 
 life's charm and joy." There comes back to him in all its 
 sharpness the feeling of loneliness which he had experienced 
 in France, and the barren impression which French culture 
 and art, dominated by reason and artificiality, had made 
 upon him; and the violent contrast to all this found in 
 Klopstock's poetry, full of love and happiness, again makes 
 him realize fully what an important role this poetry should 
 play among his country-men, helping to recreate a new life, 
 in some measure comparable to the ideals expressed in 
 Klopstock's verse. On the border-land of Gaul ("des Trug- 
 verarmten Galliens" ; and in an earlier rendering, "des armen 
 Blendegalliens"), he asserts, which has lost all power of 
 imagination and all realization of the importance of the 
 creative phantasy for real life, Klopstock's admirers shall, 
 by assimilating the spirit of this poet's work, learn to ap- 
 preciate the full worth of life. This ideal world created 
 by the poet's fancy will stir them to nobler efforts to make 
 their world of actuality better and happier. 1 
 
 1 Suphan XXIX, 347ff. Concerning this poem Herder writes to 
 Merk, in April, 1771 : "I have poured forth my feelings upon the 
 first perusals of these favorite odes of Klopstock's youth (but in 
 accordance with my present misanthropic views) into a poem, which 
 I have sent to your neighbor as a word of gratitude for the honor 
 of being one of your chosen thirty-four" — Lebensbild III, 1, p. 366. 
 To Caroline he writes : "I am very sorry I enclosed the 'weinerliche' 
 
 poem on Kloostock's odes ; it was the first 'Aufwallung' " 
 
 Lebensbild III, 1, p. 355. Herder recognizes the literary deficien- 
 cies of the poem, and his critical mind resents, somewhat, the 
 exuberance of feeling expressed in it. 
 
50 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 The same year (1771) Herder composed a second poem 
 on Klopstock's lyrical poetry. 1 In it he praises particularly 
 the musical quality of the verse, which varies with the spirit 
 of the individual odes; thus the religious poems and those 
 inspired by nature, each possess a melody peculiar to them- 
 selves. He considers most beautiful the love poems; they 
 are like a harp of morning sun-beams bodying forth the 
 heavens in music. He notes how the poet, upon the death 
 of his beloved Cidli, found comfort for his sorrow in singing 
 the praises of his fatherland — a fatherland, however, made 
 more perfect than the real Germany by the idealizing power 
 of imagination which conjures up Hermann's bards. Never- 
 theless he trusts that Klopstock will long continue to sing 
 of this visionary country, for he realizes the power of the 
 ideal to make the real more perfect. Just as, in the other 
 poem, he hopes the circle of friends in Darmstadt will create 
 a better and happier world for themselves by becoming 
 imbued with the spirit of Klopstock's poems on friendship 
 and love, so here, he believes, the patriotic odes will help the 
 whole nation attain a more ideal state. 
 
 In his letters to Caroline during 1771 (the year in which 
 the three different editions appeared) and 1772, Herder 
 refers again and again to the odes, evidently rereading them 
 frequently. 2 "An die Freunde" would seem to be his fav- 
 orite ; he considers it more Pindaric than any ode since Pin- 
 dar himself wrote, 3 — the outpouring of the fullest heart and 
 
 i Suphan XXIX, 350. See Nachlass III, 141. To Caroline, 
 October-November, 1771. 
 
 2 For references to the odes see letters to Caroline (1771) — 
 Lebensbild III, 1, pp. 308, 338, 350; Nachlass III, pp. 53, 81, 93, 111, 
 125; (1772) Nachlass III, 344; (1773) Nachlass III, 416, 458. To 
 Merk (1771)— Lebensbild III, 1, p. 325. To Nicolai (1772)— Brw. 
 mit Nicolai, 78. 
 
 3 Lebensbild III, 1, p. 366. To Merk, April, 1771. 
 

 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK'S LYRICAL POETRY 51 
 
 the most beautiful soul. 1 Upon receiving an edition of the 
 poems (most probably one of the two different volumes 
 published in the fall of 1771) he writes to Caroline, October- 
 November, 1771 : "I have received a copy of Klopstock's 
 odes, and kept it for myself only three days so that you 
 might enjoy it the sooner. It is heavenly, and I am com- 
 pletely carried away by it It has no equal Klop- 
 
 stock has had a remarkable effect on me" . . . . 2 This shows 
 what an important place the odes had come to occupy in 
 Herder's mental world, and what great satisfaction his 
 feelings found in their sentiments. 3 
 
 But for all his warm praise, Herder was not unmindful 
 of Klopstock's fatal tendency to give his wonderful imagi 
 nation such free play that it tended to lose itself in abstrac- 
 tion, and thus fall short of the real purpose of poetry, name- 
 ly to stir the reader's emotions by permitting him to follow in 
 the poet's trail. He considers himself highly honored be- 
 cause Merk had compared the duskiness (Dammerung) of 
 his poetry with the same quality in Klopstock; yet he con- 
 siders his own poetry a combination of thought and feeling, 
 "a mixture of philosophy and emotion". In the outpouring 
 of pure emotion Herder believes Klopstock far superior to 
 himself; still, he says, Klopstock's odes leave but a dusky 
 chord (Dammerungston) of vague, confused (dunkele) 
 sentiments in the reader's soul ! "The faint echo of a bell" 
 (Nachhall der Glocke) ! He believes his own poems leave 
 behind a clearer thought and image (was Klareres, Funke, 
 Sentenz, Bild, Maxime). 4 
 
 iLebensbild III, 1, p. 355. To Caroline, 1771. 
 2 Nachlass III, 141. To Caroline, Oct-Nov., 1771. 
 
 3 References to the odes in Caroline's letters to Herder, Dec 
 1771, Nachlass III, 141; Nachlass III, 144 (Nov. 1771) ; p. 195 (Mar. 
 9, 1772); p. 290 (June 1772). 
 
 4 Lebensbild III, 1, p. 333. To Merk, 1771. Compare Korte, 
 401 — Sulzer to Bodmer, Dec. 20, 1771. Klopstock's odes are here 
 considered too "seraphisch". 
 
52 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 In 1767 Herder had expressed his feeling of the deficien- 
 cies of the "Messiah'' in its want of the epic spirit, of 
 action, and of any really human element. In 1769 and 1770 
 he reiterates this even more forcefully, 1 expressing a simi- 
 lar idea in regard to some of Klopstock's love poetry and 
 that of his imitators. These poems, he says, have soared to 
 the very gates of the Oriental heavens ; to the altars of the 
 protecting spirits, and almost to the throne of light in the 
 chorus of heavenly joys. He sounds a note of warning to 
 the Klopstock school of poets by reminding them that, if 
 they would follow the simplicity and naturalness of the 
 Scotch love-songs, they must put less play-work (Spielwerk) 
 into their love elegies. 2 Herder realizes that the love found 
 in Klopstock's and Gessner's poetry is characteristic of that 
 eighteenth century period when the pendulum had swung 
 its farthest from intellectualism to emotionalism. He feels 
 the sharp contrast between this love and that described in 
 the old Scotch songs, full as the latter are of a tenderness 
 and nobility which, in taking complete hold of us, yet makes 
 us nothing less than human. He would have his Eden be 
 rather an old Celtic hut on a rugged mountain among frost 
 and storm and fog than the sweetest Eden which Klopstock 
 and Gessner could paint in the Orient. 3 
 
 Herder published a criticism of Klopstock's odes in 1771. 
 He emphasizes above all else their marvelous lyrical quality, 
 especially in those youthful poems in which Klopstock pours 
 forth his whole heart and soul. This universal human 
 spirit he finds breathed through all the poems, but with a 
 different expression in each. Not only do the spirit and 
 sentiment differ, but the individuality of each is emphasized 
 
 iLebensbild III, 1, p. 138. Herder to Caroline, Sept. 20, 1770. 
 
 2Suphan III, 35, (1769). 
 
 3Lebensbild III, 1, p. 237. To Caroline, Oct. 28, 1770. 
 
HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK'S LYRICAL POETRY 53 
 
 by a difference in meter and rhythm ; even in each word, and 
 each Oh! and Ah! Here human nature reveals itself in 
 all its various moods. The ode, "Ziirchersee", presents a 
 rarely beautiful description of the power of nature and 
 spring-time to create joy and happiness in the human heart. 
 "An Giseke" presents a most faithful picture of the parting 
 of friends. The wavering of the emotions between the deep 
 grief at the thought of separation and the bright hope of a 
 future meeting, which the human heart experiences at 
 bidding farewell to a loved one, is most truthfully described 
 in the ode, "An Fanny". In some of the poems addressed 
 to God Herder misses the genuinely lyrical qualities common 
 to the other poems; he considers these "mere tirades of 
 phantasy". Others Herder considers very artistic treat- 
 ments of themes not suitable for lyrical treatment, and 
 hence impossible of consideration as pure lyrics. In all, 
 however, the critic forbears setting a boundary for the poet's 
 fancy; the reader must follow the poet in his flights of 
 imagination, and see things as he saw them. 
 
 Klopstock's poetry, affirms Herder, has also a more ser- 
 ious side. Into the "torrent of emotion", into the wonder- 
 ful visions created by his fancy, the poet weaves great 
 philosophical thoughts. In "Gesang an den Konig", "Zur- 
 chersee", and "Rheinwein" we have a deep inner philosophy 
 of life; in the odes to Cidli we have a metaphysics of love. 
 In the last book 1 appear a hundred excellent thoughts con- 
 cerning language, poetry, verse, Northern mythology, the 
 fatherland, and many more subjects. But he who seeks 
 only "pensees", Herder says, neglects the better part of the 
 poet's great soul. The critic cannot apply his usual rule 
 to see if each poem answers the requirements of the class- 
 ical ode; the poet has travelled a new path, surveyed by 
 
 1 Very probably Herder refers to the edition (Bode) of 1771. 
 
54 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 himself alone. Hence Herder believes that from Klop 
 stock's best poems the most perfect rules of poetic effect, 
 and even a new theory of the ode, could be deduced; for 
 his work contains the formulation of many new laws. 'To 
 be sure, Klopstock has been very successful in those poems 
 in which he made use of classical meter; but he has dis- 
 covered a new meter, which has enriched prosody/ In this 
 single collection of odes, Herder says, the German language 
 and German poetry, yea, the whole German race, have 
 received a most precious gift. 1 
 
 In 1783, in "Vom Geist der Ebraischen Poesie", Herder 
 considers Klopstock the first poet who has brought the 
 Germans to an appreciation of the poetic merits of the 
 Hebrew psalm ; the simplest of his own odes are notes from 
 David's harp. In their simplicity and real lyrical quality 
 Herder believes that many of the hymns and songs in the 
 "Messiah" far outshine similar productions of the poets of 
 neighboring countries. He calls Klopstock the Assaph of 
 the German people, and hopes the poet's lyrical genius will 
 live after him and produce in his own country a second 
 David. 2 
 
 Herder's final criticism of Klopstock's lyrical poetry was 
 written upon the publication of a new edition of the odes 
 in 1798. This edition had undergone many changes; the 
 poems were arranged in chronological order, and many 
 appeared in print for the first time. In some of the odes 
 an older rendering had been restored, because "it was the 
 first and best expression of the author's emotions". This 
 collection of odes, Herder believes, presents the history of 
 the emotional experiences of a poet's life-time; they give 
 us "a picture of the inner life of a great soul from the 
 
 iSuphan V, 350, (1771). 
 2Suphan XII, 227, (1783). 
 
HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK'S LYRICAL POETRY 55 
 
 time of youth to the memories of a happy old age". The 
 poetry itself is a treasure of language and expression; of 
 meter, rhythm, and lyrical description. Thought and emo- 
 tion become a unit in the cadence of words and melody; 
 thus each poem becomes a pure lyric, — a song. Klopstock's 
 muse, either as harpist and singer ("Siona"), or as pro- 
 phetess ("Teutone"), appeals to the human heart through 
 the ear; now in soft music, and now in louder tones. In 
 the early poems she utters the language of truth and feeling 
 as a child speaks it. 
 
 'The sentiment expressed in every work of art', pursues 
 Herder, 'determines whether it is divine or commonplace; 
 and Klopstock need not be ashamed of the sentiment em- 
 bodied in any one of his productions. His earliest songs 
 breathe an ideal youthful love of paradise ; in his riper years 
 he sings of deeper things; of friendship, of religion, and of 
 wisdom. But even in the later poems he does not blot out 
 entirely the liveliness of his youthful fancy, for the sweet 
 must of the early poems has but taken on a ripened flavor, 
 as of old wine, in the later odes. In the latest poems one 
 can detect that the poet is growing old; but they neverthe- 
 less paint the evening-glow of the poet's soul just as beauti- 
 fully as the early poems reflect the more vivid morning- 
 dawn/ The reason for this difference Herder seeks in the 
 subject-matter of the later poems, so varied that the poet 
 could not always strike the same lyrical chord, rather than 
 in any decline of the poet's powers. Abstract or moral 
 truths, much less poems dealing with artistic subjects, could 
 not be sung as psalms and dithyrambs. 
 
 In the ode, "Mein Vaterland", Herder finds the best pre- 
 sentation of Klopstock's attitude toward his native land. 'In 
 the later poems this ruling sentiment of patriotism speaks 
 more loudly because the times demand it. The poet has 
 
56 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 not changed in his feeling toward princes, warriors, and 
 conquerors, and the patronage and praise of nobility. His 
 love for his own people, however, could not shut out from 
 his heart an interest in events which were happening in a 
 neighboring country. His feeling for humanity exceeded 
 his feeling for nationality. Full of hope for the deliverance 
 of a whole people, he wrote the "fitats Generaux" in 1798, 
 — and how many wise and worthy men in Europe did not 
 share this hope with him ! But when things took a different 
 course, when madness and horror caused all humanity to 
 shudder with contempt and disgust ; when the spirit of con- 
 quest broke forth, and the heavens grew black on all sides, 
 then Klopstock pronounced his judgment against it all/ 
 
 'The poet's philosophical poems, his words of wisdom, 
 are like flowers in a valley among cedars, cypresses, weeping- 
 willows, and oaks. The poem, "Der Geniigsame", proves 
 that the poet's wisdom is not the new philosophy; it is not 
 abstract reasoning, but real life. The poet must always 
 erect his own monument in his work; Klopstock has erected 
 his in the ode, "An Freund und Feind." n 
 
 'Klopstock', concludes Herder, 'brought the ancients 
 nearer than ever before to the Germans, and cultivated in 
 his countrymen a better understanding and a deeper ap- 
 preciation for the lyrical art of the Greeks. He recreated 
 the German language of poetry, and freed it from the fetters 
 of rhyme, so that it became worthy of expressing the gen- 
 uinely lyrical nature of the German people ; not in unproso- 
 dic, declamatory style, but in the meter of the ancients. But 
 Klopstock went further ; he created a modern meter, which, 
 together with the new poetic language, has caused the Ger- 
 man lyrical poem to become a genuine product of the Ger- 
 man nature, worthy to be compared with the classical ode 
 
 iSuphan XX, 327, (1797). 
 
HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK'S LYRICAL POETRY 57 
 
 of the Greeks.' 1 Thus Herder in his criticism and interpre- 
 tation of Klopstock's poetry helped to awaken among his 
 countrymen an understanding of the most truly German 
 form of verse, the lyric, so soon to find its greatest master 
 in Goethe. 2 
 
 iSuphan XXVII, 172, (1795). Compare Suphan XVIII, 118, 
 (1796) —comparison of Klopstock and Milton; XXIV, 202, (1803) 
 — comparison of Klopstock and Ramler. 
 
 2 It may not be out of place here to quote what Carl Friedrich 
 Cramer says regarding Herder's criticism of Klopstock's odes : 
 "Da ich so manches iiber Oden schreibe, so ists nicht uninteressant, 
 auch einmal zu beleuchten, was andre driiber sagen; andre, die ich 
 achte und ehre. Herder hat so viel iiber Dichter geschrieben, ist 
 bey allem, was man auch gegen ihn einwenden mag, so sehr Philo- 
 soph; hat so viel Gefiihl des Wahren und Schonen, dass ich mir 
 keinen wurdigern Aristarchen zu erwahlen weis, wieder dariiber zu 
 richten.... Denn wie viel ich auch gegen der Detail seiner Critik 
 einzuwenden habe so erkenne ich doch sehr in allem diesen den 
 denkenden Kopf, den Mann, der auf seinen Schriftsteller iiberhaupt 
 entrirt, und vor allem den Mann der ihn nicht misverstehen will, 
 und der iiber diesen in Deutschland so verkannten Theil der Dich- 
 terverdienste Klopstocks, das Gesundeste und Beste gesagt, was 
 noch dariiber gesagt worden ist". — In Fragmenten aus Briefen von 
 Tellow an Elisa, p. 226. 
 
 V 
 
PART II 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 THE CONCEPTION OF THE POET 
 
 Klopstock was the first person to succeed in giving to 
 poetry, after centuries of general decline, a high and noble 
 place in the life of the German nation. His superior gen- 
 ius enabled him to establish his own brilliant position in the 
 literary firmament; 1 and this fact, together with his firm 
 belief in originality as the basis of all genuine art, swept 
 away all false conceptions of artistic production for that 
 great national literature which was to culminate in Goethe 
 and Schiller. More than a hundred years before, to be sure, 
 Opitz, who, like Klopstock, was the "father of a better 
 (literary) taste in Germany", 2 had emphasized the divine 
 origin of poetry ; but his attempts were largely limited to an 
 examination of the proper vehicle in language for verse, 
 and an attempt to establish metrical reforms. He him- 
 self was unable to prove the vitality of his belief in his own 
 work, or to effect among his contemporaries a realization of 
 its truth. Indeed, the idea of the Olympic and inspired 
 nature of poetry is as old as the form itself ; it was accepted 
 as an axiom from the time of the ancients. Its real meaning, 
 however, had been entirely forgotten; it had existed for 
 
 1 Giinther had failed utterly in his attempt to establish himself 
 as a poet. 
 
 2Suphan XVIII, 117. 
 
THE CONCEPTION OF THE POET 59 
 
 years as a mere useless phrase. The Swiss critics, Bodmer 
 and Breitinger, were the first to apply it again in the em- 
 phasis they placed upon the creative fancy ; but this was only 
 theory. It required a genius like Klopstock to prove by a 
 conclusive application to practice the verity of the spon- 
 taneous creation of genuine poetry. 
 
 Let us consider Klopstock's conception of genius in the 
 years prior to 1762, when Herder went to Koenigsberg. 
 From the very beginning of his career Klopstock has believed 
 in a special gift with which the poet is favored above ord- 
 inary men, and which is of divine source; 1 he terms it 
 genius, 2 nature, 3 and spirit. 4 His imagination pictures the 
 genius as having come from another world to consecrate 
 the future poet at birth ; 5 as a guardian spirit which accom- 
 panies man throughout life; 6 or as the soul of a departed 
 mortal which watches over a friend left behind in this 
 world. 7 Subjectively he conceives of genius as a mysterious 
 inner consciousness which manifests itself in free creative 
 activity ; 8 in a mystical sense he calls it a voice from nature 
 to which the poet responds. 9 Thus establishing a direct 
 communication with nature, independent of all convention- 
 ality, and thereupon embodying his experiences in a work 
 
 1 "Messiah", I, line 11; X, line 7. The ode, "An Gott", 1748. 
 
 2 "Wingolf", song V, 1747. "Fragen", 1752. 
 
 3 "Wingolf \ song VIII, 1747. In "Fragen", lines 1 to 2, an older 
 version reads: "Veracht' ihn, Leyer, der der Natur Geschenk In 
 sich verkennet — " 
 
 4 "Fragen", 1752. 
 
 5 "Lending der Griechen", 1747. 
 
 6 "Messiah", III, lines 93, 202; IV, line 120. "Wingolf", II, 
 1747. "Salem", 1748. "Die beiden Musen", 1752. 
 
 7 "An Bodmer", 1750. "An Young", 1752. Die Konigin Luise", 
 1752. 
 
 8 "An Gott", 1748. In an older version, "Wingolf", I, stanza 2, 
 reads : " Willst Du zu Strophen werden, o Lied, oder Ununter- 
 wiirfig, Pindars Gesangen gleich, Gleich Zeus erhabnem, trunknem 
 Sohne Frei aus der schaffenden Seele taumeln?" — Quoted by Otto 
 Lyon, 51. 
 
 9 "Wingolf", VIII, 1747. 
 
60 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 of art, the poet becomes the creator of an original master- 
 piece in the foot-steps of the great creator of the universe. 1 
 As early as 1745, in his Latin farewell-address, delivered at 
 Schulpforta, the young poet concedes that poetry is an imi- 
 tator of nature; but, in striving for beauty and perfection, 
 it presents natural things in a new order, and thus it becomes 
 the creator of a new world. 2 
 
 The essential element of all poetry, Klopstock believes, 
 is the power to appeal to the emotions of the reader rather 
 than to his reason. To do this most successfully it must 
 be a full expression of personality; of the poet's own indi- 
 vidual experiences, as well as a product of divine genius. 
 The greatest poetry, then, combines with this mysterious ele- 
 ment the human feelings of the poet ; it becomes a vital ex- 
 pression of action, humanity, and life. The imagination must 
 therefore not lose itself in abstractions which pass beyond 
 human experience ; and if it does dominate any particular 
 passage there must be evident a certain "fire" which can 
 still stir the reader's feelings. The sublime arouses man's 
 whole inner nature, and that divinely attuned soul, which 
 itself is a partaker of the divine, is most effected and is 
 able to transmit its ardor to others. All of our souls are 
 united in a bond of harmony, and when one of them is 
 aroused the others respond; the heart flames up; the whole 
 consciousness expands; the imagination is quickened; 
 thoughts and feelings grow larger and rise to a higher 
 plane. A new harmony of souls is born which raises man- 
 kind above the baser things of this world and brings it 
 into closer relation to truth. 3 Such is the effect of genuine 
 
 1 "Messiah", I, line 10. "Friedrich der Fiinfte", 1750. 
 
 2 D. F. Strauss, X, 31. 
 
 3 "Von der heiligen Poesie", Klopstock X, 225, 231, 237, (1755 
 and 1760). "Von der Sprache der Poesie", X, 208, (1759-60). 
 "Gedanken uber die Natur der Poesie", X, 215, (1759-60). 
 
THE CONCEPTION OF THE POET 61 
 
 poetry, according to Klopstock's belief as expressed in his 
 works before 1762. 
 
 We will recall that it was probably during the two years 
 he spent in Koenigsberg that Herder, through Hamann, 
 learned first to appreciate Klopstock's significance for Ger- 
 man literature. In him he found not merely a great genius, 
 but a true representative of his own country (as opposed 
 to the great genius of another country whose acquaintance 
 he also made at this time), the native flavor in whose work 
 had succeeded in proving that the German race possessed 
 that spirit which could give expression to original and gen- 
 uine poetry. In Klopstock's works the young critic was 
 able to find expressed the poet's ideas concerning genius, the 
 source and purpose of the truly beautiful, and the funda- 
 mental principles of originality in the production of the 
 aesthetic. 
 
 In one of Herder's earliest critical works, in the essay 
 on the ode, written in Koenigsberg, he presents his own 
 interpretation of the true artist, — an interpretation which 
 shows a marked similarity to that of Klopstock. He, too, 
 considers genius a vital inner impulse (Wuth), which ex- 
 presses itself in free creative activity 1 This "fire of the 
 lord" 2 becomes the source of all forms of poetry, — the ode, 
 the drama, and the epic. 3 The greatest poet Herder terms 
 a "creator", because he creates his work out of his own 
 heart, 4 independent of conventionality. He recognizes that 
 
 1 Lebensbild, I, 3, a, pp. 80, 84. 
 
 2 Lebensbild, I, 3, a, p. 87 — "Odenfeuer" ; p. 64 — "Enthusiasmus" 
 and "hohe Poetische Theopneustie" ; pp. 88, 89 — "Dieses freche 
 Feuer des Parenthyrsus ist das schopferische Genie", p. 83 — 
 "Schopfersgeist". 
 
 3 Lebensbild, I, 3, a, pp. 83, 63. 
 
 4 Lebensbild, I, 3,' a, p. 83. Suphan XXIX, 234, (1764) ; XXIX, 
 8, (1764); 230, 235, 258. Herder, like Klopstock, believes in a 
 personal genius— XXIX, 10, 232, 247, 249, 251. 
 
62 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 if his arrows are to carry home to the heart of the reader, 
 the poet must combine with his soaring genius the human 
 element, his own individual experiences. 1 For Herder, as 
 for Klopstock, the essential element of genuine poetry is 
 the power to appeal to the emotions; to stir man's whole 
 inner nature. 2 
 
 Thus far Herder's ideas coincide with those which Klop- 
 stock had expressed before him ; but his critical mind causes 
 him to emphasize more than does the poet their practical 
 application. He realizes that the beautiful is closely related 
 to the human emotions ; 3 and the more nearly these approach 
 a unit in the artist's nature, the less easily can a critic reduce 
 the aesthetic qualities of such a creation to principles of 
 artistic production. 4 If one tries to analize a true work of 
 art too closely, all "fire and spirit" vanish, and only "water 
 and dust" remain. 5 Thus Herder recognizes that rules 
 deduced from classical models lack entirely that very ele- 
 ment which makes the poet's creation a true work of 
 genius, and thus they can never give rise to genuine art. 
 If the reader perceives that a poem is built about the frame- 
 work of a classical model, he will feel that there is lacking, 
 in spite of all possible perfection of form, that indefinable 
 spirit which permeates an original creation, and will find 
 nothing of aesthetic value but a few fine thoughts. 6 Thus 
 early, even before leaving Koenigsberg, and just at the time 
 when he first realized in Klopstock the qualities of a true 
 genius, the young critic emphasizes the fundamental ideas 
 regarding originality in art. 
 
 In his later work Herder continues to interpret genius as 
 
 1 Lebensbild I, 3, a, pp. 82, 84. Compare pp. 62, 63. 
 
 2 Lebensbild I, 3, a, p. 63. 
 
 3 Lebensbild I, 3, a, p. 61. 
 
 4 Lebensbild I, 3, a ,p. 66. 
 
 5 Lebensbild I, 3, a, p. 96. 
 
 6 Lebensbild I, 3, a, p. 67. 
 
THE CONCEPTION OF THE POET 63 
 
 the necessary element in the production of original master- 
 pieces, now using mystical language to describe it and em- 
 phasizing its divine quality, 1 and now speaking of it in terms 
 of natural phenomena and dwelling on the human element. 2 
 He is fond, too, of reference to a personal genius; to a 
 guardian spirit which watches over man. 3 The critic con- 
 siders genius an inborn heavenly gift, which needs, how- 
 ever, to be aroused and disciplined before it can reach 
 perfection. 4 In other terms he considers it a natural ability 
 to "feel" the beautiful, which in the genius becomes second 
 nature. 5 The work of the genius is, therefore, not a pro- 
 duct of reflection and of study; but, instead, it is the spon- 
 taneous structure built by his imagination, but kept within 
 bounds by observation of nature and restrained emotion. 
 Herder realizes the besetting danger that unfettered fancy 
 and passion would lose themselves in abstractions, and 
 hence failing to stir the reader's emotions, leave his soul 
 cold (leer). 6 He demands that poetry that would appeal 
 
 i Suphan XVIII, 133, (1796) ; VIII, 334, (1778)— "Poetry is the 
 daughter of heaven"; V, 218, (1773) — 'Shakespeare is possessed 
 with "Gotterkraft" and is a fortunate "Gottersohn" endowed with 
 "Schopf ungsgeist" ' ; XXIX, 104, (1787)— "To build an immortal 
 masterpiece in the footsteps of the creator"; XXIX, 51, (1774) — 
 "Poetry is a harp of the gods;" XXIX 325, (1769)— "Triebe der 
 Gottheit", "Geist der Schopfung" ; XXIX,' 641, (1780-1800)— "Schop- 
 fer Geist". Lebensbild I, 276, (1765)— "Schopf ungsgeist". XVIII, 
 73, (1796) — "Raphael, a heavenly genius." 
 
 2 Suphan V, 183, (1773) — Poetry is the "stormiest, most secure 
 daughter of the human soul". Brw. mit seiner Gattin, 279 — "Poetry 
 is a mirror of the heart". Suphan V, 166, (1769) — "Poetry is the 
 music of the soul"; XVIII, 74, (1796)— "Poetry is the pure lan- 
 guage of the heart and mind". 
 
 3 Lebensbild I, 2, pp. 128, 136, 142, 177, 56. Lebensbild III, 1, pp. 
 104, 114, 117, 59, 180. Nachlass III, p. 71. Brw. mit seiner Gattin, 
 332. Suphan III, 31; IV, 463; V, 135; XXIX, 119, 138, 207, 208, 
 212, 220, 254, 509, 561. 
 
 4 Suphan XVIII, 81 (1796). 
 
 5 Suphan IV, 23 (1769). 
 
 6 Suphan II, 151, 152, 153, (1768); XXIX, 151, (1768); XVIII. 
 20, (1796). 
 
64 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 fully to man's inner nature, that would possess action and 
 passion; and this he feels can never be the result of con- 
 scious, studied labor. 1 The purely reflective poet he con- 
 siders no poet at all. 2 The ode, from which sprang all poet- 
 ry, was originally a simple expression of man's emotional 
 experiences ; it was the communion of the human heart with 
 God, itself, and nature. 3 This is what all genuine poetry 
 should be. Our souls can be united in a common bond of 
 harmony by the awakening of fundamental emotions, which, 
 causing "sparks to chase through the heart and soul", give 
 rise to happiness and to productive activity. This is inspira- 
 tion, — an enlivening of the soul which becomes a creative 
 power and the source of all genuine poetry. 4 This spirit can 
 be transmitted from one soul to another, especially if both be 
 endowed with genius, and give rise to true art. 5 
 
 Herder concedes that art can make everything except 
 nature ; 6 all natural phenomena were made in "Gotteswurf ", 
 and were not the result of "sweat and labor". 7 Thus the 
 poet, in order to produce the natural and the genuinely 
 aesthetic, must draw forth his work from the depths of his 
 soul; 8 he must let it grow naturally and without restraint 
 by conventional rule. 9 The true poet, and indeed every 
 "fiery" genius, is unconscious of adherence to rules, or even 
 of a formal conception of what constitutes beauty, when 
 he creates his work; his imagination, his "fiery glance", 
 
 i Suphan III, 157, 94 (1769) ; XVIII, 140, (1796) ; III, 158, (1769) 
 2Suphan XVIII, 139, (1796). 
 3 Suphan IV, 206, (1773); I, 270, (1767). 
 ^Lebensbild III, 1, p. 116. To Merk, Sept. 1770. Suphan I, 
 472, (1767). 
 
 5 Suphan I, 5, (1764). 
 
 6 Suphan IX, 315, 352. 
 
 7 Suphan XXIX, 380, (1773). 
 
 8 Suphan II, 179, (1768). 
 
 » Suphan IX, 329; XXXII, 234; III, 438, (1769). 
 
THE CONCEPTION OF THE POET 65 
 
 which encompasses the whole situation ; the thousand powers 
 which arise in him; all this works together, and a master- 
 piece is the result. 1 The world of the emotions is a realm of 
 spirits, of atoms, and only a creative talent can make forms 
 out of it. 2 In doing this the genius will not violate the basic 
 principles of art, even though he should disregard the arti- 
 ficial formulae deduced from models. 3 Thus Sophocles was 
 unconscious of Aristotelian doctrines when he produced his 
 great work; and yet his genius was far greater than that 
 of Aristotle. Classic rules are of no assistance, but are 
 rather a hindrance to the genius who makes his own path ; 4 
 the greatest genius absolutely ignores all convention. 5 Even 
 the ordinary canons of grammar need not be regarded by 
 him, for he who is a self-thinker will also be individual in 
 his means of expression. 6 . A genius seeks and creates new 
 words; he digs into the bowels of the language, as into a 
 mine, to find gold, 7 and is able to evolve from the crudest 
 dialect a tongue capable of conveying the most artistic 
 poetry. 8 
 
 Herder condemns all would-be critics and dogmatists, 
 whose appearance has resulted in the disappearance of all 
 creative fervor. 9 The purpose of criticism, he believes, is 
 to develop poetry as an art, 10 and to this end it must embody 
 a recognition that form is an essential element in poetry; 
 but this form is only the body which gives expression to a 
 
 iSuphan IX, 23, (1796). 
 2 Suphan XVIII, 138, (1796). 
 ^Suphan III, 48, (1769). 
 4 Suphan IV, 19, (1769). 
 5Suphan II, 230, (1768). 
 6 Suphan I, 207, (1767). 
 ^Suphan II, 20, (1768). 
 8 Suphan II, 50, (1768). 
 9 Lebensbild I, 2, p. 160. S. I, 171, (1767). 
 iGSuphan XXIX, 388, (1773); V, 218, (1773). 
 
66 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 spirit, to a "great thought", — the real life, the soul, which 
 even determines the outer form. If this soul is destroyed, 
 the form becomes a mere lifeless mask. 1 Thus the most 
 important element of poetry is its spirit; 2 and a literature 
 must be careful not to impose upon itself a form foreign 
 to its own spirit. 3 A poetry built upon borrowed rules of 
 aesthetics or morality is decadent. 4 It is a natural law that 
 in poetry and art only the true and the good are lasting; 5 
 and when poetry possesses these qualities — "living nature, 
 true morality" — it will be most genuine in its aesthetic 
 value and be of the greatest influence. 6 Poetry must 
 contain a spirit of genius — a certain "fire" which comes 
 from one heart and enters into another — if it would be true 
 art. 7 Genuine taste and genuine poetry are offspring of a 
 true philosophy of nature, of history and of life ; they make 
 up this philosophy. 8 Thus if the whole subjective world 
 of the soul could be made objective in verse, Herder believes, 
 we should have the highest and most genuine poetry. 9 
 
 Unlike Lessing, whose creative work is largely a result 
 of his critical theories, Klopstock first exercised his powers 
 as a genius and then became a critical interpreter of his 
 own original productions. We have already noted Klop- 
 stock's conception of genius and of genuine poetry before 
 1762; throughout his career he continues to express the 
 same ideas. His great contribution to the literature of 
 criticism was the "Gelehrtenrepublik", published in 1774. 
 In all of his work, both prose and poetry, Klopstock speaks 
 
 i Suphan XVIII, 121, (1796). 
 
 2Suphan XVIII, 121, (1796). 
 
 3Suphan XVIII, 124, (1796). 
 
 4 Suphan II, 152, (1768). 
 
 5 Suphan XVIII, 58, (1796). 
 
 6 Suphan VIII, 435, 338, 339. 
 
 7 Suphan I, 256, (1767) ; VIII, 334, (1778) ; IV, 368, (1769). . 
 
 8 Suphan XVIII, 515; II, 156, (1768). 
 
 9 Suphan I, 474, (1767). 
 
THE CONCEPTION OF THE POET 67 
 
 of genius, 1 nature, 2 spirit, 3 but in his later years he also 
 makes use of the French term, genie. 4 This inborn, divine 
 power, which awakens the poet at mid-night and impels him 
 to write, 5 Klopstock believes, must, however, be formally 
 trained by art before it can become perfect in its produc- 
 tion. 6 But above all artistic perfection, he maintains, a 
 poem must be full of action and passion, without which 
 it would be a mere body without a soul. 7 For Klopstock, 
 as for Herder, the spirit of a poem is more important than 
 its form ; it must present nature, as did the Greeks. 8 This 
 spirit is not supplied by discipline in the art of writing 
 poetry, but by the poet's genius and his own personality, 
 together with his observation of nature. 9 
 
 Klopstock bids the young poet follow the "spirit" which 
 is in him and disregard all books of rules. 10 The true poet 
 bears in his heart his own laws, which are the basis of his 
 poetry. 11 Thus in twenty verses of Homer, who wrote 
 independent of dogma, there are found more basic laws 
 of poetry than in one thousand paragraphs from books of 
 instruction. 12 Klopstock is, therefore, utterly opposed to 
 all imitation, because it produces according to artificial rules 
 deduced from classical models and fails to grasp that in- 
 
 1 "Unsere Fiirsten", 1781. "Wink", 1778. "Der jetzige Krieg" 
 1781. Epigrams 70, 73. "Wir und Sie", 1766. "An Freund und 
 Feind", 1781. "Beide", 1782. 
 
 2 "Aesthetiker", 1782. 
 
 3 "Unsere Sprache", 1767." Gelehrtenrepublik", p. 159. "Die Ver- 
 kennung", 1779. "Der Frohsinn", 1784. "Pie Ratgeberin" 1795. 
 
 4 "Unsere Sprache", 1767. "Beruhigung", 1778. "Die Denkzeiten", 
 1793. "An meinen Bruder, Viktor Ludewig", 1797. Epigram 17. 
 
 5 Epigram 70. "Gelehrtenrepublik", pp. 49, 315 — "Stunden des 
 Genies". 
 
 6 "Beide", 1782. "Gelehrtenrepublik", p. 155. 
 
 7 "Gelehrtenrepublik" p. 320. 
 
 8 "Nachahmer und Erfinder", 1796. "Der Unterschied", 1771. 
 9 "Gelehrtenrepublik", p. 159. 
 
 10 "Gelehrtenrepublik", p. 159. 
 
 11 "Gelehrtenrepublik", pp. 159, 166; "Aesthetiker", 1782. 
 
 12 "Gelehrtenrepublik", p. 207. 
 
68 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 definable spirit which characterizes the highest poetry; 1 it 
 does not come from the heart of the poet. 2 In contrast to 
 geniuses, whom he calls "Gottermenschen", 3 "creators", 4 
 Klopstock terms imitators, "Unwissende", 5 and "Ungeweih- 
 te". 6 He is even more bitter in his condemnation of would- 
 be genius, which in its delusion throws aside all rule and 
 forsakes all fundamental laws of art, and produces mon- 
 strosities. 7 
 
 In Klopstock's estimate, expressed as early as 1755, the 
 true poet has a high and noble duty to perform; he must 
 lift man above the commonplace and enrich his world of 
 thought ; he must remind man of his immortality, and reveal 
 to him the possibility of greater happiness on this earth. 8 
 Such a poet Klopstock himself was, and this Herder recog- 
 nized. He writes to Lavater, referring to the poet: "Who 
 possessess more feeling of yonder world .... than this 
 heavenly genius in human form?" 9 When in his critical 
 works Herder presents his interpretation of the poet's gift 
 to humanity, it is of the message he found expressed in 
 Klopstock's works that he speaks. 
 
 Herder believes that God selects certain mortals to act as 
 his regent on earth ; 10 among these chosen few he places the 
 poet, who becomes a god among men. 11 The divine spirit 
 
 1 Epigram 70. "Gelehrtenrepublik", pp. 55, 155, 127, 206; "Ver- 
 schiedene Zwecke", (1778) ; "Delphi", (1782) ; "Der Nachahmer und 
 der Erfinder", (1796). 
 
 2 "Gelehrtenrepublik", pp. 159, 166; "Aesthetiker", (1782). 
 
 3 "Der jetzige Krieg", (1781). 
 
 4 "Messiah" I, 11; "Der Unterschied", (1771). 
 5"Wingolf" VI, (1747). 
 
 6 "Kaiser Heinrich", (1764). 
 
 7 Epigram 108; "Massbestimmung", (1781); "Beide", (1782); 
 "Die Ratgeberin", (1795); "Lerche und Nachtigall", (1796). 
 
 8 "Von der heiligen Poesie", X, 227; (1755). 
 SNachlass II, 14. Oct., 1772. 
 
 !°Suphan XIII 351, (1785). 
 uSuphan VIII, 434, (1778). 
 
THE CONCEPTION OF THE POET 69 
 
 reveals itself to humanity through the poet's work, which 
 thus becomes an interpreter of nature and of God; 1 it is a 
 noble, joy-giving balsam composed of the most secret powers 
 of God's creation. 2 If the poet has this higher purpose, and 
 is really a messenger of the gods ; if he feels the impulse of 
 this great power and responds to it, his words will "fly like 
 arrows out of his golden quiver into the heart of human- 
 ity". 3 He will breathe with a noble fire, with something 
 transcending the earthly, and will create a whole world of 
 happiness, knowledge, language, and religion for his people. 
 Such a poet has the hearts of his people at his command and 
 can lead them, whither he will, to ends lofty or ignoble. He, 
 however, who recognizes the true dignity and nobility of 
 his genius; who loves his people and his fellow-men; who 
 flees all mean, worldly temptation, and fixes his aim upon 
 the position of Orpheus, Homer, Moses, or one of God's 
 prophets ; who considers nothing more sacred than the voice 
 of nature and of truth, and possesses that spark of creative 
 power and love which flows into his soul from heaven and 
 dwells in every true poet, — Herder declares that when such 
 a chosen one appears and permits his soul to express what 
 it, above all other men, has experienced, he will work mir- 
 acles. He will give utterance to something more than the 
 feelings of his own human heart. As the magnet attracts 
 iron, so he will attract his fellow-beings; as the electrical 
 spark penetrates all things, so his "lightning" will strike 
 into the consciousness of men; as the gentle, radiant sun- 
 beam, flooding everything, becomes here light, there warmth, 
 everywhere, however, beauty, splendor, colors, spring-time, 
 life, — so will genuine poetry work its wonders on individ- 
 
 iSuphan VIII, 362. 
 2Suphan VIII, 343. 
 3Suphan VIII, 369. 
 
70 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 uals and whole peoples. 1 He, in whose soul great and orig- 
 inal thoughts are born into expression ; he who sees not with 
 the eye alone, but with the spirit as well, and does not speak 
 with his tongue alone but with his soul; he who is able to 
 watch nature create; can spy out new evidences of her 
 workings, and convert them by artistic means to human pur- 
 poses, — in him are combined all human faculties most 
 harmoniously; he is the "eigentliche Mensch", and since he 
 appears but rarely, is a god among men. 2 
 
 Shortly before his death Herder said to Kurfiirst Fried- 
 rich August, of Saxony, that he considered poetry an 
 almost indispensible means for the uplifting and ennobling 
 of man's whole nature and character. 3 Some years before 
 he had written that all culture begins with story-telling. 4 
 The Greeks drew from Homer wisdom, art, and morality. 5 
 The more closely the heroic spirit and unrestrained (unge- 
 zierte) humanity are related, the more noble will the human 
 soul be, even without moral compulsion or rule. The more 
 the feeling for beauty is a ruling taste in a nation, and a feel- 
 ing of humanity the guiding principle of the state, the more 
 effective will poetry be in the life of that nation, and the 
 more generally pleasing and useful it will be ; and the poet, 
 as a poet, will be recognized a noble citizen of that country. 6 
 
 Herder believes that the poet is first of all a man; an 
 honest friend of humanity ; a promoter of health, happiness, 
 and truth. 7 The whole purpose of poetry is to strike the 
 heart of humanity; 8 it is divine in its effect. 9 Just as the 
 
 i Suphan VIII, 433, 434, (1778). 
 
 2 Suphan XIII, 369, (1785). 
 
 3 Erinnerungen III, 228. 
 
 4 Suphan XVIII, 32, (1796). 
 
 5 Suphan VIII, 371. 
 
 6 Suphan II, 154, (1768). 
 
 7 Suphan VIII, 424, (1778). 
 
 8 Suphan VIII, 407. 
 
 9 Suphan VIII, 344. 
 
THE CONCEPTION OF THE POET 71 
 
 members of a chorus become one soul and one heart in their 
 song, 1 so poetry and song can unite the hearts of a whole 
 people. 2 Germany owes to her heroes and her bards the 
 fact that Rome did not conquer her; so long as her poets 
 lived her national spirit was unconquerable; her peculiar 
 traits, customs, and manners were maintained; her person- 
 ality could not be destroyed. Among barbarous folks songs 
 are knowledge, history, law, manners, joy, charm, comfort, 
 "hours of heaven on earth" ; and these peoples are often of 
 purer morals than are the civilized races. 3 Similarly, in 
 modern times the most individual poets are the most na- 
 tional, and are the most precious possession of their coun- 
 try. 4 Their poetry is a mirror of the thoughts of their 
 land, and of her faults and virtues; an expression of her 
 highest ideals; 5 a revelation of her whole soul. 6 The poet 
 reflects the character of his time; he stands rooted in his 
 century like a tree in the ground. 7 But his poetry also goes 
 far beyond its time, and becomes the sure prophetess of a 
 nation's future. So Herder sees the prophetic vision of 
 some of Stolberg's "Iamben" and of many of Klopstock's 
 odes, both of his youth and of his later years. 8 
 
 Thus we see that Klopstock, the first great German poet, 
 succeeded in establishing an exalted and substantial position 
 in the affairs of life for the great lineage which he repre- 
 sented, in proving that German genius could produce origi- 
 nal and genuine poetry. He created a new world of thought, 
 of emotion, and happiness ; became a teacher of truth and 
 beauty ; a judge and prophet of humanity in a much deeper 
 
 1 Suphan VIII, 405. 
 2 Suphan VIII, 404. 
 
 3 Suphan VIII, 389. 
 
 4 Suphan II, 44 160 (1768). 
 
 5 Suphan XVIII, 136, (1796). 
 
 6 Suphan XVIII, 58, (1796). 
 * Suphan II, 265, (1768). 
 
 8 Suphan XVII, 67, (1793). 
 
72 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 sense than the mere scholar could ever hope to become. 
 Herder did not possess that spark of the highest talent 
 which gives expression to original poetry; yet in the field 
 of criticism his faculty was creative and eminently produc- 
 tive. Here he acted as an interpreter of the more elevated 
 genius, as individualized in Klopstock, and contributed in an 
 impressive degree toward creating a taste for true art and 
 nature in Germany, and an understanding of the basic 
 principles of original production in the field of literature. 
 During his stay in Strassburg Herder introduced young 
 Goethe to Klopstock's new poetic world, and inspired his 
 genius ; he filled the soul of the man who was to become the 
 greatest poet of Germany with a keen realization of the 
 poet's true position in life and of the mission of poetry for 
 humanity. 1 
 
 1 See Otto Lyon, pp. 84, 86, 102, for Herder's influence on Goethe 
 in introducing him to Klopstock. See Herder's Nachlass for 
 Goethe's letters to Herder during the years 1771 and 1772. 
 
PART II 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 RELIGIOUS VIEWS 
 
 It is the purpose of this chapter to present, not Herder's 
 and Klopstock's theology or philosophical system, but their 
 religious thought as a part of the new German culture. 
 
 Whenever the church in its ceremonies so emphasized 
 form and dogma at the expense of feeling that man's re- 
 ligious needs were no longer satisfied by its teachings, the 
 spirit of protest was aroused in certain gifted individuals, 
 who then either attempted to reform the church and its 
 doctrines, as in the great Reformation and in the later 
 Pietistic movement, or else sought satisfaction and gave 
 expression to their religious impulses outside the organized 
 church, as did the mystics of the thirteenth and fourteenth 
 centuries. A similar spirit of protest is evident in the sev- 
 enteenth century, — a period in which all sorts of religious 
 sects originated and flourished. This was a religious age; 
 faith in the Bible and in a God, who was conceived as 
 father, protector, and comforter, was the basis of its belief. 
 But the following century forsook the paths of pure religion 
 and sought to find a solution for the problem of the uni- 
 verse in speculative philosophy, which, breaking away from 
 all formal tradition and superstition, separated theology 
 
74 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 from religion. This philosophy of so-called enlightenment, 
 then, took the place of the older religion. 
 
 In France, with Voltaire, Helvetius, and Rousseau as in- 
 tellectual leaders, the new movement was religiously destruc- 
 tive; it was directed against the spirit of Christianity and 
 the church itself ; against the belief in the divinity of Christ 
 and in the immortality of man. Out of this the French 
 character developed an exaggerated self-consciousness and 
 egoism which considered sensual enjoyment the highest and 
 only blessing, and completely maimed the better instincts of 
 the human heart. For the Frenchman of greater spiritual 
 elevation nothing but a doctrine of nature-worship, which 
 regarded only the visible manifestation of nature, remained 
 to satisfy his religious cravings. 1 On the other hand, with 
 the exception of Frederick the Great, the German philoso- 
 phers 2 and poets were not inclined to take up this sceptical 
 and materialistic view of religion. They did not oppose 
 formal religion, or the church as a representative of formal- 
 ity; but the old spirit of Protestantism animated them, and 
 they resented the intolerant and narrow views of the clergy 
 and of school orthodoxy, which emphasized the nothingness 
 of this world and the terribleness of eternal damnation. 
 They felt keenly the force of the great message which pure 
 Christianity had to deliver, and believed it their duty to 
 uphold this great religion against the attacks made upon it 
 by their French contemporaries. They aspired to find a 
 new inner relation of man to God by becoming the prophets 
 of a new life with freedom, humanity, and love as its 
 watchwords. They sought the invisible sources of nature, 
 aimed to find God in his own creations; to awaken the 
 divine in man, and to help it to express itself in vital, noble 
 
 iGelzer I, 178ff. 
 
 2 Men like Wolff, Justus Moser, Baumgarten, Michaelis, and 
 Ernesti. 
 
RELIGIOUS VIEWS 75 
 
 activity. Religion was, therefore, not considered and glori- 
 fied as dogma alone, but also as poetry ; indeed, religion and 
 poetry became one. 
 
 The whole renaissance of German culture and literature 
 *in the eighteenth century had its root in this religious en- 
 thusiasm. 1 The poets of this age broke away from the 
 authority of church tradition and dogma, and sought God 
 in nature, and religion in the human heart. They voiced 
 a reaction against the dangers of purely speculative philos- 
 ophy, and of that mockery of religion which had arisen in 
 court circles. 2 They aroused feeling and imagination, the 
 fundamental elements of all true poetry, and permitted them 
 to play a part in man's religious experiences. Brockes, 
 Drollinger, Haller, Gellert, Uz, Liscow, Rabener, and 
 Kastner, 3 each in his own way, attempted to find God in the 
 active experience of life; to give religion a live role in the 
 world of actuality and humanity by combining it with poety. 
 They aimed to bring about a harmony between the finite 
 and the infinite ; between God and man in the beautiful. 
 
 This new spirit, which animated the poets of Germany, 
 received its most perfect expression in Klopstock's "Mes- 
 siah". Klopstock himself was the greatest prophet of the 
 new gospel of humanity. 4 In Zurich he was considered 
 a prophet come from heaven, and "was worshipped as much 
 as was Mohammed in Medina". 5 He was the poet of the 
 human heart in its strivings after a noble ideal; and his 
 creative work was to bring about the rejuvenation of 
 humanity. 
 
 1 Burdach — "Schillers Chordrama und die Geburt des tragischen 
 Stils aus der Musik" — Deutsche Rundschau, Vol. 142, p. 237. Jan. 
 to Mar., 1910. 9 
 
 2 Erinnerungen II, 231. 
 
 3 See Gelzer I. 
 
 4 "Der Abschied" (1748)— "Ich sang den Menschen menschlich 
 den Ewigen". 
 
 5 Gelzer I, 177. Letter from Schmidt to Gleim. 
 
76 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 When only twenty-one years of age, in his farewell- 
 address upon leaving Schulpforta, Klopstock presents the 
 fundamental thoughts of his religious experiences, which 
 find a more beautiful expression in his poetic works. He 
 attempts to express his feelings of gratitude to God ("ewige 
 Gottheit"). But at the contemplation of His majesty, he 
 becomes dismayed; a "holy shudder" passes through him 
 and leaves him speechless. He feels the insignificance of 
 one human soul as compared with the divine spirit. Tears 
 and his faltering voice — coming from his soul transported 
 in rapture — are proof of his desire to express his love and 
 gratitude; but he cannot come to words. 'Man cannot 
 retrace God's footsteps perfectly; he cannot comprehend 
 absolute truth. The highest wisdom of humanity is to ac- 
 quire but a trifle of truth, and to worship the most holy of 
 beings. The human soul comes from God; it is part of the 
 divine spirit and is immortal. When it realizes its dignity 
 and dwells in a healthy body, it can create happiness for 
 itself at the contemplation of the glorious world of nature. 
 Piety and virtue are divine qualities. The highest merit 
 man can attain is to educate and uplift his fellowmen by 
 his own virtuous example.' 1 This Klopstock himself at- 
 tempted to do in his own life and in his creative works. 
 
 Klopstock considered religion an essential element of the 
 highest poetry. In "Von der heiligen Poesie" he says : "To 
 move the whole heart, is above all, in every kind of elo- 
 quence, the highest aim the artist can set, and which the 
 hearer may demand of him. To do this by means of re- 
 ligion is a new height, which for us, without revelation, is 
 covered with clouds. Here the poet and the reader may 
 discover with certainty whether or not they are Christians. " 
 'Both he who thus moves our whole heart, and he who 
 responds to this emotion, must have some inkling of divine 
 
 1 "Klopstock als Mensch und als Dichter", pp. 74 to 84. 
 
RELIGIOUS VIEWS 77 
 
 truth. What poet, possessed though he may be of the 
 happiest genius, can touch our hearts to music if he lacks 
 a real feeling for religious beauty and moral purity?' 1 It 
 is thus evident that Klopstock considered the religious qual- 
 ity of the "Messiah" of the greatest importance. He writes 
 to Bodmer in September, 1748: "How happy I shall be, if, 
 when the 'Messiah' is completed, I shall have contributed 
 something toward the glorification of our divine religion. 
 These thoughts make me so happy! That is my great re- 
 ward — ." 2 Klopstock's contemporaries, too, felt the power 
 of the religion taught by the great poem. Funke writes to 
 the poet from Copenhagen, December 18, 1758: "Since I 
 consider your 'Messiah' less as a masterpiece of human 
 genius, than as a work for the glory of religion and the pro- 
 pagation of piety and virtue in more than one age, and more 
 than one nation; since I am convinced how great a deed he 
 does who animates the human soul with one pious idea — " 3 
 In the odes, "Friihlingsfeier" (1759), "Dem Allgegen- 
 wartigen" (1758), and "Morgengesang am Schopfungstag" 
 (1782), Klopstock makes use of ideas which he had already 
 r expressed in the Schulpforta address in 1745, and conducts 
 his reader outside the walls of the church into the open, 
 where he can "feel" God in the wonderful phenomena of 
 nature and receive new life. He emphasizes again and 
 again that infinity in God which removes him far aloof from 
 the conception of man, and renders even the trees, streams, 
 stars, planets, worlds, however they may rustle and roar, 
 and produce harmonious music, powerless to express all 
 that he embraces. 4 Thus, while the poet attempts to show 
 
 1 Klopstock X, 237, (1760); compare p. 236. 
 
 2 Weimar. Jahrbuch IV, 126. 
 
 3 Elizabeth Smith II, 196. 
 
 4 "An Gott" (1748); "Dem Erloser" (1751); "Der Erbarmer" 
 (1759); "Dem Unendlichen" (1764); "Das grosse Hallelujah" 
 (1766). 
 
78 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 r 
 
 how vast is the divine spirit, he makes the old God of the 
 catechism a personal deity, and replaces a vague abstraction 
 by a God of nature and of life. He presents, not the tradi- 
 tional image of an eternal avenger, but a father of love. 1 
 He denies eternal damnation, and rescues even the devil, 
 Abbadonna, in the "Messiah", from hell. In "Von der 
 besten Art iiber Gott zu denken" he states his belief that 
 God can best be comprehended through the emotions, and 
 can never be reached through reason and speculation alone. 
 
 The wonderful effect of the "Messiah" upon the people 
 of his day proved that Klopstock's religious poem satisfied 
 the needs of the time; his poetry became religion itself. 
 One example will suffice to show this. Schubart writes to 
 Klopstock from Ulm in 1775, or 1776: "I recited the 'Mes- 
 siah' in public in the concert-hall at Augsburg. I began 
 with a few chosen listeners who were pleased with it. The 
 company soon became much too large for my little room; 
 then the magistrate fitted up a public hall for me, and the 
 size of my audience soon rose to several hundred. All 
 volumes of the 'Messiah', both original prints and copies, 
 available in the town were soon bought up .... high and 
 low, clergy and laity, Catholics and Lutherans came to the 
 lecture with copies of the 'Messiah' under their arms." 
 
 "Oh, that was a festive spectacle to see all sitting there 
 in solemn stillness; to see how their emotions were stirred, 
 and how they broke forth into expressions of admiration 
 and into tears. 'Klopstock!' resounded from all lips when 
 
 each lecture was finished In Ludwigsburg there dwell 
 
 some tradesmen (Handwerksleute) who read the 'Messiah' 
 as a devotional manual, and who rightfully consider it the 
 most divine book next to the Bible. How often I made 
 those people happy, and how happy I myself became with 
 them ; and how they rewarded me ! . . . . You see how much 
 
 !"Der Erbarmer" (1759). 
 
RELIGIOUS VIEWS 79 
 
 I am indebted to you, most excellent of men! In return I 
 shall always love you and treasure you; and when I die, 
 I wish a copy of the 'Messiah' laid on my bosom and buried 
 with me." 
 
 "Experience has taught me that the more pious, the more 
 chaste, the more naive the heart of a man is, the greater 
 the effect of my declamation of the 'Messiah'. I have read 
 your 'Messiah' wholly or in part to princes, men of state, 
 military officers, court ladies, priests, lawyers, physicians, 
 virtuosos, tradesmen, peasants, women and girls at the 
 spinning-wheel and sewing table, and I have always found 
 that he who was most impressed by my reading was of the 
 noblest heart. And that will always be true even if the 
 tongues and hands of all critics of this and later times should 
 become useless forever. — Just as long as your 'Messiah' 
 increases in favor among us, just so long, I believe, our 
 nation will progress, — and it is progressing now." 1 
 
 Klopstock's poetry aims to make humanity better spirit- 
 ually and morally; to elevate man to a higher plane of life 
 by making him realize his full humanity. 
 
 "Reines Herzens, das sein, es ist die letzte 
 Steilste Hohe von dem, was Weis' ersannen 
 Weisre thaten".— "Fur den Konig", 1753. 
 
 He therefore dwells upon a nobility of character which ex- 
 presses itself in deeds, in contradistinction to mere goodness 
 of soul, which is passive and negative and may be accom- 
 Vpanied by mediocre ability. He alone is noble, 2 he alone 
 
 1 Lappenberg, p. 268. 
 
 2 Schulpforta Address (1745) — "Klopstock als Mensch und als 
 Dichter", p. 82. "Der Messiah", I, 20, 652; III, 214, 262; IV, 798, 
 1250; VI, 351; X, 384; XI, 1043; XVII, 529; XVIII, 804. "Salem", 
 (1748); "Friedensburg", (1750); "An Gleim" (1752); "Fur den 
 Konig" (1753); "Friedrich der Fiinfte" (1750); "Die beiden 
 Musen" (1752); "Der Hugel und der Hain" (1767); "Wink" 
 (1778); "Freude und Leid" (1798). 
 
80 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 possesses true sublimity, who combines high spritual powers 
 with innate virtue. Klopstock considers it the real task of 
 the poet to give expression to such a high nobility of soul 
 in his work, and thus to conduct others along a similar 
 path. 1 The highest goal of poetry — "moral beauty" 2 — is 
 to pour great thoughts into the human heart and to ele- 
 vate the soul. 3 The true poet must raise us above our nar- 
 row way of thinking and rescue us from the stream (of 
 the common-place) which bears us along. 3 
 
 In "Von dem Range der schonen Kunste und der schonen 
 Wissenschaften", Klopstock defines the duty of religion in 
 the service of the nation: "A nation, which, through agri- 
 culture, commerce, good laws, and that philosophy (Wis- 
 senschaft) which one has grown accustomed to call the 
 higher philosophy (it ought to be called theology alone), 
 has become great, is fortunate (glucklich) ! But is it a 
 blessed (gluckselige) nation? Not until it is also virtuous 
 (tugendhaft). And by what means can it become so? By 
 religion and those moral truths which religion has left to be 
 solved by human understanding." 4 
 
 An early contemporary characterization (1747-48) of 
 Klopstock reveals the fact that people recognized in his own 
 person those noble qualities which he hoped to awaken in 
 others by his poetry, — "He possesses such an honest and 
 noble heart, that he can be aroused even by the mere sem- 
 blance of a base and ignoble action. A deed which betrays 
 an evil heart has such a power over him that his disgust 
 finds expression in his countenance. He so hates mean 
 and foolish people that he avoids them whenever he can." 5 
 
 i"Der Hiigel und der Ham" (1767). 
 
 2 "Von der heiligen Poesie", X, 346, (1760). 
 
 3 "Der Messias", IV, 504. 
 
 4 "Von der heilegen Poesie", X, 346, (1760). 
 5 Quellen und Forschungen, Vol 39, p. 70. 
 
RELIGIOUS VIEWS 81 
 
 Such was the poet's character in youth. Dr. Mummsen 
 writes to Elizabeth Smith from Altona, July 2, 1805, and 
 gives a picture of Klopstock during his last years : — "I who 
 saw him every day when in Hamburg, found him always in 
 pursuit of whatever is noble, sublime and beautiful. He 
 was a most agreeable companion. We used to call him 
 4 Den ewigen Jungling', the youth forever! He has lived 
 free all his life time, and has recommended liberty on all 
 occasions ! . . . . He kept up his gentle spirit, his religious 
 principles, and his serenity of mind, till the end of his life." 1 
 
 Elizabeth Smith quotes from Horn's Critical History of 
 German Poetry and Eloquence (printed at Berlin in 1805) : 
 "We may observe in Klopstock three equally excellent traits 
 of character which are displayed in his poems — patriotism, 
 warmth of friendship, and pure religion ; . . . . Klopstock's 
 piety, in its full extent, as it influenced both his heart and 
 his understanding, may clearly be discovered in his odes, 
 'The Omnipotent', 'Contemplation of God', and in the plan 
 of the 'Messiah'. When we contemplate this last in all its 
 dignity and grandeur, and at the same time consider the 
 courage which was requisite in order to adopt it as the sub- 
 ject of an epic poem, we shall even on this account alone, 
 bestow on Klopstock the title of a great poet. The recep- 
 tion the 'Messiah' found in Germany was adequate to its 
 merits; we congratulated ourselves on a work which the 
 most sacred spirit had inspired, and the admiration which 
 was excited by this extraordinary poet restrained the frivo- 
 lous criticism with which the Gottingen school had presumed 
 to attack his work." 2 
 
 As late as 1824, in an address delivered at Schulpforta 
 upon the centenary celebration of Klopstock's birth, Karl 
 Chr. Gottlieb Schmidt emphasizes the moral effect of the 
 
 1 Elizabeth Smith II, 47. 
 
 2 Elizabeth Smith II, 30— (Quotation in English). 
 
82 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 "Messiah". He considers Klopstock the most sublime of 
 German poets, "whose song had a powerful and blessed 
 influence on the hearts of humanity, and will continue to 
 have such an effect as long as the German language is 
 alive. His song has uplifted many hearts above the earthly 
 and sensual to God; has bettered them; strengthened and 
 comforted, and fired them to noble deeds ; filled them with a 
 love for the fatherland ; has inspired many a youth, so that 
 he fought against his enemy and himself with greater happi- 
 ness and strength, and conquered at last. 1 .... He sought 
 to arouse and nourish the noblest feelings/' 2 
 
 Just as in Klopstock's, so in Herder's life, feeling dom- 
 inated over reason, 3 and his love for nature 4 was as strong 
 as his love for books. He himself tells us in the "Reise- 
 journal" 5 (1769) : "A feeling for the sublime is the natural 
 bent (Wendung) of my soul; my love, my hate, my admir- 
 ation, my dreams of happiness and misfortune, my purpose 
 to live in the world, my expression, my style, my demeanor, 
 my countenance, my conversation, my occupation, — every- 
 thing is determined by it. My love ! how closely it borders 
 on the sublime .... how a misfortune, the tear of a friend, 
 can move me ! .... This accounts for my predilection for 
 speculation and for the 'sombre' in philosophy, in poetry, 
 in prose (Erzahlungen), and in thought! This accounts for 
 my fondness for the shades of antiquity and for the remote 
 past! — for my love for the Hebrews as a people; for the 
 Greeks, Egyptians, Celts, Scots, etc. This explains my first 
 occupations ; the dreams of a water-world of my youth ; the 
 
 1 "Klopstock als Mensch und als Dichter", p. 15. 
 
 2 "Klopstock als Mensch und als Dichter", p. 16. 
 
 3 Suphan XXIX, 695. Herder to Countess Christine Briihl 
 (1784) : "Such is the life-history of mankind, — not idea, it is 
 feeling." 
 
 4 Erinnerungen I, 211, 222. 
 
 5 Suphan IV, 438. 
 
RELIGIOUS VIEWS 83 
 
 love of my garden; my solitary walks; my shuddering 
 (Schauder) at psychological discoveries, and at new 
 thoughts which arose out of my soul; my half intelligible, 
 half obscure style ; . . . . everything ! My life is a passage 
 through Gothic vaults, or at least through an allee of green 
 shades. The view is always venerable and sublime; the 
 entrance was dark and forbidding (eine Art Schauder); 
 however, I shall feel another sort of distraction (Verwir- 
 rung), when suddenly the allee opens and I find myself in 
 the open. Now it is my duty to make use of these im- 
 pressions to the best of my ability; to cultivate still my 
 wealth of reflection, but also to notice the sun which breaks 
 through the leaves, and paints more beautiful shadows ; to 
 give heed to the song-filled meadows (mit ihrem Getummel) ; 
 always, however, to remain in the onward passage. The last 
 simile was impressed upon me especially in the woods at 
 
 Nantes I felt myself so filled with great thoughts, that 
 
 I could imagine the experiences of the Savior in his greatest 
 triumphs; then I glanced up and saw the allee like a green 
 temple of the Almighty before me, and there arose within 
 me echoes from Kleist's hymn .... and then I read again, 
 and saw the sun through the leaves, heard the distant 
 turmoil of the city and thought of those who were in 
 possession of my heart, and wept ! Thither shall my spirit 
 journey back when I read Marmontel's first chapters, and 
 Thomas Daquesceau, and when I am imbued with the spirit 
 of the Messiah and delineate a life of Jesus." 
 
 This great sympathy with nature and love for the noble 
 and beautiful found birth in Herder's early youth in his 
 father's garden where he received his first deep impressions 
 of nature and religion, and of the greatness of the human 
 soul. 1 He was a quiet, imaginative youth with a rpost delicate 
 
 1 Erinnerungen I, 22, 16, 18, 20, 21. 
 
84 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 sense for the sublime. 1 All these traits were nourished by 
 the healthy mysticism which characterized the religion of 
 the Herder family. Young Gottfried's first volumes of 
 instruction were the Bible and the hymnal. Besides satis- 
 fying his religious needs, these two books aroused his love 
 and understanding for the Orient, as the primitive spot of 
 man's dwelling, and for poetry; they gave his historical, 
 poetic sense its first impulse. 2 Thus we may say that in 
 Herder's early years the foundation was laid for his later 
 great work as critic and evangelist of humanity. 
 
 In Koenigsberg Herder came under the influence of 
 deistic philosophy, and received instruction in the Wolff- 
 Leibniz school from his professors, Lilienthal and Kant. 3 
 But Herder was not a rationalist by nature, 4 and these the- 
 ories did not satisfy him. He found a more helpful teacher 
 in Hamann, who, although a disciple of "enlightenment", 
 believed that through his emotional nature man can most 
 perfectly comprehend God; his was a philosophy of intro- 
 spection and feeling, and this became the basis of Herder's 
 religion of real experience and inner freedom. At the same 
 time, we will recall, the young critic learned from his great 
 teacher to recognize the divine qualities of the human soul, 
 as exemplified in the creative genius, and saw the marvelous 
 effect of such power in the works of the English dramatist, 
 Shakespeare, and of the German poet, Klopstock. Here 
 in Koenigsberg, even thus early in his career, Herder prac- 
 tised his religion and diffused everywhere the influence of 
 his personality; his friends recognized that "the spirit of 
 religion and humanity surrounded him at all times." 5 
 
 1 Erinnerungen I, 34, 38, 42, 45. 
 
 2 Erinnerungen I, 70. 
 
 3 Erinnerungen I, 56. 
 
 4 Erinnerungen I, 101. 
 
 5 Erinnerungen I, 63. Herr Kurella to Pastor Puttlich, (Apr. 
 2, 1805). 
 
RELIGIOUS VIEWS 85 
 
 In Riga, as the years brought added experience, Herder 
 recognized more and more how unsympathetic speculative 
 philosophy is with practical life, and how little it appeals 
 to the heart; he sought a philosophy of experience which 
 would combine feeling and reason. He says in a sermon: 
 "The Creator has given us enough reasoning power to 
 enable us to distinguish evil from good, and to become 
 happy; but not enough to enable us to philosophize away 
 (hinweggriibeln) all the bright illusions of existence and 
 make us unhappy. We may thank the Creator that we 
 have enough light to continue on the way of life, but also 
 that he kept from us a light which would blind us and 
 make us unsteady. Let reason be our guiding star; but, 
 Oh God, teach me ever to be human also ; — then I shall be 
 happy." 1 In 1767 he writes to Kant that "human philoso- 
 phy" is his dearest occupation; 2 "der Mensch" (humanity) 
 is his goal in his search for truth, and his philosophy is 
 based upon life. 3 
 
 In his conception of religion Herder very early inclined 
 toward "enlightenment" rather than toward the older 
 Christianity; he recognized the importance of a knowledge 
 of history in the study of religion. He was as opposed 
 to the traditional God of the catechism as to the metaphysi- 
 cal God of philosophy. He turned to books which breathe 
 the spirit of nature, and read them in the open to dispel the 
 false deity worshipped by reason; 4 to the study of history, 
 to drive out the phantoms of churchly form. 5 He would 
 
 i Suphan XXXII, 471. 
 
 2 Erinnerungen III, 150. 
 
 3 Erinnerungen I, I, 88, 97. 
 
 4 Erinnerungen I, 69. In 1769 Herder terms Klopstock the most 
 sacred of poets, and his "Messiah" the most sacred of poems. 
 Suphan III, 244. 
 
 SLebensbild I, 3, a, p. 486. 
 
86 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 treat the Bible as the "hermeneutics of Christianity", 1 and 
 believes that, to understand it fully, one must treat it histor- 
 ically as any other book. One must attempt, he says, to 
 grasp the spirit of its authors; of the public which read it; 
 of the nation which it represents ; — one must try to interpret 
 its own spirit. He considers it an "ancient, oriental, poet- 
 ical, national, and popular piece", which ought to be con- 
 sidered a vital example of traditional composition, and not 
 a judicial (gerichtliches) testament. 1 The story of the cre- 
 ation of the world is the most sacred poem of antiquity, — 
 the oldest production springing from the dawn of time; 2 
 like all mythological, national songs, it was colored by the 
 religion of the land which gave it birth; by the traditions 
 of the fathers of that land, and its national ideas.' 3 Such 
 was Herder's conception of the Bible while still in Riga. 
 He never, however, depreciated its value as a most vital 
 force in the moral and spiritual life of the human race. 
 In 1775 he defines it as the history of God from the begin- 
 ning to the end of the world; 'we do not comprehend all 
 of it any more than we do nature, but we can understand 
 enough of it to make us believe and hope, and to move us 
 to noble activity. As time goes on, the history of man's 
 labors on earth becomes longer, and the more easily he will 
 interpret the Bible.' 4 In 1802 Herder calls the Scriptures a 
 collection of the books of an ancient people ; he still empha- 
 sizes the importance of its study, and says the more im- 
 portant its contents, the more it deserves critical, historical 
 investigation. 5 
 
 In his early religious writings, between 1766 and 1769, 
 
 1 Lebensbild I, 3, a, p. 462. 
 2Lebensbild I, 3, a, p. 516. 
 
 3 Lebensbild I, 3, a, pp. 390, 459, 464, 556. 
 
 4 Erinnerungen III, 161. 
 sSuphan XXIV, 98, 180. 
 
RELIGIOUS VIEWS 87 
 
 Herder presents the fundamental ideas of his religion, just 
 as Klopstock had done as a youth in his address at Schul- 
 pforta. Herder considers man a "divine, ennobled creature 
 (Thier) ! an image of Elohim! an earthly, visible God of 
 creatures! 1 He rules in his kingdom 2 in the image of the 
 Eternal. 3 His noble spirit, which loves the sublime and 
 great and despises the dust of earth, causes him to reach 
 heavenward. 4 In his activities, in science, art, and inven- 
 tion, man becomes an imitator of the Deity, and thus a 
 second creator. 5 Herder considers the human soul a divin- 
 ity in us; the God in us and the God over us create the 
 same world. 6 Thus great discoverers and great philoso- 
 phers, like Newton and Leibniz, are messengers of the Eter- 
 nal to the human race, because they disclose the truth. 7 
 God gave man this divine power to penetrate nature; 8 but 
 man can never hope to fathom the universe to its depths; 
 the very moment he should succeed in doing so, his human 
 soul would become one with the soul of the Infinite.' 9 Her- 
 der believes that the difference between God and the human 
 soul is only a difference of degree. 
 
 In the essay, "Der Redner Gottes", of 1765, Herder pre- 
 sents his picture of the really great preacher of religion. 
 'He must be a son of wisdom, educated in a knowledge of 
 life, who teaches virtue, morality, and religion; he does not 
 make use of Biblical language in his sermons, but leads his 
 
 1 Lebensbild I, 3, a, p. 449. Later, 1787, (XIV, 210): "God 
 made man a God on earth." 
 
 2 Lebensbild I, 3, a, p. 452. 
 
 3 Lebensbild I, 3, a, pp. 493, 508. 
 4 Lebensbild I, 3, a, p. 493. 
 
 5 Lebensbild I, 3, a, p. 453. 
 
 6 Compare Suphan XXIX, 566, (1788). Nachlass II, 264— To 
 Jacobi, December, 1784. 
 
 ^ Lebensbild I, 3, a, p. 541. 
 
 8 Lebensbild I, 3, a, pp. 450, 540. 
 
 9 Lebensbild I, 3, a, p. 539. 
 
88 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 congregation into the true contents of the Bible as into a 
 holy of holies, and brings them into direct relation with 
 that spirit which animated all great religious souls/ 1 Four 
 years later he announces that he is determined to make his 
 sermons, addresses, and essays "human", because the human 
 heart opens alone to him who can move it. 2 He would give 
 the catechism an appeal to his own time, so its interpreters 
 need not preach like the prophets, psalmists, and apostles. 3 
 Herder believed the Heidelberg catechism of little use for 
 his day. The older generations distilled from the Bible a 
 catechism adapted in language and thought to their own age ; 
 and he believed that with just as much right could the 
 younger generation make a catechism suited to its own 
 needs. The present was just as sacred to him as the past — 
 and even more so, because man lives in the present and for 
 the future. 4 In Riga as in Koenigsberg, young Herder so 
 practised his religion that the youths who came into contact 
 with him looked upon him as their Christ. 5 
 
 Herder always considered harmful all formal methodism 
 in the sacred relation of the human heart to the Highest 
 Being, if it prescribed the same road for all and disregarded 
 all other ways. 6 In Riga he once said : "Instead of making 
 my religion and the mythology of highly organized nations 
 the main end, I shall always find more of value (Nahrung) 
 in the simplest religion of savages, which , close to nature, 
 shows less of the poet but more of human kind. The sim- 
 plest, oldest religions lay bare the bosom of humanity." 7 
 He recognized that a religion of the heart is fundamentally 
 
 1 Lebensbild I, 2, p. 83. 
 2Suphan IV, 368, (1769). 
 3Suphan IV, 442, (1769). 
 
 4 Preuss. Jahrbucher, Vol. XXIX, 159. Caroline to G. Miiller. 
 
 5 Erinnerungen I, 211. 
 
 6 Erinnerungen III, 211. 
 
 7 Lebensbild I, 3, a, p. 381. 
 
RELIGIOUS VIEWS 89 
 
 the same all over the earth and is free from external form 
 and dogma. 'Man is really man when he acts according to 
 instinct and not to enforced rule; the same is true of gen- 
 uine poetry/ 1 Toetry lives in the heart of the human race, 
 whose basic human qualities are always the same. The 
 greatest poetry is an "opening of the human sour' ; an un- 
 folding of man's inner nature, — subtle thoughts, fiery 
 images, and visions of the future/ 2 Herder, therefore, 
 believes that religion, a matter of the heart, has the greatest 
 right to draw upon the beauty and charm of poetry and 
 music, as did the mythological tales of the Greeks and 
 Romans. 3 He points out the human touch which the poet 
 of the first book of Moses brought out in describing the 
 joy of the Creator at having made light out of darkness, — 
 light being symbolical of the good, the beautiful, and the 
 joyous, in its opposition to the horror of eternal night. To 
 make clear how fearful night was to the people for whom 
 the Biblical poet wrote, and why he used it as a symbol of 
 evil, Herder recalls the effect upon the reader of the in- 
 human and awful deed which is performed at mid-night in 
 Shakespeare's "Macbeth". He places a poet of antiquity, 
 inspired by religion, together with a modern genius, inspired 
 by the poetic muse. 4 
 
 Just as Klopstock had done in his poetry, Herder would 
 conduct man into the great temple of nature whose vault 
 is heaven and whose trumpeters are the stars and planets. 5 
 He believes that religion becomes glorified in nature as well 
 as nature in religion. 6 He, too, recognizes the necessity 
 
 1 Lebensbild I, 3, a, pp. 392f. 
 2Lebensbild I, 3, a, p. 472. 
 ^Suphan II, 59. 
 
 4 Lebensbild I, 3, a, p. 424. 
 
 5 Lebensbild I, 3, a, p. 570. 
 
 6 Lebensbild I, 565. Compare later: Lebensbild III, p. 111. 
 Suphan XIII 15. (1784). Nachlass II, 279, (1785); 264 (1784); 
 255 (1784). 
 
90 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 that man feels for expressing his nobility in deeds. His 
 divine nature is not revealed in mere dreams of the future 
 and in idle speculations, but in some noble activity, which 
 constitutes the fulfillment of his mission. 1 Herder also 
 realized very early (1768) the importance of religion to the 
 state in strengthening the bond which unites a king to his 
 subjects. 2 
 
 In his farewell sermon in Riga (1769) Herder expresses 
 his gospel of humanity: "On God depends our whole ex- 
 istence, here on earth and in eternity. We came from Him, 
 live under His care, and shall sometime, sooner or later, 
 return to Him. He gave us our being, and with it all our 
 capacity for happiness and usefulness in the world. He 
 gave us duties to perform: duties which are bound up so 
 closely with our nature, that without them our happiness 
 cannot exist. He gave us our knowledge and taught man 
 'what he knows'; He permitted us, when our nature had 
 degenerated, to return to happiness and to His mercy, 
 through the redemption of Jesus; He lent us a high, divine 
 assistance in order that we might again reach the original 
 dignity of our nature and happiness. Everything which 
 can make human souls happy depends upon God, .... our 
 strivings to be perfect as He, .... our Holy Scriptures were 
 given us by God, and are a means of making us happy .... 
 my words were not human, but divine words, to lead human 
 souls to happiness." . . . . 3 
 
 Thus far we have traced Herder's religious experiences 
 through the time of his residence in Riga. We will recall 
 it was here, too, that he read to his friends, and probably to 
 his congregation, those unpublished parts of the "Messiah" 
 
 iLebensbild I, 3, a, p. 509. 
 2Suphan XXXI, 43, (1768). 
 3Lebensbild I, 2, p. 71, (1769). 
 
RELIGIOUS VIEWS 91 
 
 which he was able to secure, 1 just as he read parts of it 
 later to his circle of friends in Darmstadt. 2 Elizabeth 
 Smith probably had Herder in mind when she wrote con- 
 cerning the "Messiah": "Young preachers quoted it from 
 the pulpit; and Christian readers loved it, as a book that 
 afforded them, amidst the rage of controversy some scope 
 for devout feeling." 3 Herder undoubtedly received from 
 Klopstock's poetry, in addition to mere aesthetic enjoyment, 
 a great deal of inspiration in the furtherance of his gospel 
 of humanity. In referring in an outline, made, in 1768, 
 for the study of the first eleven chapters of Genesis, to 
 Genesis I, 1 to 3, he makes use of the note, "So gross und 
 weit als eine Klopstock'sche Aussicht" 4 (As broad and vast 
 a view as the eye of Klopstock can see). Here again he 
 compares the old Biblical poet with a modern genius; but 
 this time with a poet of his own people whose inspiration 
 was religion also, and whose imagination succeeded in 
 creating visions equally great and exalted. 5 
 
 After the year 1769 Herder's religion leans more toward 
 mysticism; not, however, toward that melancholy, pietistic 
 form of it which he saw, while still a boy, in Trescho, who 
 probably aroused in him an antagonism for this inner re- 
 ligion of the heart. We will recall how closely his soul 
 felt itself a part of nature in the woods at Nantes, and this 
 identification with the great world about him has deepened 
 his inner life and reawakened that healthy mysticism which 
 characterized the religion of his childhood. 6 He writes to 
 Caroline, September 20, 1770: "But what is richer and more 
 inexhaustible and more manifold than the world of a human 
 
 1 Erinnerungen I, 114. 
 
 2 Erinnerungen I, 154. 
 
 3 Elizabeth Smith II, 19, (1810). 
 
 4 Lebensbild I, 3, a. Found quoted again in Suphan XXXII, 163. 
 5 Lebensbild I, 3, a, p. 394. 
 
 6 Erinnerungen I, 28. Lebensbild I, pp. 25, 148, 151. 
 
92 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 heart! — And what is more infinite than the ever-changing 
 diversity of nature I" 1 Herder believes in a mysterious, pro- 
 phetic power which passes like a flash of lightning through 
 the human soul. 2 He thinks every person possesses a gen- 
 ius, that is, a certain divine gift, in the deepest recesses of 
 his soul, which guides him, — a light, which, if one would 
 follow it and not allow one's reasoning powers to put it 
 out, would be the greatest power for good. 3 
 
 When Herder first came to Biickeburg on May 28, 1771, 
 he was considered by some a most enlightened thinker, 4 and 
 by others a mysticist. A certain sect, called Bohmists, even 
 believed him one of their number and asked him to attend 
 several of their meetings. But Herder was unfriendly 
 toward all sects, and could not become reconciled to any 
 binding religious views. After instilling a greater freedom 
 of belief into their souls than they had ever before known, 
 he withdrew from their circles. 5 This liberal spirit which 
 he carried with him soon invaded all other circles. A half 
 year after his coming the Countess Maria of Biickeburg, who 
 became Herder's great friend, writes to him (January 1, 
 1772) : "You have, I am sure, in the short time you have 
 been here, led many a heart to better living and reflection." 6 
 
 Through the Countess, Herder became increasingly recon- 
 ciled with the spirit of mysticism, and better acquainted with 
 the writings of the religious enthusiasts, all of which, not 
 excluding those of Jacob Bohme, he read ; he respected this 
 
 1 Erinnerungen I, 165. Lebensbild III, 1, p. 111. To Merk, 
 Sept., 1770, — Herder considers "Weltgeist" the greatest name for 
 God. 
 
 2 Lebensbild III, 1, p. 215— To Caroline (1770). 
 
 3 Lebensbild III, 1, p. 218— to Caroline, (Sept 22, 1770). See 
 Erinnerungen I, 165. 
 
 4 Erinnerungen II, 24. 
 
 5 Aus dem Herderschen Hause, p. 53. Nachlass II, 133. To 
 Lavater, May, 1775. Herder says he prefers mysticists to Wolffian 
 philosophers. 
 
 6 Erinnerungen II, 65. 
 
RELIGIOUS VIEWS 93 
 
 form of religion very highly, but did not consider it rep- 
 resentative of the truth he sought. 1 On the other hand, 
 the Countess was released by his agency from a depressingly 
 narrow creed; he led her from a mystic-pietistic, ascetic 
 methodism, with which she had been acquainted from youth, 
 to freer, more comprehensive views of the ways and works 
 of God. 2 He brought her happiness and peace. 3 Herder 
 writes to her in 1774: "The spirit of Jesus, unselfishness 
 and love of God, is no spirit of fear, but of freedom and 
 joy." 4 One year later the Countess writes to her friend 
 and pastor: "Of what concern are Quietism, Pietism, Mo- 
 hammed, Jew, Heathen, and all the rest to me? Where 
 the spirit of God dwells, do I care what external garb it 
 displays? I do not desire the garment, but the life and 
 substance of religion ; I have trusted Herder for a long time 
 to give me nothing else, and to conduct me to the true 
 light. I do not even understand all of these terms ; I hardly 
 know the misused names." 5 
 
 As a consequence of this deepening of his inner life the 
 question of the immortality of the soul occupies Herder's 
 mind during his years in Biickeburg. He can find no proof 
 of a future life in the Bible ; it has revealed nothing except- 
 ing what refers to our moral sense, to our humanity. The 
 book of Revelations he considers a poetic book which he 
 cannot understand. He finds no dogma of eternal life. 
 'How silently Jesus taught eternity/ He had to tell of 
 the resurrection, because the Jews demanded that from him 
 as a Messiah; but he colors it with moral value. Any 
 teaching of a future world must refer to this life, encourage 
 
 i Erinnerungen III, 190, 231. 
 
 2 Erinnerungen II, 62. 
 
 3 Erinnerungen II, 36. Preuss. Jahrb., XXIX, 30. Aus dem 
 Herderschen Hause, pp. VI, X, XXII. 
 
 4 Erinnerungen II, 115. 
 
 5 Erinnerungen II, 128. 
 
94 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 us, and moving our moral sense, awaken the future angel 
 within us. Thus it will unite every good soul with eternity. 1 
 The spirit of God writes immortality into our hearts. The 
 human soul feels it is immortal; it does not need proof/ 2 
 Thus, too, Herder believes morality cannot be forced upon 
 us; it must grow in us and become part of us. 'Let each 
 one act alone out of himself, according to his inner charac- 
 ter; such is morality/ 3 
 
 In Bikkeburg, as in Riga, Herder attempts to make his 
 sermons human. He writes to Caroline (March 21, 1772) : 
 "My sermons have as little which is purely spiritual about 
 them as my person. They are the human feelings of a 
 full heart/' 4 Most of his sermons were not written out; 
 he depended upon the inspiration of the moment. Just 
 as his dress bore no insignia of his pastoral position, except 
 a white collar and a black mantle, so his sermons bore no 
 outward sign of their official character beyond the prayer 
 which introduced them and which closed them. 5 In his 
 farewell sermon Herder tells his congregation that he had 
 always intended to present to them the sensible and divine 
 thoughts of the Bible and nature — "These two great books 
 of God" — simply, clearly, and forcefully. He had not in- 
 tended in his sermons to hamper himself with consecrated 
 and ever-misconstrued words, which cause confusion in 
 thought, but to introduce them to the real content of the 
 Scriptures; their real spirit and life. 
 
 During the first year of his residence in Buckeburg Her- 
 der gave the Countess Maria Klopstock's "Messiah" and 
 
 1 Nachlass II, IS. Herder to Lavater, Oct. 30, 1772. 
 
 2 Erinnerungen II, 116; I, 190. Compare Nachlass II, 26. To 
 Lavater, Feb., 1775. 
 
 3 Erinnerungen I, 234. 
 
 4 Nachlass III, 204. 
 s Nachlass III, 204. 
 
RELIGIOUS VIEWS 95 
 
 "Lieder" to read. When she returns the poem she sends a 
 note in which she says that Herder's sermons, referring to 
 the future life, contain more genuine, lasting, and impres- 
 sive truth, than the narration of those things in the "Mes- 
 siah" which no human eye has seen; she refers especially 
 to the nineteenth song. 1 She feels that the poet has allowed 
 his imagination to lose itself in abstractions ; that he has 
 neglected the human element in striving for the highest 
 religious beauty. In Herder's sermons she finds that relig- 
 ious truth which comes close to the human heart. Klop- 
 stock's "Lieder" the Countess considers "quite heavenly" 
 (ganz himmlisch). 2 
 
 At a time when Klopstock's "Messiah" was producing its 
 greatest moral effect throughout Germany, Herder wrote 
 his essay, "Ueber die Wiirkung der Dichtkunst" (1778). 
 In it he recognizes the divine element in poetry and its close 
 relation to religion. He believes poetry of divine origin; 3 
 a revelation of God to man; 4 he calls it "the noble, joy- 
 giving balsam coming from the most secret powers of God's 
 creation." 5 The oldest law-givers, formulators of religious 
 mysteries and divine services, inventors of the most beau- 
 tiful things of life, and teachers of morality, were poets. 
 If the poet was a real messenger from the gods he had the 
 greatest influence. 7 The highest type of poetry is divine 
 in its effects and brings new life; it transforms man's 
 morals. 8 Thus Homer gave the Greeks art, and wisdom, 
 
 1 Erinnerungen II, 85. Countess Marie to Herder, (1772). 
 
 2 Erinnerungen II, 95. Countess Marie to Herder, (Dec., 1772). 
 3 Suphan VIII, 405, 362. 
 
 4 Suphan VIII, 358. Compare Suphan XIII, (1784) ; 351, (1785). 
 
 5- Suphan VIII, 343. 
 
 6 Suphan VIII, 366. 
 
 ^ Suphan VIII, 369. 
 
 8 Suphan VIII, 344, 433. 
 
96 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 and morality. 1 But the greatest poetry is so closely bound 
 to religion that a nation which is without the latter, or makes 
 a burlesque of it, can have no great, effective (wurkende) 
 poetry. 2 In these ideas Herder expresses the same belief 
 to which Klopstock had given utterance in his essay "Von 
 der heiligen Poesie", first published in 1755, and the truth 
 of which he had proved in his creative work. 
 
 Very early in his career Herder realized the shortcomings 
 of the theology of his youth, and made attempts to bring it 
 out of the schools and closer to man ; he took a broader view 
 than most theologians of his time. He surveyed a new 
 path, and prepared the way for a freer and more human 
 conception of theology. 3 He had always attempted to ele- 
 vate the church service from within by reviving in it the 
 true spirit of Christianity ; but, particularly at the beginning 
 ot the nineties, religion and the Church had become such 
 objects of scorn and mockery, especially through the Jena- 
 Kantian philosophy, that Herder adhered more closely to 
 the old form of church service, and sought to revive the 
 old sublime, religious spirit in his more private duties of 
 communion, confession, and baptism. 4 He considered it 
 the duty of Christianity to teach pure humanity, without re- 
 taining the doctrine of the divine origin of its founder, and 
 of salvation through the God-man as a basis for religious 
 conviction. He recognized that the essence of Christianity 
 lay in a loving, active, unselfish life; in the development of 
 our inner being according to Christ's example. The prin- 
 ciple of Christianity', he said, 'is not law but gospel. It is 
 founded on pure benevolence and love, which embraces 
 sympathy, friendship, conviviality, gratitude, magnanimity, 
 
 1 Suphan VIII, 371. 
 
 2 Suphan VIII, 410. 
 
 3 Erinnerungen I, 89. 
 
 4 Erinnerungen III, 29. 
 
RELIGIOUS VIEWS 97 
 
 conciliation, justness, consideration for the faults of others, 
 philanthropy, and human kindness. It frees us from our 
 greatest enemies, anger, revenge, cruelty, envy, surliness, 
 malice ; it developes a moral sense in us without compulsory 
 rule; it brings us closer to peace of soul. It is not strict 
 philosophy, but a gentler and more effective training for 
 virtue, and it is the best suited for mankind. It is univer- 
 sal human truth; its duty is brotherly and universal love/ 1 
 'Christ wished to promote a kingdom of God on earth; he 
 did not plant it in heaven, but founded it upon universal, 
 genuine humanity. He did not deceive his people by flat- 
 tery ; he appeared as a physician to make them whole ; as a 
 shepherd to gather in the strayed sheep ; as a brother and a 
 hero to free and release. With this end in view he founded 
 his church. He who accepts his religion must accept also 
 the idea regarding the possibility of the perfection of man- 
 kind, and must try to reach that goal through humanity/ 2 
 'The purer a religion is, the more it must aim to promote 
 humanity. The religion of Christ, which he himself pro- 
 fessed, taught, and practised, was humanity. He knew no 
 higher name than "son of man" (Menschensohn). 3 Noth- 
 ing has ennobled man so much as religion. 4 The more the 
 spirit of humanity animates the hearts of a people from hut 
 to throne, the more advanced is the state/ 5 
 
 Jean Paul Richter writes to Herder, August 17, 1796: 
 "You have united theology with philosophy like a mediator, 
 in making the Savior a 'protomedicus' of our diseased 
 souls, and his institution a moral 'clinicum' ; in making a 
 man of God out of a God-man ; a higher and broader Pytha- 
 gorean covenant out of the apostolic mission. You have 
 
 iSuphan XVIII, 338. 
 
 2Suphan XVIII, 329, (1792). 
 
 3Suphan XVII, 121 (1793). 
 
 *Suphan XIII, 164, (1784). 
 
 5 Suphan XVII, 121, (1793). 
 
98 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 separated heaven and earth, which (according to the Egyp- 
 tians) were one at the beginning, and have allowed Jesus to 
 become human for the second time .... and may no one 
 give to him again the divine gloss (Schminke) which covers 
 up all his noble features." 1 In his "Vorschule der Aes- 
 thetik" (1804) Richter says: "Thus Herder combined the 
 boldest freedom of the conception of God and nature with 
 the most pious faith, even believing in premonitions." 2 
 
 Science and religion were not antagonists in Herder's 
 mind ; he was heartily in sympathy with all scientific dis- 
 covery and progress. He often lamented the fact that the 
 German princes did not give more universal support to the 
 advancement of the knowledge of galvanism, electricity, 
 magnetism, anatomy, physiography, physics, and physiology. 
 He wished he were just beginning life, so that he might 
 hope to see a greater progress in these things. He was 
 absorbed by these ideas, — the discovery, combination, and 
 harmony of the laws of nature among themslves and in 
 their relation to the universe and man. He often said that 
 the progress in scientific discovery brought the brighter and 
 the more certain light; and that on this path we must con- 
 tinue to build and to seek the truth concerning the great 
 laws of nature. With this new knowledge Herder also 
 hoped for a new virtue and a new life. The more physics 
 enlightens man, he believed, the more firm should his spirit- 
 ual beliefs become, and the higher should his soul rise in 
 its reverence and love for the greatest, original creator of 
 all. 3 
 
 i Nachlass I, 277. 
 
 2 Erinnerungen III, 249. 
 
 3 Erinnerungen III, 194. Nachlass II, 279: "Intramundane God". 
 To Jacobi, Sept., 1785. Compare Nachlass II, 126, 164, 255. Suphan 
 XIII, 15,' (1784). "The force which is active in me, is, in its 
 nature, just as eternal a force as that which holds together suns 
 and stars." Compare Suphan XIII, 170, 171, 176, 199; XXIX, 361, 
 377, 266, 139, 204, 161. 
 
RELIGIOUS VIEWS 99 
 
 Both Klopstock and Herder sought the happiness of man- 
 kind in religion ; not in dogmatic Christianity taught by 
 church doctrine, but in that broader spirit which embraces 
 the whole universe and creates a joyful feeling of harmony 
 and peace in the human soul. They brought a gospel of 
 optimism; of confiding trust in God and nature, and dis- 
 pelled the fear and morbid introspection which tormented 
 the lives of Brockes, Haller, and Gunther. Morality was no 
 longer to be a matter of rule and compulsion, forced upon 
 the human race by the threat of eternal damnation. They 
 believed in the development of the innate goodness of 
 humanity; a certain inner freedom which controls man's 
 conduct. Nobility of character, which expresses itself in 
 useful, humane deeds, was to take the place of the older 
 moral goodness, which more often was mere passivity. 
 
 Klopstock, as poet, occupies the position of the preacher, 
 and gives to poetry the high place of the older moral doc- 
 trines. He combines the religious with the aesthetic, and 
 thus creates a new spirit of humanity, one which animates 
 the lives of his contemporaries and ushers in a new era for 
 Germany. He conducts man outside the walls of the church 
 into the broad world of the beautiful, of nature and God. 
 Herder follows in Klopstock's foot-steps, and combines the 
 aesthetic with the religious; but he, as scholar and critic, 
 adds philosophy, science, and history to his gospel of 
 humanity. Religion, in Herder's mind, was the beginning 
 of all culture; the goal of all culture he considered the 
 highest humanity. 1 Klopstock practised his humanity in 
 his own life and in his creative works. Herder gave ex- 
 pression to his belief in his own deeds, in his writings, and 
 in his sermons. Both men were preachers of humanity. 
 
 Jean Paul Richter says in his "Dammerungen fur 
 
 *T. Genthe, 44. 
 
100 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 Deutschland", referring to Herder: "I now turn my atten- 
 tion to a poetic spirit who allowed the pure ether of heaven 
 to permeate all his works, and who shut out from them all 
 unholy sounds as from holy temples; he who, like unto a 
 genial (geistig) Oriental, always dwelt under the open heav- 
 ens and slumbered only on heights. Would ye bring re- 
 ligion from its heaven and plant it upon the earth through 
 the muses, like Socrates did philosophy, then follow his 
 
 example, or that of Klopstock Such muses alone can 
 
 become the means of conversion of so many great spirits. ,,1 
 
 1 Er inner ungen III, 252. 
 
PART II 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 PATRIOTIC ENDEAVORS 
 
 The general awakening of national consciousness in the 
 eighteenth century, which went hand in hand with the 
 widening of the mental horizon of the individual, passed 
 through a state of vague universalism and cosmopolitanism 
 before it developed into political nationalism. The history 
 of France and England, in this regard, differs very decidedly 
 from that of Germany. The two former countries had 
 been for centuries complete national and cultural units; 
 they possessed not only a national literature and culture, 
 but also a constitutional and political individuality. In 
 order, therefore, to forsake the path of cosmopolitanism, they 
 had only to confine their efforts to the study and perfection 
 of those political conditions which already existed. In 
 France, toward the close of the century, both the merchant 
 and literary classes united in the conscious creation of a 
 truly national spirit which, active in all its manifestations 
 from the very beginning, finally sought by force to gain 
 freedom from tyranny and oppression, and so brought about 
 a complete governmental revolution. Germany, on the 
 other hand, even at the very end of the eighteenth cen- 
 
102 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 tury, was not a united political power, a "Nationalstaat", 
 but rather a "Kulturstaat", 1 — a heterogeneous collection 
 of many individual states, provinces, and free cities, held 
 together not by the bonds of constitutional government, but 
 by the more natural ties of social characteristics, cultural 
 tradition, and language. These ties, probably stronger in 
 the German people than in the French or English, had never 
 been completely severed — not even during the destructive 
 times of the Thirty Years' War — and in them was pre- 
 served the spirit of the German people, even if the nation, 
 as such, did not exist. This spirit found its most vital 
 expression in the lives and works of the great thinkers and 
 poets of the eighteenth century, who presented, as in a 
 mirror, that ideal picture of a united fatherland which, in 
 spite of external disruption, stirred the hearts of their 
 countrymen. Thus German nationalism, finally triumphant 
 in the nineteenth century, was a gradual, unconscious 
 growth, born of the old Germanic ideals of humanity and 
 freedom preserved in the minds and hearts of Germany's 
 scholars and literary men. 
 
 The general spirit of the eighteenth century was espe- 
 cially unfavorable to the awakening in Germany of that 
 great conscious effort which would have been necessary to 
 form a politically united state. The greatest minds were 
 interested in the universal affairs of mankind ; in humanity 
 and nature; in religion and philosophy; in history and 
 tradition. Man was studied in his relation to the great 
 world in which he lives; to the universe and to his God; 
 and his political relations were considered in the same light, 
 with practically no concern for him as citizen of his country. 
 But the great thinkers and poets only too often neglected 
 the people themselves, "das Volk", in their efforts to find 
 
 1 F. Meinecke — "Weltbiirgertum und Nationalstaat." 
 
PATRIOTIC ENDEAVORS 103 
 
 a true humanism; they forgot that all the individuals of a 
 state cannot see with the eyes of the philosopher or poet. 
 Their idealism had to be made practical. Thus, in its turn, 
 cosmopolitanism had to be narrowed to nationalism; until 
 gradually the German came to realize that affairs of state 
 were as worthy of his attention as philosophy and litera- 
 ture, and that, indeed, a strong and united state was neces- 
 sary to his happiness. 
 
 Only when we consider this enthusiasm for the universal 
 can we account for the lack of genuine political interest 
 during this period, and for the fact that the greatest minds 
 commonly referred to the state as a "fragment", and to 
 patriotism as something narrow and useless, — even con- 
 sidering it a moral weakness in man. 1 We must not look too 
 closely for an expression of patriotic feeling in the modern 
 sense of the word, which presupposes the existence of a 
 united political state. What we do find in the German 
 writers of the eighteenth century is a manifestation of 
 racial consciousness, of Teutonic spirit; an expression of a 
 love for things German and for Germany, without which 
 modern German nationalism would have been impossible. 
 If we accept this as the meaning of patriotism, none of the 
 literary men of the country was a truer patriot than were 
 Klopstock and Herder. Both were imbued with a vivid 
 German spirit which expressed itself in an ardent love for 
 the honor and welfare of their fatherland; both probably 
 contributed more toward the awakening and maintenance 
 of a genuine interest in the German nation than any of their 
 contemporaries. 
 
 Elizabeth Smith, one of the earliest admirers and trans- 
 lators of Klopstock in England, wrote of Klopstock, in 
 
 1 Schiller to Korner, Oct. 13, 1789. Lessing to Gleim, Dec 16, 
 1758. Haym, "Humboldt", p. 51. 
 
104 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 1810: "... .the warmth of patriotism which early animated 
 him to raise the fame of German literature in this particular 
 to a level with that of other European countries; the just 
 indignation he felt in reading the words of a Frenchman, 
 who had denied to the Germans any talent for poetry; all 
 combined with the consciousness of his own superior powers 
 to spur him on to the execution of his exalted plan." 1 This 
 Frenchman was Eliazer Mauvillon, a teacher at the Caro- 
 linum in Brunswick, who, in the tenth of his "Lettres 
 frangoises et germaniques, ou Reflections militaires, litte- 
 raires et critiques sur les Frangois et les Allemands" (Lon- 
 dres 1740), had said: "Nommez-moi un esprit createur sur 
 votre Parnasse, c'est a dire, nommez-moi un poete Alle- 
 mand, qui ait tire de son propre fond un ouvrage de quelque 
 reputation; je vous en defie." 2 Klopstock was the first 
 German to answer this challenge and to prove conclusively 
 by his great creative work that the German race did possess 
 genius. Horn's "Critical History of German Poetry and 
 Eloquence", printed just two years after Klopstock's death, 
 and one of the earliest literary histories to appear in Ger- 
 many, acknowledges the poet's patriotic services : "The poet 
 appeared in Germany at a time, when unconscious of our 
 own powers, or at least neglecting them, we favored only 
 foreign productions, and were not restrained from proceed- 
 ing in that unworthy conduct, even by the insolence with 
 which our neighbours received such adulation. We had 
 accustomed ourselves to consider the poetical compositions 
 of the French as particularly excellent ; and whilst one per- 
 son after another repeated this opinion, all our attempts 
 were imitations of these models; and the bold, national, 
 poetic spirit of former times was regarded with contempt. 
 
 1 Elizabeth Smith, II, 5. 
 
 2 D. F. Strauss, X 12-13. 
 
PATRIOTIC ENDEAVORS 105 
 
 Klopstock alone had the courage to awaken the attention 
 of his sleeping country-men, by his noble compositions full 
 of ardour and tenderness ; in order that they might resume 
 their ancient force and energy, and that calm dignity, which 
 confides in itself, and is unwilling to borrow from others. He 
 was the man who first animated his native land with the 
 spirit to attain to that degree of excellence in the higher 
 species of poetry, of which it was capable, and to which it 
 has already attained." 1 Thus we may say that patriotism, 
 a love for his people and his nation, was the primary im- 
 pulse that stirred Klopstock in his great labors. 
 
 The first emphatic expression of Klopstock's love for, 
 and interest in, Germany we find in his Latin farewell 
 address, delivered in Schulpforta, on September 21, 1745, 
 when the poet was still a youth. He laments the fact that 
 with the single exception of Germany all the great nations 
 of Europe have produced great epics, in his opinion the 
 most elevated and commanding form of poetry. He says: 
 "A just indignation seizes my soul when forced to perceive 
 this great lethargy of our people. We seek to produce a 
 work of genius by busying ourselves with miserable dawd- 
 lings; with poems which seem to be born for no other 
 purpose than to perish and pass into oblivion, we, quite 
 unworthy of the name 'Germans', venture to gain immor- 
 tality !" By reminding his country-men of the proverbial 
 bravery of their ancestors in battle, and of the renown they 
 themselves have gained in philosophy, and in the arts and 
 sciences, he hopes to arouse a sense of noble shame at their 
 long neglect of the duty of adding new lustre to the name 
 of the fatherland by poetic effort. He prays fervently that 
 a truly great German poet will soon appear. 2 
 
 1 Quoted in English translation by Elizabeth Smith, II, 30. 
 
 2 D. F. Strauss X, 31-35. 
 
106 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 Klopstock realized the natural inclination of the German 
 nation to admire and to love things foreign, and in so doing 
 to neglect and ignore its own merits. 
 
 "Nie war gegen das Ausland 
 Ein anderes Land gerecht, wie du. 
 
 Sey nicht allzugerecht ! Sie denken nicht edel genug, 
 Zu sehen, wie schon dein Fehler ist I" 1 
 
 He knew full well the native genius of the Germans and 
 their great creative power in the field of artistic and intel- 
 lectual endeavor. Thus early, therefore, he expressed his 
 lofty contempt for those poets who, underestimating their 
 ability, abuse their own talents by slavishly imitating for- 
 eign writers. He directs his rebukes especially against the 
 imitation of the French and English, for he believes German 
 genius of equal rank with that of its neighbors. He is 
 convinced that if they relied on their own powers entirely 
 the German poets would outstrip those of France and Eng- 
 land, — yea, even give rise to a literature as great as that of 
 ancient Greece. He expresses this idea very forcefully in 
 the ode, "Der Nachahmer ,, (1764) : 
 
 "Schrecket noch andrer Gesang dich, o Sohn Teutons, 
 Als Griechengesang : so gehoren dir Hermann, 
 Luther nicht an, Leibnitz, Jene nicht an, 
 Welche der Hain Braga's verbarg. 
 
 Dichter, so bist du kein Deutscher ; ein Nachahmer, 
 Belastet vom Joche, verkennst du dich selber; 
 Keines Gesang ward dir Marathons Schlacht; 
 Nacht' ohne Schlaf hattest du nie !" 
 
 The Germans, he says, have been slaves of imitation long 
 enough ; they must cast off their chains, and must be made 
 to realize the great powers which dwell within them; they 
 must learn to give free expression to their own feelings and 
 
 i"Mein Vaterland" (1768). 
 
PATRIOTIC ENDEAVORS 107 
 
 tastes, unhampered by the spirit of imitation and worship 
 of foreign models. 1 
 
 From the very beginning, however, Klopstock is in no 
 wise inclined to pessimism regarding the future of German 
 literature. Only seven years after the famous address at 
 Schulpforta, in a letter to Gleim (February 19, 1752), he 
 points with pride to the fact that Germany has already pro- 
 duced epics equal in worth to those written by the French 
 and English poets, and promises to outdo the work of these 
 nations. He addresses the French : 
 
 "Zu stolze Gallier, schweigt nun, und fleht um Gnade; 
 
 Sonst brechen wir nun euch den Stab, 
 
 Und sprechen euch den Geist gebietrisch ab !" 
 
 To the English he directs the following words : 
 
 "Ihr habt das Paradies und der Leonidas ! 
 
 Das ist nun ungefahr so auch etwas ! 
 
 Allein wir haben 
 
 Fur's erste : nicht gemeine Gaben ; 
 
 Furs andre : Hermann, Friedrich, Nimrod, 
 
 Und dann auch die Theresiade ! 
 
 Drum f ehlt uns gar nichts mehr, als eure Duncias !" 2 
 
 How much Klopstock himself contributed toward bringing 
 German literature to such a position we already know. 
 
 When Klopstock, while still at Schulpforta, sought a 
 worthy subject for the epic, which he felt himself called 
 upon to create for Germany, his first choice was the great 
 emperor, Henry the Fowler, whose history he had known 
 from early childhood. This monarch had founded Qued- 
 linburg, the city which was to become his final resting-place, 
 and many centuries later the scene of Klopstock's birth. 
 But in spite of the poet's love for this great German ruler, 
 
 1 See the odes: "Fragen", "Die beiden Musen" (1752) ; "Kaiser 
 Heinrich", "Der Nachahmer" (1764); "Wir und Sie" (1766); 
 "Der Hiigel und der Hain" (1767); "Mein Vaterland" (1768). 
 
 2 Klopstock X, 407. "Die beiden Musen" (1752). 
 
108 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 in spite of his glowing patriotic regard for Germany, his 
 interest in humanity was too broad and all-embracing to 
 confine itself to an historical hero, whose efforts were 
 limited to the welfare of a single people. His careful 
 religious training had brought him to a deep comprehension 
 of the grandeur of the great founder of Christianity who 
 gave up his life in his unbounded love for mankind. The 
 Savior's ineffable nobility of character inspired Klopstock 
 with the conception of the Messiah as the most exalted 
 hero for a Christian epic. Here, then, the poet's feeling 
 had to give way to his great love for humanity. He him- 
 self tells us of the choice of a subject for the epic he was 
 to write, in the ode, "Mein Vaterland" (1768) : 
 
 "Friih hab ich dir (meinem Vaterland) mich geweiht. 
 Schon da mein Herz 
 Den ersten Schlag der Ehrbegierde schlug, 
 Erkor ich, unter den Lanzen und Harnischen 
 Heinrich, deinen Befreier, zu singen. 
 
 Allein ich sah die hohere Bahn, 
 
 Und, entflammt von mehr, denn nur Ehrbegier, 
 
 Zog ich weit sie vor. Sie fuhret hinauf 
 
 Zu dem Vaterlande des Menschengeschlechts." 
 
 The earliest patriotic ode of Klopstock dates probably 
 from the year 1749, or even before. It is the poem which 
 appeared in 1771 with the title, "Heinrich der Vogler", but 
 which was first published in the " Bremer Beitrage" with 
 the heading, "Kriegslied zur Nachahmung des alten Liedes 
 von der Chevychase-Jagd", and there celebrated Frederick 
 II of Prussia. This was the first and only time that Klop- 
 stock paid poetic tribute to Frederick the Great. Later he 
 changed title and poem and wiped out all traces of Fred- 
 erick's name ; he even denied that he had ever intended to 
 honor the Prussian ruler. 1 In his youthful enthusiasm he 
 had been carried away by the great success of Frederick's 
 
 i D. F. Strauss X, 82-84. 
 
PATRIOTIC ENDEAVORS 109 
 
 military achievements; 1 but later he had a broader vision 
 and demanded something more in a king than an ardent 
 desire to enlarge the boundaries of his country. Even if 
 Klopstock could have dealt leniently with Frederick's ma- 
 terialistic philosophy, he could not overlook his disdain for 
 German poetry, which was just beginning to flourish and 
 needed the hearty sympathy of its monarch. The poet's 
 love for Germany and his ardent hope for her future high 
 position among the literary nations of the world was far 
 greater than his love for his own king, when that king did 
 not lend all his support to the complete development of his 
 people, spiritual as well as political. 
 
 In Frederick V of Denmark, however, Klopstock found 
 those ideal qualities which he demanded in a great ruler, and 
 which he had missed in the Prussian monarch. He cele- 
 brates him in the ode, "Friedrich der Funfte" (1750) : 
 
 "Welchen Konig der Gott iiber die Konige 
 Mit einweihendern Blick, als er geboren ward, 
 Sah vom hohen Olymp dieser wird Menschenfreund 
 
 Seyn und Vater des Vaterlands 
 
 Lange sinnt er ihm nach, welch ein Gedank' es ist: 
 Gott nachahmen und selbst Schopfer des Gluckes seyn 
 Vieler Tausend' ! Er hat eilend die Hon' erreicht 
 Und entschliesst sich, wie Gott zu seyn." 
 
 "The spirit of conquest", he points out, "does not animate 
 Frederick V; he is too noble to desire fame won on the 
 field of conquest. In his love for humanity he wishes to be 
 a father to his people and in turn to be beloved by them. He 
 rewards righteous deeds, and then smiles graciously upon 
 those who, consecrating themselves to the muses, work 
 silently but surely to make nobler, through their productions, 
 their fellow-men. Above all, the greatest desire of such a 
 monarch is to imitate God in ministering to the happiness 
 
 1 Klopstock X, 336ff. Klopstock writes to Roland of his study 
 of military tactics and maneuvers in his youth and of his early 
 interest in the Seven Years' War. 
 
110 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 of his people." 1 In the ode, "Fur den Konig" (1753), the 
 poet says that the most exalted object the human eye can 
 look upon is a king who succeeds in making his people 
 happy : 
 
 ...."Ich weiss, was gross und schon ist 
 In dem Leben. Allein Das ist das Hochste, 
 Was des Sterblichen Auge 
 Sehn kann : Ein Konig, der Gliickliche macht !" 
 
 Finally, in the "Prayer of a Good King" (1753), Klopstock, 
 enlarging upon these general ideas, presents a complete 
 picture of his ideal ruler. 2 In the absence of a glorious 
 figure on the contemporary political stage of Germany, the 
 poet rescues Hermann, Germany's ideal hero, from the dim 
 past, and celebrates him in several odes. 3 And again, in 
 "Kaiser Heinrich" (1764), he turns to sing his praises to 
 another of Germany's past heroes. 
 
 Beginning with the year 1764, we find Klopstock's poetic 
 genius more actively patriotic than ever before. Religion 
 and love no longer engross his entire attention, and he be- 
 comes m6re serious in his contemplation of the past history 
 of his country. We find traces of Klopstock's interest in 
 old Germanic history and mythology, however, as early as 
 1747. 4 In January, 1749, he writes to Bodmer, that he has 
 read the Minnesongs ("Proben der alten schwabischen 
 Poesie des 13. Jahrhunderts aus der Manessischen Samm- 
 lung. Zurich, 1748"), but has no inclination just then to take 
 up the study of the language of these "noble ancients", 
 
 1 Compare "Friedrich der Fiinfte" (1751); "Die Konigin Luise" 
 (1752); "Die Genesung des Konigs" (1759). 
 
 2 Klopstock X, 288ff. Published again in 1782 in Cramer's "Er 
 und iiber Ihn." 
 
 3 "Hermann und Thusnelda", "Fragen" (1752); "Der Nach- 
 ahmer" (1764); "Wir und Sie" (1766); "Stintenburg" (1766); 
 "Hermann" (1767). 
 
 4 Grohmann, p. 11. 
 
PATRIOTIC ENDEAVORS 111 
 
 which would be necessary to understand them. 1 It is pos- 
 sible that Klopstock's cousin, Schmidt, first turned the 
 poet's attention to the older history of Germany. Schmidt's 
 own interest in Norse and Celtic mythology, as we gather 
 from a letter to Gleim, dated September 12, 1750, 2 had been 
 aroused by reading quotations from Olaus Wormius in 
 Temple's essay "De la vertu heroique." He translated 
 Lodbrog's "Sterbelied" in the meter of the Chevy chase 
 ballad, and this meter Klopstock chose for his "Kriegs- 
 lied", written in 1749. 
 
 Interest in the historic past was becoming more general ; 
 it had never, indeed, been quite dead. Opitz mentions 
 Danske Kiampe Viiser, and Lohenstein had written "Ar- 
 minius". Tacitus, too, was not entirely neglected. In 1750 
 appeared Schutze's "LehrbegrifT der alten Deutschen und 
 Nordischen Volker" and Joh. Chr. Schmidt's "Ragnarlied". 
 A German translation of Mallet's "Introduction a l'histoire 
 de Danemarke" (1757) was published in 1765. Gersten- 
 berg's "Gedicht eines Skalden", which gave the earliest 
 important impulse toward the introduction of Norse myth- 
 ology, made its appearance in 1766. 3 But of greater mo- 
 ment to Klopstock than all these works was the appearance 
 of Ossian. 
 
 James Macpherson published in 1760 his "Fragments of 
 Ancient Poetry, Collected in the Highlands of Scotland, 
 and Translated from the Gallic or Erse Language" ; in 
 1761 appeared his epic, "Fingal", and in 1763 his "Temora". 
 Notices and translations of these works made their appear- 
 ance in Germany as early as 1762. 4 The year 1764 marks 
 
 1 Weimar. Jahrbuch IV, 135. 
 
 2 Klamer Schmidt I, 137. Schmidt gives Gleim information 
 concerning Norse mythology. Compare Quellen und Forschungen, 
 XXXIX, 18. (Erich Schmidt). 
 
 3 Grohmann, p. 11. 
 
 4 Tombo, pp. 4ff. Bibliography of Ossian in Germany. 
 
112 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 the beginning for Klopstock of a period of renewed 
 activity in the field of the ode, and the poet's acquaintance 
 with Ossian has been considered by recent criticism the 
 impulse which prompted that activity. 1 The influence of 
 the Gallic Bard upon the German poet is especially visible 
 in the odes written in the years 1764, 1766, and 1767, and 
 in the "Bardiete", "Die Hermannsschlacht , ', and "Her- 
 mann und die Fiirsten" ; traces of it appear also in the 
 later odes and "Bardiete", and even in the last songs of the 
 "Messiah". 2 From the year 1764 onward, Klopstock neg- 
 lected entirely the old classical divinities and introduced 
 the Norse gods into his work; he even drove out the 
 inhabitants of Olympus from older poems and filled their 
 places with the dwellers of Walhalla. By the end of the 
 year 1767 he had transformed his old world of classical 
 gods into a realm of old Norse deities, interspersed by the 
 bardic figures of Ossian. 3 Celts and Germanni were one 
 race in Klopstock's mind, and he believed the Old Norse 
 system of gods, as found in the Edda, the common religion 
 of both peoples ; so that Ossian's heroes and the characters 
 of Old Norse mythology went hand in hand in his own 
 poetry. 4 At the height of his admiration for the great 
 Celtic poet Klopstock writes to Denis (August 4, 1767) : 
 "I love Ossian so much that I place his works above certain 
 productions written during the most flourishing time of 
 Greek antiquity." 5 This great interest in the Northern singer 
 may be attributed to Klopstock's warm patriotism for his 
 own country, and may be explained by the fact that he con- 
 
 1 Tombo, pp. 92, 94, 95. 
 2 Tombo, p. 94. 
 
 3 Lappenberg, p. 172. Klopstock to Denis, Sept. 8, 1767. See 
 Tombo, p. 87. Grohmann, p. 9, says that Klopstock was probably 
 the first to seek to make Braga and Wodan living figures. 
 
 4 See Klamer Schmidt I, 137. Schmidt to Gleim, Sept. 12, 1750. 
 
 5 Lappenberg, p. 166. Compare Lappenberg, p. 164— To Denis, 
 Jan. 6, 1767. 
 
PATRIOTIC ENDEAVORS 113 
 
 sidered Ossian an ancient German poet. Thus he writes 
 to Gleim, June 31, 1769: "Ossian was of German descent, 
 for he was a Caledonian. 1 The poet even considered Ossian 
 a German Homer; he sings to him in the ode, "Unsre 
 Sprache" (1767): 
 
 "Die Vergessenheit umhiillt, o Ossian, auch dich ! 
 Dich huben sie hervor, und du stehest nun da, 
 Gleichest dich dem Griechen, trotzest ihm, 
 Und fragst, ob wie du er entflamme den Gesang?"2 
 
 Klopstock writes to Denis, September 8, 1767: "Ossian's 
 works are truly masterpieces. If we could only find such 
 a bard !" 3 He longs to find as a counterpart to the old bard 
 some ancient countryman who had grown up on German 
 soil, filled with the inspiration of Germany. Less than a 
 year after (July 22, 1768), we learn that he believes 
 this prayer to have been partly fulfilled. He writes to 
 Denis : "Your news regarding the existence of Illyrian 
 bards, who have come down to us in tradition, caused me 
 such great joy, that I could really have wished your Ossian 
 had pleased me less, so that I might be able to beg you to 
 put him aside and translate these bards." He informs 
 Denis that he has been working with some old German 
 fragments, and intends to publish a small collection of them, 
 hoping to include some of the above-mentioned Illyrian 
 poems. He says he has rediscovered 4 a Saxon poet (author 
 of the "Heliand") who wrote during the reign of Louis the 
 Pious and who is the greatest known poet from his time 
 to the Reformation. This letter also informs Denis of 
 Klopstock's study of various languages, including Gothic, 
 
 iKlamer Schmidt II, 214f.. 
 
 2 Compare "Der Hiigel und der Hain" (1767). 
 
 3 Lappenberg, p. 172. 
 
 4 Klopstock acknowledges in his letter to Gleim that the Eng- 
 lish historian, Hikes, could have made the Germans familiar with 
 the poet of the "Heliand" at the beginning of the century, if they 
 had read his works. Klopstock X, 435. Klamer Schmidt I, 214f. 
 
114 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 Anglo-Saxon, Cimbric, Frisian, and Celtic. 1 To Ebert 
 Klopstock writes, May 5, 1769: "I have learned our Low 
 Saxon language as it was at the time of Louis the Pious. 
 It is preserved in only one monument, the manuscript of 
 which is in the British Museum, and which the king (of 
 Denmark) is having copied. I shall edit it with the title: 
 'Die Geschichte des Erlosers, durch einen christlichen Dich- 
 ter, bald nach Witekinds Barden\ I am editing it, indeed, 
 primarily to teach the Germans to recognize fully the wealth 
 of their language, — but it also possesses poetic beauties, 
 and of those there are not a few." 2 In addition to the 
 linguistic importance of this poem, Klopstock recognizes 
 the notable place it will occupy in the cultural history of 
 the German peoples. He says: "It is also of importance 
 to see how we North Germans thought about religion soon 
 after the time when Karl, by sword and inquisition, con- 
 verted us." 3 In comparison with the sublimity of the 
 poetry of the "Heliand", Klopstock recognizes the non- 
 poetic nature of Otfrid's "Evangelienbuch". 4 Klopstock 
 also discovered the Anglo-Saxon poet, Caedmon, anew for 
 the Germans. He considers him a Milton, 5 — "the greatest 
 poet among our ancients, excepting Ossian." 6 As his 
 labors still continued, it was clear that the great impelling 
 motive in Klopstock's study of German antiquity was al- 
 ways patriotism. He writes to Gleim, June 31, 1769: "I 
 hope you are satisfied with the patriotic spirit which forces 
 me to become a scholar, for without this patriotism I would 
 
 1 Lappenberg, pp. 210f. 
 
 2 Lappenberg, p. 218. Compare letter to Gleim, June 30, 1769. 
 Klopstock X, 435; Klamer Schmidt I, 214f. 
 
 3 Klamer Schmidt II, 218. To Gleim, June 30, 1769. 
 
 4 Klopstock IX, 164. "Vom Sylbenmaasse" (1770). 
 
 5 Lappenberg, p. 211. To Denis, July 22, 1768. 
 
 6 Klopstock X, 435. To Gleim, June 30, 1769. Compare Ge- 
 lehrtenrepublik, p. 294. 
 
PATRIOTIC ENDEAVORS 115 
 
 not have cared to be a student. My chief purpose is the 
 further development and perfection of our language." 1 
 
 Concerning the position of Germany among the other 
 nations, Klopstock writes to Gleim, September 2, 1769: 
 "Most exalted and noble citizen of our fatherland, in your 
 presence I give vent to my joy. The Germans with their 
 temperament not rashly excitable (die nicht aufflammen), 
 but at once equable and ardent (die gluhen), will from now 
 on .... engage in a warm and lasting struggle for supre- 
 macy in the intellectual and cultural field against France 
 and England, and will come out victors. Here they will 
 come into conflict with the Greeks, who, till now, have been 
 conquerors. I cannot hope to live longer than to see the 
 first dust raised by this combat. 2 In his own prose writ- 
 ings Klopstock contributed a large share toward the Ger- 
 man scholarship of his day, and had no small part in that 
 enlistment of the genuine interest and zeal of the Germans 
 in their intellectual and artistic pursuits which finally placed 
 them so high among civilized nations. 3 His efforts were 
 directed particularly toward the study and development of 
 language, for he considered it "a receptacle of the peculiar 
 conception of a people", 4 composed, in its very soul, of a 
 people's ideas, feelings, and passions. 5 The poets of a 
 nation, too, he believed, have always possessed a love for 
 their fatherland to a high degree. 6 He affirmed that a life 
 spent in active service and a life spent at the writing-table 
 are less different than is usually supposed; both may pro- 
 
 1 Klamer Schmidt II, 218. 
 2 Klamer Schmidt II, 231. 
 
 3 Cf . Gelehrtenrepublik, p. 204. 
 
 4 Gelehrtenrepublik, p. 225. 
 
 5 Klopstock's Werke, IX, 431, 437. "Vom edlen Ausdruck," 
 1779. Gelehrtenrepublik, p. 245. 
 6 Gelehrtenrepublik, p. 180. 
 
116 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 duce effective results, of which those which "relate to the 
 heart" are most excellent." 1 
 
 Klopstock believed firmly that the German will carry out 
 successfully what he has once resolved to do; 2 and his 
 constant object was to arouse the native character of his 
 people. In 1779 he exhorts his countrymen: "Ye still 
 doubt; ye still possess a fear of ill success, since we chal- 
 lenge you to make the great decision with us? Is that 
 worthy of our ancestors? Of Luther, who, with his single 
 strength, and through one book, almost recreated the lan- 
 guage (of Germany), — and what a language! — Opitz, who 
 first used this tongue correctly? — Melanchthon, who was 
 called Germany's teacher, and who was indeed, and who 
 has not yet entirely ceased to be so? — Keppler, who saw 
 the cause of the earth's motion before Newton? — Leibnitz, 
 who also discovered truth through his imagination? With 
 these truly German men (as kinsmen) in Heaven's name 
 let us cease being modest to the point of timidity (Klein- 
 mut), and frightened at the greatness of foreigners (I 
 mean genuine greatness; for a great deal about them is 
 only external lustre). Make bold to think German." 3 
 
 In his noble determination to advance the cause of his 
 country, Klopstock even ventured into the field of history. 
 In a letter written by C. Fr. Cramer to Gronveld in Copen- 
 hagen, dated Paris, March 18, 1807, we learn that during 
 the winter of 1787-1788 — "Jealous in his patriotism that 
 we had a sufficient number of students of history (Ge- 
 schichtsforscher) and compilers (Stoppler), but very few 
 historiographers with whom our fatherland could bid de- 
 fiance to the ancients, to the English and French", he began 
 "with the style of a Tacitus" to write a history of the Seven 
 
 1 Gelehrtenrepublik, p. 36. 
 
 2 Gelehrtenrepublik, p. 439. 
 
 3Klopstock's works, IX, 436. "Vom edlen Ausdruck," 1779. 
 
PATRIOTIC ENDEAVORS 117 
 
 Years' War. However, the work was never published; 
 and Cramer informs us that in a moment of severe self- 
 criticism the poet burned his whole manuscript. During 
 his later visits to Hamburg from Paris Cramer often wished 
 to discuss this history, but Klopstock always answered: 
 "Everything that relates to war, that laurel-crowned fury, 
 is horrible and detestable to me. Do not mention the mat- 
 ter again." 1 This rejoinder can be fully understood after 
 Klopstock's attitude toward the French Revolution has been 
 considered. 
 
 In the ode, "Das neue Jahrhundert" (1760), Klopstock 
 sang: 
 
 "O Freiheit, 
 Silberton dem Ohre, 
 
 Licht dem Verstand und hoher Flug zu denken, 
 Dem Herzen gross Gefuhl ! 
 
 O Freiheit, Freiheit! nicht nur der Demokrat 
 Weiss, was du bist, 
 Des guten Konigs glucklicher Sohn, 
 Der weiss es auch !" 
 
 Thus we see that Klopstock's idea of freedom was not 
 solely a political one, conceiving it as confined to a republic, 
 but rather the freedom of the individual to develop his own 
 powers under favorable external conditions, whether in a 
 republic or monarchy. Freedom was the first foundation- 
 stone of the poet's "Gelehrtenrepublik" ; 2 and here, too, its 
 broader meaning held true. When the French Revolution 
 broke out, Klopstock, like so many others of his country- 
 men, thought he saw in this great awakening of national 
 consciousness the beginning of an ideal state, where justice 
 
 1 Klopstock X, 488. Taken from "Morgenblatt", 1808— numbers 
 90 and 91. See X, 491 — Klopstock also wrote some historical 
 "Denkmaler" (descriptions of remarkable events connected with 
 the French Revolution), all trace of which has been lost. 
 
 2 Gelehrtenrepublik, p. 108- 
 
118 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 and freedom would rule ; and he hailed it with the warmest 
 joy and enthusiasm. 
 
 After he had been crowned "citizen" of the French Re- 
 public, Klopstock writes to Roland, Minister of the In- 
 terior, from Hamburg, November 19, 1792: "It is impos- 
 sible for a foreigner to earn the honor of being presented 
 with the title 'citizen' by the French National Assembly. 
 The only thing which can, and that to a limited degree, make 
 him worthy of it, is the evidence of civism which he has 
 
 already given I began to show my civism toward the 
 
 end of 1788 in an ode entitled 'Les fitats Generaux'. I 
 believed even thus early to foresee French freedom, and 
 with almost tearful eyes I gave myself expression in an 
 
 effusion of the greatest joy On February 20, 1792, I 
 
 wrote to La Rochefoucauld that I should stand by the con- 
 stitution till death The last ode which I composed on 
 
 the French Revolution dates from April, 1792, and is 
 enclosed herewith ('Der Freiheitskrieg')." 1 
 
 In his first revolutionary ode Klopstock calls the action 
 of the French people the greatest deed of the century, and 
 pleads with the Germans to follow the glorious example set 
 by their neighbors. In the ode, "Kennet euch selbst" 
 (1789), the poet expresses his feelings even more force- 
 fully. 'France made herself free, and by this noblest of all 
 actions raised herself as high as Olympus/ Klopstock ad- 
 monishes his own inert, sleeping people to rouse themselves, 
 and, awakening their full spirit of nationality, not to fear 
 the purging storm of revolution, so that they might enjoy 
 the blessings it would bring after it had passed. In an- 
 other ode of the same year (1789 — "Der Fiirst und sein 
 Kebsweib"), the poet foresees the awakening in Germany 
 of this national consciousness ("der schreckliche Geist der 
 
 1 Klopstock's works X, 336ff. 
 
PATRIOTIC ENDEAVORS 119 
 
 Freiheit"), which already caused the immoral, licentious 
 German princes, of which there were all too many, to 
 tremble for their thrones and for their own safety. The 
 princes, he declares, feel the approach of this "hundred- 
 armed, hundred-eyed spectre", against which they are 
 powerless. Klopstock laments the fact that Germany, that 
 country which gave birth to that glorious spirit of religious 
 freedom, remained silent, and allowed another nation "to 
 raise the freedom of citizenship out of the dust" ("Sie und 
 nicht Wir", 1790). But he tries to seek comfort in the 
 fact that if the German spirit of freedom has been hin- 
 dered from producing a more perfect political state in the 
 fatherland, it has been carried in the hearts of German 
 emigrants to the shores of America, where it has contrib- 
 uted its share in establishing a free country. 
 
 "An Amerika's Stromen 
 
 Flammt schon eigenes Licht, leuchtet den Volkern umher. 
 Hier auch winkte mir Trost, er war : in Amerika leuchten 
 Deutsche zugleich umher; aber er trostete nicht-" 
 
 The last ode in praise of the great Revolution Klopstock 
 wrote in April, 1792. He encloses it with the letter written 
 to Roland, November 19, 1792, and gives the minister its 
 history. When, in early summer, King Frederick William 
 II of Prussia and Emperor Leopold II of Austria, having 
 agreed, in 1791, to attempt the reestablishment of royal 
 power and the old order of things in France, formed an 
 alliance in Berlin, Klopstock sent his ode, "Der Freiheits- 
 krieg", on July 2nd, to Duke Karl Ferdinand ©f Braun- 
 schweig who was to be commander-in-chief of the troops. 
 The poet hoped most sincerely to dissuade the duke from 
 entering upon such an unjust war. Although Klopstock's 
 noble efforts were in vain, he had tried his best to spare 
 his country the stain of this disgrace. 
 
 In this same letter to Roland Klopstock warns the French 
 
120 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 minister that the outrageous deeds committed in Avignon, 
 and especially the awful Paris massacre of September 2nd, 
 must not go unpunished. He feels the danger that liberty 
 will become license, and he would prevent the French people 
 from spoiling and demolishing their own grand creation. 
 He reminds the minister that King Frederick of Denmark 
 is the most absolute ruler in Europe, not through usurpa- 
 tion, but by constitutional right; yet he permitted freedom 
 of the press, freed the serfs, and forbade the Danes using 
 negro slaves in the field. He rules justly, and is a father 
 to his people; he is the first king to acknowledge the 
 French Republic. Klopstock calls France his new father- 
 land (he had already given Denmark much the same appel- 
 lation) and wishes her to join in alliance with Denmark. 
 He is also glad that by being made a "citizen" of the Re- 
 public by the French National Assembly, he has become a 
 fellow citizen of Washington. 1 
 
 In spite of all the evils which followed closely upon the 
 first outbursts of freedom beyond the German border, Klop- 
 stock remained faithful to the French movement for a long 
 time. He witnessed the murder of the king, the down-fall 
 of the Girondists, the reign of terror with its horrors in 
 Paris and in the provinces, and even the abolition of religion. 
 He never sent back the diploma which made him a citizen 
 of the French Republic and fellow-citizen of Washington ; 
 he was always proud of it, and continually denied the false 
 reports which claimed he had discarded his title. 2 But, 
 when finally the spirit of conquest broke loose, he could no 
 longer support the French; all his bright hopes for the 
 establishment of an ideal republic were shattered. The 
 most horrible of all horrors now ruled in the very land 
 
 i Klopstock X, 336ff. 
 
 2 Klopstock X, 348. Taken from Berl. Monatschrift, Vol. 
 XXVII (1796). 
 
PATRIOTIC ENDEAVORS 121 
 
 where he had hoped freedom might dwell in all her glory. 
 'Naught came of all the good and noble things of which 
 the French people had given promise.' 1 To Herder Klop- 
 stock writes, July 20, 1799: "In what a time we are living! 
 Even a great nation has gone so far as to allow a shameful 
 (erstunkene) and pretending (erlogene) freedom to make 
 its appearance." 2 
 
 Klopstock's early enthusiasm for the French Revolution, 
 however, was not an unpatriotic renunciation of his own 
 people, and a transplantation of his love of country in a 
 foreign soil ; he considered both the English and the French, 
 as he did the Celts, members of the Germanic race, and his 
 interest and patriotic spirit went out to them beyond the 
 boundaries of Germany as to fellow countrymen. He was 
 interested in this great political upheaval only insofar as it 
 was applicable to Germany and her future. He looked 
 upon the establishment of a truly republican state as an 
 ideal which he hoped Germany would aim to reach. When 
 this ideal was shattered, his love for France grew cold. 
 "Towards the last Klopstock did not love to speak of the 
 events which have so lately disturbed the world, but turned 
 the discourse with peculiar pleasure to the past scenes of 
 his life." 3 
 
 In reading Klopstock's correspondence one finds evidence 
 again and again of what a powerful influence the poet's own 
 wonderful personality, as well as his creative works, exerted 
 in arousing and animating his contemporaries with that vital 
 feeling of freedom and love for Germany which burned so 
 
 1 Zwei Nordamerikaner" (1795"; see "An La Rochefoucaulds 
 Schatten" (1793); "Die Verwandlung" (1793); "Das Denkmal" 
 (1794); "Mein Irrtum" (1793); "Der Eroberungskrieg" (1793); 
 "Die beiden Graber" (1793); "Die Denkzeiten" (1793); "Das 
 Versprechen" (1705). 
 
 2 Lappenberg, p. 404. 
 
 s Elizabeth Smith II, 37. 
 
122 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 brightly in his own heart. The members of that loyal band 
 of literary men, the Gottinger Hainbund, wrote to him, 
 March 24, 1774: "When the oak-tree rustled, when our 
 hearts trembled, the moon shone forth more brightly, and 
 our devotion (Bund) to God, freedom, and fatherland 
 found expression in our embraces and hand-grasps; even 
 thus early we had a premonition, and we said to one an- 
 other: 'God has blessed us/ [Oh], great man! You 
 wish to be among us ! Ah, now it is no longer premoni- 
 tion; it is certainty, — God has blessed us! .... Klopstock 
 is among us!" 1 
 
 We already know the influence of Klopstock's odes in 
 Darmstadt, and with what a lively interest the Countess 
 Karoline there collected and published them. In the sum- 
 mer of 1774 the nobility again recognized Klopstock when 
 Margrave Carl Frederick of Baden wished to have the poet 
 himself near him and invited him to sojourn at his court. 
 He writes to Klopstock, August 3, 1774: "I am glad to 
 make your personal acquaintance, and to have the poet of 
 religion and the fatherland in my country. You desire 
 unrestrained residence, and that you will enjoy with me at 
 all times ; freedom is the noblest right of man, and quite 
 inseparable from all intellectual and literary pursuits (Wis- 
 senschaften). I hope to be able soon to assure you how 
 much I value your merits." 2 
 
 The following extract from a letter of one of the Counts 
 von Stolberg 3 to Klopstock, dated Strassburg, May 24, 
 1775, shows well the attitude of two prominent men toward 
 Klopstock, and toward the position of Germany in the world 
 of letters. It relates to the meeting of the Count with the 
 
 1 Lappenberg, p. 256. 
 
 2 Lappenberg, p. 257 ; see p. 259. See Strauss, X, pp. 145ff. 
 
 3 Lappenberg, p. 260, says "Graf Christian von Stolberg". Otto 
 Lyon, p. 109, says "Graf Fritz von Stolberg". 
 
PATRIOTIC ENDEAVORS 123 
 
 Duke of Weimar and his brother, Prince Constantine, a 
 youth of seventeen. "He [the prince] spoke for half an 
 hour with me about the Germans, English, and French. I 
 was astonished to hear a young prince of seventeen hold 
 forth so intelligently. He spoke of the charlatanry of French 
 philosophy with such sharp irony and at the same time with 
 such bonhomie, that I marvelled at him. He asked me 
 what I thought of Wieland. I gave him my opinion, 
 frankly, yet with coolness (trocken). 'I believe just as you 
 do/ he said; ■ Wieland is most vain (eitel), and always 
 exhausts his own literary powers. He could become (a) 
 good (author), if he were still young/ 'II pourrait se 
 former encore', were his words. You and Gluck, he said, 
 were the pride of Germany. The English [he considered] 
 the leading nation. 'I hope your Excellency excepts us 
 Germans?' I said. 'Oh, that is self evident! I do not 
 include ourselves with the others! We above all!' We 
 both expressed a hearty wish to see the Germans soon con- 
 testing with the French." 1 
 
 The following extracts show well the impetus Klopstock 
 gave to the spirit of research in the field of philology and 
 literature ; at the same time they will illustrate to what an 
 extreme the admirers of the poet went in their praise and 
 worship of him, even verging on the ridiculous. F. D. Gra- 
 ter writes, January 20, 1797, to Klopstock: "Most worthy 
 among the priests attendant upon the muse of the father- 
 land, accept with lenient indulgence the small sacrifice which 
 I have laid on the altar of this muse ; permit me, therewith, 
 to reveal in some measure the most sincere gratitude, which 
 as silent tribute, since the first spring-time of my life, I have 
 paid you, as father of German patriotism, — at least as the 
 creator of my own patriotism. I should require more per- 
 
 1 Lappenberg, pp. 261 ff. 
 
124 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 feet means of expression to enumerate to you the number- 
 less sources of my admiration for you, which borders on 
 wonderment ; the veneration which uplifts me ; and my love 
 for you, which resembles the fondness of a son for a peer- 
 less father; thereby I might justify the boldness with which 
 I force myself upon you. Indeed it was one of my greatest 
 wishes, not by any possible talents I might possess, which 
 are not to be considered at all, but through an indefatigable 
 zeal in searching for, and in cultivating, native treasures of 
 antiquity, to make myself at least so deserving of the name 
 of German as to approach with some confidence the singer of 
 the fiery Hermannsschlacht and of many odes to the father- 
 land, for whom every true German, old and young, feels 
 an ardent love. Almost eight years ago I made my debut 
 in the literature of our fatherland with the 'Nordische Blu- 
 men' ; and for more than eight years it has been my high- 
 est aim to win the approval of the sacred poet of the Occi- 
 dent. At the same time, I was yet too modest to venture 
 to approach him, because I had so little reason to expect 
 praise ; and I felt that for this crowning reward of acquain- 
 tanceship, I must wait until perseverance and continued 
 labor had proved my merit. Now that five volumes, all 
 inspired by this same motive, have left my hand; that a 
 new volume is ready to make its appearance ; and that the 
 continuation of this work and its results is probable ; I first 
 gather courage to lay these attempts before a man who does 
 not judge the works of others according to his own exalted 
 position, before which only his own writings need not blush, 
 but who judges according to the value of their patriotic 
 influence, and who will scarcely fail to recognize a pure and 
 generous love of fatherland, which time will always effect- 
 ually distinguish from a momentary outburst of patriotism. 
 This is all I can say and perhaps too much/' 
 
 "How much I desire to see you face to face even yet in 
 
PATRIOTIC ENDEAVORS 125 
 
 this life ! A precious but futile wish ! I shall be fortunate 
 enough if here below you at least consider me worthy of 
 your support, your patriotic affection, and a letter. Above, 
 where our respected fathers dwell, some day I shall rush 
 into your arms, glorified and transfigured." 1 Two years 
 later Grater pours forth the wildest praise : " . . . . dear 
 and most venerable father, ardently loved by a heart pos- 
 sessed with a pure love for the fatherland . . . . O beloved, 
 infinitely precious, great, peerless, unmatched one, whom 
 our German fatherland will never forget as long as it exists 
 .... first among all Germans .... most glorious, best, 
 greatest of men !" 2 
 
 But above all let us not forget Klopstock's great influence 
 on Fichte, that animated, moving spirit during the period 
 of the Wars of Liberation. He writes to Klopstock, June 
 22, 1793: "Du Einziger, der im friihsten Knabenalter mei- 
 nem Auge die erste Thrane der Running entlockte, — der 
 zuerst den Sinn fur's Erhabene, die einzige Triebfeder mei- 
 ner sittlichen Giite, in mir weckte, wurde ich meinen Dank 
 auf ein Leben aufgespart haben, in welchem die Entfernung 
 der irdischen Schlacken am Dankenden nichts zu denken 
 ubrig lasst als den Dank, wenn ich nicht jetzt auf eine viel- 
 leicht nicht ganz ungiiltige Art bei diesem Einzigen einge- 
 ftihrt wurde." 3 
 
 Let us now turn our attention to Herder. That fervent 
 spirit of patriotism and humanity which animated Klop- 
 stock and found early utterance in his works, also entered 
 the heart of young Herder, and found its first expression in 
 the short poem, "Gesang an den Cyrus". This, the first 
 literary production of Herder, is full of patriotic feeling, 
 expressing admiration, however, not for the young poet's 
 
 • 1 Lappenberg, pp. 37Sff. 
 
 2 Lappenberg, pp. 404ff. 
 
 3 Lappenberg, p. 356. 
 
126 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 own monarch, Frederick the Great, but celebrating Peter III 
 of Russia, who ascended the throne, January 5, 1762. The 
 military triumphs of Frederick did not stir Herder to ad- 
 miration, as in the case of Klopstock's "Kriegslied" (1749) ; 
 but the magnanimity displayed by the foreign ruler in giv- 
 ing up willingly and peacefully all Prussian territory in 
 possession of the Russians, and recalling his subjects, 
 aroused in the young poet's heart a feeling of patriotic 
 gratitude toward this "prince of peace, the anointed of God, 
 the shepherd of his people". Even thus early the ideal 
 and universal tendency of Herder's patriotism becomes 
 clear; it seeks nobility of character, as displayed in the 
 personality of a monarch, even though it must find it in the 
 king of an alien people. In the same way, we will recall, 
 Klopstock turned away from the Prussian ruler to the king 
 of Denmark. 
 
 It has been assumed that Herder read Klopstock's "Bar- 
 denpoesie" in Trescho's library, and that his interest in the 
 Old German language and in national poetry was first 
 aroused during the years he served as Trescho's secretary 
 ( 1760-62). 1 Although the last assertion is doubtless true, 
 it is impossible to determine whether or not Herder saw 
 any of Klopstock's early patriotic odes while still in Mohr- 
 ungen, for we know that the best known of all the odes 
 appeared only periodically in pamphlets, and that many of 
 them were circulated only in manuscript; 2 it is more prob- 
 able that he read the "Prayer of a Good King", which had 
 appeared in Hamburg, in 1753, as one of the "Drei Gebete 
 eines Freigeistes, Christen und Guten Konigs", and which 
 
 1 Wm. Grohmann, p. 11. 
 
 2 It is possible that Trescho was. a subscriber to some of the 
 periodicals in which the odes were published — "Bremer Beitrage", 
 for example. In that case Herder might have read them while still 
 in Mohrungen. 
 
PATRIOTIC ENDEAVORS 127 
 
 might very easily have been in Trescho's possession. This 
 work would have been more than sufficient to inspire Her- 
 der to give recognition to Peter III and his action, as he 
 did, and to arouse his patriotism. 
 
 In Koenigsberg Herder's patriotic feelings find a sim- 
 ilar expression in at least one poem, "An Herzog Ernst 
 Johann" (June 22, 1763). 1 Duke Ernst Johann of Cur- 
 land, banished since 1740, had been recalled by Peter III, 
 and was given back his dukedom by Catherine II, who 
 had negotiated his restoration with Frederick of Prussia. 
 Herder wrote his poem of welcome upon this occasion. 
 He credits Frederick the Great with an interest in the 
 duke's welfare, and expresses the feeling of joy which 
 the people of Curland experienced upon the return of their 
 former ruler, who came back to them as a "father return- 
 ing to his orphan children". The advent of their old leader 
 is to mark for the inhabitants of the Russian province the 
 beginning of a new golden age; — Curland, 'which borders 
 on Frederick's state and fortune, is to be the country where 
 magnanimity rules, and industry and fidelity dwell; where 
 virtue blooms, because God and Ernst reward it'. Her- 
 der's patriotic ideals, as before in Mohrungen, here, too, 
 find their realization in the noble character of a foreign 
 ruler. It is humanity again, as expressed in a worthy 
 "father of men", which arouses Herder's patriotic feeling. 
 
 But, whereas patriotism aroused Klopstock's poetic 
 genius and inspired him to artistic productions, in Herder 
 it early fixed his critical sense and turned his talents to best 
 advantage in the field of criticism and history. Klopstock's 
 more intense study of the Northern languages and litera- 
 ture dates probably from 1766, and becomes most promi- 
 nent, as we have noted, in the years 1768 and 1769. It 
 would seem, however, that Herder's historical interest was 
 
 1 Suphan XXIX, 5. 
 
128 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 aroused earlier in life; if not in Mohrungen, at least dur- 
 ing the years he spent in Koenigsberg (1762-1764). He 
 and Hamann must have discussed Northern literature and 
 Germanic history, if we may judge from a letter which 
 Hamann writes to Herder, June 30, 1765: "The long- 
 wished for Edda I have already read here, and am in a fair 
 way to fix my attention on the history of our fatherland, 
 for which I have both opportunity and means .... Your 
 intention of learning the Lettic language, dear friend, pleases 
 me." 1 Less than a year later Hamann writes: "Since 
 Easter I have begun Lettic." 2 Here, then, at least, Her- 
 der had undoubtedly inspired his own great teacher. 
 
 In the Baltic city of Riga, Herder's first real interest in, 
 and understanding for, politics and affairs of state were 
 awakened. 3 Here, in this "republic within a monarchy", 
 he found a second and better fatherland" — 
 
 "Dein Mutterschoos empfing den Fremdling sanfter, 
 Als sein verjochtes Vaterland!"* 
 
 He felt keenly the spirit of love for country and ruler 
 which animated the hearts of his new friends among the 
 citizens of Riga, and found himself in turn filled with this 
 sturdy patriotism. 5 Here he was once and forever impressed 
 by the great blessings of political freedom. He became a 
 most enthusiastic patriot of Riga, — a Russian patriot, with 
 a genuine love for Russia's monarchs. He apostrophizes 
 Peter the Great — "O great father of your Fatherland! 
 Your patriotic spirit is great enough to fill the hearts of ten 
 regents, each one of whom would call forth our respect", 6 
 
 1 Lebensbild I, 2, p. 90. Hamann to Herder, June 30, 1765. 
 
 2 Lebensbild I, 2, p. 133— Hamann to Herder, April 19, 1766. 
 
 3 Erinnerungen I, 97. 
 
 4 "Als ich von Liefland aus zu Schiffe ging", — May-June, 1769. 
 XXIX, 319. Cf. Lebensbild I, 2, p. 173, (Sept. 1766.) Similarly 
 Klopstock found a second fatherland in Denmark. 
 
 5 Erinnerungen I, 111-113. 
 
 • Suphan I, 25, (1765). Also XXIX, 380, (1773). 
 
PATRIOTIC ENDEAVORS 129 
 
 — and pays the warmest poetic tribute to the empress, 
 Catharine II. The picture which Herder draws of Cath- 
 arine, as ruler of her people, reminds one very forcefully 
 of Klopstock's praises of Frederick V of Denmark, and of 
 his "Prayer of a Good King", (1763). She who is seated 
 on Europe's highest dais, says Herder, is still mother of 
 her people; her scepter is one of mercy. God looks upon 
 her as "daughter of His throne", and promises to grant 
 what she would ask of Him. She does not wish for glory, 
 riches, or laurels, which crown only the enemies of human- 
 ity; all she would ask is a mother's heart, and Solomon's 
 wisdom, both to be used to the good of her land and chil- 
 dren. As mother, monarch, empress, she creates peace and 
 happiness for her subjects. 1 God has made her mother of 
 a nation, just as he himself is father of the world and 
 humanity. Riga is dependent upon Catherine's scepter as 
 the earth is upon that of God. 2 
 
 Although Herder became such an enthusiastic Russian 
 patriot, seeing in that land great possibilities for the future 
 in the development of freedom, at heart he remained true 
 to his German blood. In Liefland and Riga the German 
 population was in the majority, and hence German senti- 
 ment and civilization was predominant. 3 Here, by contrast 
 with their Slavic neighbors, the Germans became more con- 
 scious of that higher culture, which, passed on from gen- 
 eration to generation for centuries, had become part of 
 their natural inheritance. So, too, Herder, as pastor and 
 teacher, feels keenly that it is his duty to spread the mes- 
 sage of this culture, which he, as an educated German, has 
 
 1 "Hymnus auf Katharinens Thronbesteigung", (1765)— XXIX, 
 24. Compare "Am Namensfeste der Monarchin", (1768) and "Als 
 Peter sich vermahlte mit Karoline Lowise", (1765). 
 
 2 Suphan XXIX, 11. "Lobgesang am Neujahrsfest" (1765). 
 
 3 Krohnert, p. 6. 
 
130 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 to bring to "Liefland, the province of barbarism and luxury, 
 of ignorance and acquired taste, of freedom and slavery." 1 
 At the same time that Klopstock, in Denmark, was study- 
 ing the Northern language and literature, and endeavoring 
 to give Norse mythology a permanent place in German 
 poetry, Herder, also an exile in Riga, was trying through 
 his critical works to arouse the interest of his countrymen 
 in their own past history, — not merely political, but cultural 
 and literary as well. He considered language the most 
 precious possession of a nation, 2 through which it is edu- 
 cated, cultured and "humanized". 3 The honor of a people 
 depends largely upon the preservation of its language. 4 In 
 it dwells the whole world of a nation's thought and feeling ; 
 it contains its traditions, history, religious conceptions, and 
 principles of life; it preserves national spirit; it is the very 
 heart and soul of a country. 5 Herder therefore believed 
 that no greater calamity could befall a country than to be 
 bereft of its language, and, with that, of its national char- 
 acter. In this respect, he says, Germany, due to her unfor- 
 tunate geographical position and political organization, suf- 
 fered more than any other country when Roman civiliza- 
 tion was introduced. 6 But the German language, above 
 all, is, and always has been, Herder asserts, an original, 
 individual, national language, filled with the very life and 
 blood of our forefathers. 7 If it was forced to give way 
 to Latin as a language of learning, as the language of the 
 people it was preserved in all its original vigor and beauty. 
 
 1 Suphan IV, 362, (1767). 
 
 2 Suphan XVII, 58, 59, (1793). 
 
 3 Suphan XVII, 58, 59, (1793) ; XVIII, 387 (1795). 
 
 4 Suphan XVII, 210. 
 
 5 Suphan II, 41, (1768) ; IX, 391 ; XVII, 58, 59, (1793) ; 210, 287; 
 XVI, 604, 605; XVIII, 336, 384, 387, (1795). 
 
 6 Suphan I, 364, (1767). 
 
 7 Suphan II, 30, (1768); I, 166, 173, (1767; IV, 116, (1769). 
 
PATRIOTIC ENDEAVORS 131 
 
 Among the Suabians it gave birth to Minnesongs whose 
 language, Herder believes, posesses a charm and nobility, 
 which, in many respects, modern German has lost. 1 These 
 old poets are our fathers, and their language is the source 
 of our modern tongue. Their poetry is the oldest monu- 
 ment of the German nation; a model of poetic greatness 
 and the true original of our language; it reflects the char- 
 acter of the early Germans. The church (Klosterlateiner) 
 robbed us of these bards. Herder regrets that, although 
 Karl the Great so loved and admired these old songs that 
 he had them collected, he, nevertheless, destroyed the old 
 Germanic, barbaric spirit which alone could produce them. 2 
 Herder pleads that these poets, the oldest fathers of 
 German poetry, be read, studied, and venerated. He urges 
 his countrymen to study, along with these old writers, the 
 language of the Meistersinger, of Opitz, Logau, and Luther ; 
 and above all to read Klopstock more carefully; 'this 
 genius, who, in the German language assumed a creative 
 spirit and first spread this spirit of freedom in Germany.' 
 The study of an original poet like Klopstock opens the way 
 for the student of philosophy to grasp the genius of a 
 language, and thus to compare it with the genius of a 
 nation. 3 In Klopstock, then, Herder sees the old original, 
 strong, vigorous Germanic spirit revived. Herder pene- 
 trates beyond the beauties of Klopstock's poetry and reaches 
 the very soul of the man, even of the German people. 
 
 The chief motive of Herder, as of Klopstock, in urging 
 the rediscovery of Germany's past was a patriotic one. He 
 says that if the Germans were more zealous in acquainting 
 themselves with their old national songs and poetry, they 
 would not only penetrate the poetic world of thought of 
 
 iSuphan II, 248, (1768). 
 2Suphan II, 246, (1768). 
 sSuphan I, 165, (1767). 
 
132 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 their ancestors, but also find works which would approach 
 in merit the ballads of the English, the songs of the French 
 troubadours, the romances of the Spaniards, and the festive 
 "sagoliuds" of the old Scalds. 1 It is his ambition to see 
 his fatherland occupy that high position among literary 
 nations of which she is worthy, if she would but herself 
 realize it. But Herder is not pessimistic as to her future. 
 He prophesies a time when the German language will re- 
 turn to its old simplicity and strength, throwing off its 
 many useless and borrowed gems. He rejoices in a future 
 harvest of original prose writers, each one of whom will 
 possess an individual style. He sees in some of his con- 
 temporaries "the dawn and harbingers of this time." 2 
 
 Riga, with its political freedom and the active patrio- 
 tism displayed by its citizens, appears to Herder to be an 
 ideal place for the cultivation of art and science. Even 
 after he had left Riga, and is in Nantes, he thinks of the 
 possibility of making a perfect state out of the Russian 
 province, where the physical and spiritual powers of man 
 could be fully cultivated and developed. He wonders if 
 he himself is great enough to assume, as the guiding genius 
 of Liefland, the position of a second Zwingli, Calvin, or 
 Luther. He feels most powerfully the contrast between 
 the noble activity of such a reformer and his own selfish 
 life, hitherto spent among books and at the writing-table. 
 He would put to practical service all he has read and learned 
 for the welfare of all humanity. 3 The thought of becoming 
 a law-giver for princes and kings appeals to him, and he 
 believes that there never was a more opportune time. 'All 
 of Europe has experienced a universal degeneration; the 
 spirit of the Hanseatic towns has disappeared from North- 
 
 iSuphan I, 266, (1767). 
 
 2Suphan II, 288, (1768). 
 
 3 Suphan IV, 362-4 371, 401-403. (1769). 
 
PATRIOTIC ENDEAVORS 133 
 
 ern Europe, and someone must needs revive it.' The 
 ideal place for such a beginning, Herder believes, is Riga; 
 Germany, although much further advanced culturally, can- 
 not hope for such an honor on account of her political 
 situation. The leader of such a movement would be greater 
 than Zwingli or Calvin. 1 Herder wishes he had not writ- 
 ten the "Kritische Walder". But he will try to put off the 
 spirit which urges him to literary work, and will try to court 
 the spirit which would force him to external activity. What 
 a great accomplishment it would be if he could make of 
 Riga a happy city where freedom and culture should always 
 rule ! Here would be born the spirit of a new culture, 
 which, passing over all Europe, would arouse every people 
 from their lethargy. 2 Such is Herder's dream, born of his 
 patriotism and his love for humanity. Herder's friends, 
 too, felt the power of this spirit which animated him. 
 Berens writes to him, December, 1769: "What city will not 
 esteem you and love you, and what prince will give you up, 
 if he is at all just in his estimation of you." 3 
 
 Herder once said: "Even birds of passage nest where 
 they were hatched, and the most wretched, the most rugged 
 fatherland has often the strongest ties for the race which 
 becomes accustomed to it." 4 Thus it was with Herder him- 
 self. Travel and absence abroad, with added experience 
 and knowledge of other countries, always caused the love 
 of fatherland in him to grow deeper, and awakened in him 
 a fervent longing to return to his people. In spite of the 
 enthusiasm which he felt for Russia while living in Riga, 
 he always cherished the warmest love for Germany. This 
 
 1 Suphan IV, 405. 
 
 2 Suphan IV, 408. Compare IV, 132, (1769): "We Germans 
 quarrel over words, as other nations do over things — we are happy 
 in explanations as others in inventions". 
 
 3 Lebensbild II, 133. 
 
 4 Suphan XIII, 26, (1784). 
 
134 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 becomes evident from a letter written to Caroline from 
 Strassburg, the first year of his return : "Oh, I have always 
 looked forward with pleasure to seeing once more the 
 scenes of my childhood, — my fatherland ! — How happy I am 
 now I" 1 Even in Italy Herders patriotism manifests itself. 
 He writes to Frau von Diede, February 10, 1789: "Slowly 
 I am drawing nearer to Germany, — a country and a people 
 whom I treasure and love now even still more than be- 
 fore, since I have become acquainted with Italy and have 
 seen the spirit and activity of the Italian people/' 2 
 
 It was in France, however, and above all in the city of 
 Paris, that Herder's ardent love for his own people was 
 most forcibly and fully aroused; here he felt keenly the 
 contrast between the spirit and culture of the French and 
 the German nations, and his German nature recalled his 
 fatherland to him and caused him to realize the great merits 
 of his own race and country. He writes to Hartknoch 
 from Paris, December, 1769: "Taste (Gout) and splendor 
 in art and institutions have their center in Paris. But since 
 taste is only the most superficial conception of beauty, and 
 splendor only an outward show, which often covers faults, 
 France can never satisfy me, and I am heartily tired of it." 3 
 A few days before he wrote to Nicolai that his patriotism 
 for Germany grew stronger in him, whereas in most exiles 
 it is wont to grow weaker. "I learn to judge more accur- 
 
 i Lebensbild III, 1, p .209. 
 
 2 Briefwechsel mit seiner Gattin, p. 246. 
 
 3 Lebensbild II, 123. Compare Erinnerungen, pp. 128-129. 
 Suphan XXIX, 416. "Ihr Deutsche, nun flieh ich zu Euch; 
 
 ihr fiihlt Natur und Gottes Lieder, 
 bringt mich zu meiner Einfalt wieder 
 verjunget in mein Konigreich." 
 We will recall, too, Herder's estimate of the Frenchman's lack of 
 genuine interest in, and knowledge of, German literature, and his 
 statement, that Klopstock and his poetry could not be comprehended 
 by the French mind. 
 
PATRIOTIC ENDEAVORS 135 
 
 ately, and to get a better conception of German literature, 
 the more I become acquainted with other peoples. I travel 
 among foreign peoples, so that I may sometime later give 
 myself up more perfectly to my fatherland." 1 This, then, 
 from 1769 on, becomes Herder's guiding motive in spite of 
 occasional references to Curland ; 2 he no longer allows Ger- 
 many's political situation to discourage him, but accepts his 
 country as it is, and directs all his energy and talents toward 
 developing and improving his own people. 
 
 Herder realized the position and duties of the poet in 
 arousing the patriotism which expresses itself in active 
 deeds for the fatherland. Already in 1767 he recognized 
 the patriotic sentiments of Gleim's poems, which, however, 
 were confined to one province (Prussia) instead of to all 
 of Germany. 3 In Klopstock Herder found a poet who 
 was not provincial but truly national. In 1769 he quotes 
 from Klopstock's poem, "Das neue Jahrhundert" (1760), 
 and says: "At a time when the word, 'fatherland', is not 
 yet an empty sound, but 
 
 'Silberton dem Ohre ! 
 
 Licht dem Verstand und hoher Flug zu denken, 
 
 Dem Herzen gross Gefuhl' — 
 
 then the name, 'fatherland', must make a hero of the poet 
 as well as a poet of the hero, and make both affectionate 
 sons of their fatherland. The hero will fight for it ; the 
 
 1 Brw. mit Nicolai, p. 52. Nov. 30, 1769. 
 
 2Nachlass III, 364. Herder to Caroline, 1772. "In Curland 
 more can be done than in poor, disrupted Germany, which suffers 
 under its armies." 
 
 3 Suphan I, 336. (1767). "Gleim's are national songs full of 
 Prussian patriotism." II, 88, (1768) "Let Gleim be a reminder to 
 make use of the history of our fatherland and to become na- 
 tional poets." 
 
 Suphan VIII, 430. (1788) "Germany's political and religious 
 state prevented the 'Messiah' from becoming national. Gleim's 
 'Prussian Grenadier' was only a Prussian grenadier in a war in 
 which Germans fought against Germans." 
 
136 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 poet will sing; and if both can no longer save it, both, as 
 sons, will mourn over it. And now, poet, hero, and son of 
 fatherland are one person; this is the time of patriotic 
 songs of lament. They will flow out of a full heart, not 
 only on paper, but will be retained in the memory and live 
 on in the soul. Tradition will preserve them; the people 
 (das Volk) will sing them; they will move to tears and 
 deeds. They are the treasures of a nation, and the emo- 
 tions they express are the emotions of that people; they 
 possess national spirit, — one great feeling of patriotism/' 1 
 What an important place Klopstock's patriotic odes occu- 
 pied in the hearts of his countrymen we can learn clearly 
 from two letters which Caroline Flachsland sent to Herder. 2 
 She writes, in December, 1771 : "The odes to the father- 
 land are noble and sublime; those which I understand are 
 excellent, and just what my old German heart (which is 
 often a cause for ridicule) longs for. It seems to me that 
 the deeds of our ancestors, who were human, must neces- 
 sarily have a greater effect on us than all the odes of Olym- 
 pus. I always shudder when Hermann or a bard is called 
 forth from his old moss-covered grave. Poor Klopstock 
 probably shouts into deaf ears and unresponsive hearts." 3 
 In a letter written the preceding month, Caroline expres- 
 ses the anxious longing for a happy, united fatherland, 
 which filled the hearts of all noble-minded Germans of her 
 time. Klopstock's odes, particularly his "Vaterlandslied" 
 (1770), have, she says, stirred her patriotic feeling and 
 caused her to lament that Germany is no longer the power- 
 ful nation she was. She finds comfort and happiness in 
 singing this poem to herself : 
 
 iSuphan III, 30, (1769). 
 
 2 See also the chapter on Klopstock's lyrical poetry. 
 
 SNachlass III, 154. 
 
PATRIOTIC ENDEAVORS 137 
 
 "Ich bin ein deutsches Madchen; 
 Mein Aug' ist blau und sanft mein Blick, 
 Ich nab' ein Herz, das edel ist, 
 Und stolz und gut." 
 
 "Ah, alas ! Our fatherland is only a phantom of our fore- 
 fathers ! Especially for men, and for a man like you, Her- 
 der! Ah, there one must create an ideal fatherland. Let 
 it be but a sweet dream, if it cannot be real ! Is it not so, 
 my beloved? We slumber and dream this dream safely 
 and peacefully; the way which God commanded." 1 These 
 words are but the reflection of Herder's own feelings. He 
 himself, as we know, had found this ideal fatherland pic- 
 tured in Klopstock's patriotic poetry and paid tribute to it 
 in a poem, "Klopstocks lyrische Poesie", written probably 
 the year of the publication of the Darmstadter edition of 
 Klopstock's odes, (1771). This ideal country of the poet's 
 imagination, he declares, shall be a comfort and the guiding 
 star for a future real and better fatherland ; the poet be- 
 comes the prophet of the statesman, who makes reality of 
 what has existed before only in the singer's imagination. 
 
 In "Das vierte kritische Waldchen" (1769) Herder says: 
 "In Greece it was regarded an equal display of patriotism 
 when the same hand which elevated the meritorious men 
 of the country also crushed the pillars of tyrants. In a 
 time of degeneration it is likewise patriotic to uplift sinking 
 philosophy and to unmask braying (schreiend) ignorance." 
 This was the great task Herder set for himself upon his 
 return to Germany. In his great enthusiasm for the 
 awakening of national spirit during his stay in Strassburg 
 he became interested even in the Oriental peoples, and 
 worked in the library there "among Jews, Arabs, Egyp- 
 tians, Syrians, Samaritans." 2 In Buckeburg Herder read 
 
 1 Nachlass III, 144. 
 
 2 Lebensbild III, 1, p. 236. Herder to Caroline, Oct. 28, 1770. 
 Compare p. 263, Herder to Hartknoch, Nov. 21, 1770. 
 
138 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 the greatest poets of all ages, the ancients, old German poets, 
 and English folk-songs. Percy's "Reliques of Early Eng- 
 lish Poetry" helped to inspire him to gather together the old 
 songs of his own nation and those of other peoples. In 
 his essays on Ossian and Shakespeare (1773) he points out 
 the importance of the folk-song; and in the following year 
 appears his collection of "Volkslieder", which contains 
 translations of Norse and Danish songs. 1 During the 
 period spent in Biickeburg, and the first portion of his stay 
 in Weimar, Herder's interest in Germanic studies was at 
 its height. 
 
 Herder's patriotism is given a powerful expression in the 
 essays "Von deutscher Art und Kunst" (1773) and "Von 
 Aehnlichkeit der mittleren englischen und deutschen Dicht- 
 kunst" (1777); they reveal his proud German sentiment. 
 As before in the "Fragmente", but now more forcibly, Her- 
 der admonishes the Germans and appeals to their patrio- 
 tism to gather and preserve the fragments of their old 
 poetry, as the English have done. 2 He himself was inter- 
 ested in the Volkslied in order, primarily, to rediscover the 
 national spirit and character of the Germans. 3 In his en- 
 thusiasm Herder seems for a moment to forget Klopstock 
 when he says that Germany is still saturated with the spirit 
 of classicism; 4 it has, as yet, no living poetry of its own 
 antiquity out of which a Shakespeare or a Spencer, at once 
 a great and a truly national poet, could grow. 5 Herder 
 laments that Germany has always been a lawgiver and 
 servant to foreign nations, so that she has never been per- 
 
 1 Erinnerungen I, 187. 
 
 2 Suphan IX, 522, 524, 527. This thought received poetic expres- 
 sion before in "An den Genius von Deutschland" (1770). 
 
 3 Suphan IX, 532. 
 
 4 Suphan IX, 524. 
 
 3 Suphan IX, 528, 530. 
 
PATRIOTIC ENDEAVORS 139 
 
 mitted to exercise her own character. 1 She has always been 
 devastated, he says, by foreigners, who took with them 
 whatever was valuable and gave alms in return; these the 
 kind-hearted Germans accepted humbly, and in admiration 
 of these paltry gifts they forgot the better endowments 
 which they themselves still possessed. Thus Germany re- 
 mained a divided, illunified country; always interested in 
 the welfare of others and always imitating others. She 
 was never able to marshal all her powers, and to realize her 
 true self or to benefit by her own merits. 2 
 
 If Herder here expresses sentiments similar to those 
 uttered by Klopstock many years before, he resembles the 
 latter poet also in his great optimism and confidence in Ger- 
 many's future. He calls aloud in tones that vibrate with 
 love and patriotism : "Great and noble tongue ! Great and 
 strong people! You have given to all Europe customs, 
 laws, inventions, rulers; and now you accept regency from 
 
 all Europe German classical literature is a bird of 
 
 Paradise, many colored, brilliant, but all 'flight and height' 
 (ganz Flug, ganz Hohe) — without firm footing on German 
 
 soil Great kingdom of ten peoples — Germany — you 
 
 have no Shakespeare ! Have you no songs of your fore- 
 fathers, of which you could be proud? Swiss, Suabians, 
 Franks, Bavarians, Westphalians, Saxons, Wends, Prus- 
 sians, — all of you possess nothing? The voice of your 
 fathers has become silenced in dust. People of courageous 
 morals, of noble virtues and language, have you nothing 
 which bears the impress of your souls ? .... They have 
 
 i Suphan IX, 528. 
 
 2 Suphan VIII, 423, (1778); IX, 362, (1779). This thought 
 finds poetic expression in "Eine Erscheinung" (1770). 
 
 Suphan IX, 532— Herder quotes from Klopstock's ode, "Mein 
 Vaterland", 1768: 
 
 "Nie war gegen das Ausland 
 
 ein anderes Land gerecht wie Du!" 
 
140 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 existed; they perhaps still exist; only they are buried in 
 dust, unknown or ignored [that is, poems of Germany's 
 
 antiquity] The light of the so-called culture [of our 
 
 day] would illumine every corner, and such things are left 
 lying among the cobwebs ! Set to work, my brethren, and 
 show our nation what it is and what it is not ! — how it 
 thought and felt, or how it thinks and feels. ' n But at the 
 same time Herder sounds a note of hope and encourage- 
 ment: "But poor, torn, trampled Germany, have hopes! 
 Your distress will cease ! . . . . The feeling of nationality in 
 itself, its sympathetic spirit, will produce loving poets/' 2 
 
 But in his literary endeavors and great anxiety to raise 
 Germany to a high position among cultured nations, Herder 
 does not lose sight of the importance of the more practical 
 sciences and other branches of knowledge, and the need of 
 the cooperation of the state for their advancement. He 
 recognizes that patriotism has a real, practical side; that 
 man needs a foothold, as a tree its soil. 3 This foothold is 
 his state; and it is all-important. The human race has 
 never been without some form of government ; this is as 
 natural for it as the union of its members into races. Gov- 
 ernmental organizations existed before the sciences and 
 arts, and is a prerequisite to the very existence of the lat- 
 ter. 4 Thus Herder even places government above intel- 
 lectual studies, when he says that it is the right, and phi- 
 losophy the left arm of humanity. 5 Then, too, we can 
 understand his statement, that to found a state is greater 
 than to compose a poem, and to establish a republic is 
 
 i Suphan IX, 530. 
 2Suphan VIII, 432, (1778). 
 
 3 Suphan IV 212, (1767). 
 
 4 Suphan IX, 313, (1779). 
 
 5 Suphan XVII, 107, (1793). 
 
PATRIOTIC ENDEAVORS 141 
 
 greater than to write a comedy. 1 On government depends 
 the welfare of a nation. If the government degenerates, 
 then does also education, and with it all intellectual pur- 
 suits, freedom, the courage of a people, everything. 2 On 
 the other hand, the more the government cherishes wisdom, 
 kindness, and true humanism, the more will its education 
 be animated by such a genius and make such results pos- 
 sible. 3 He believed that it is not the best omen for future 
 progress that in Germany the government hesitates to pro- 
 mote intellectual studies (Wissenschaften). 4 The state he 
 considers the mother of its children, and its duties are to 
 care for the health, strength, and spiritual welfare of all. 5 
 He often said that the state had nothing which lay nearer 
 its heart than the education of its youth. 6 
 
 Herder also recognized fully the importance to the state 
 of education and the pursuit of the sciences. Fame and 
 gratitude, he believed, are due every leader who seeks to 
 advance the unification (Gemeinschaft) of the German 
 provinces through literature, commerce, or social institu- 
 tions. Any such leader binds them together by spiritual 
 ties, and thereby in the strongest bond. 7 "If the human 
 heart ever shows the spark of its divinity, it is in the 
 thoughts wherewith it embraces heaven and earth, weighs 
 stars, breaks up the sunbeam, dares to penetrate the mys- 
 teries of the deep, separates bodies, divines the laws of 
 nature, and reckons infinity." Hence Herder considers 
 nothing more laudable for a ruler than the noble support 
 
 iSuphan IX, 383, (1779). 
 
 2 Suphan IX, 365, (1779). 
 
 sSuphan IX, 357, (1779); XVII, 121, (1793). 
 
 4 Suphan IX, 368, (1779). 
 
 5 Suphan IX, 401, (1779). 
 
 6 Erinnerungen III, 16. 
 
 7 Suphan XVII, 26, (1793). 
 
142 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 he gives to the advancement of these studies. 1 The culture 
 of individual lands and provinces is promoted, and in Ger- 
 many, especially, it is encouraged, by the example set by a 
 great regent. 2 The ideal ruler will discover the value which 
 lies in each profession and science, and will attempt to de- 
 velop them to the point of their highest efficiency in the 
 state. Thus he will give a new impulse to the spirit of 
 scientific and cultural endeavor, and at the same time 
 guarantee for all time the recognition of talent in these pur- 
 suits. 3 But the king will furnish a still greater incentive 
 and encouragement to these intellectual pursuits, if he him- 
 self, like Caesar, Mark Anthony, and Frederick, is active 
 in them ; his participation will in no wise hamper his talents 
 for rulership, which itself is the highest art. However, in 
 pursuing one avenue of endeavor he must not neglect the 
 other; in courting the muses he must not forget the genius 
 of state. 4 If religion, folk, fatherland are but vague names, 
 then will even a noble harp sound hollow and indistinct; 
 as long as the Germans sing with unnaturally subdued 
 voices, in fear and trepidation, for reward and fame, they 
 will never hear resound a lyre capable of creating a higher 
 culture or morality. 5 
 
 Herder considered the French Revolution the most re- 
 markable occurrence of his century; nothing, to his mind, 
 since the introduction of Christianity, the Migrations, the 
 Renaissance and Reformation, was of greater importance; 
 he doubted whether the Crusades and the Thirty Years' 
 War were events as mighty and farreaching. Nevertheless, 
 Herder's attitude toward this great phenomenon differed 
 
 iSuphan IX, 351, (1779). 
 2Suphan IX, 356, (1779). 
 sSuphan IX, 368, (1779). 
 *Suphan IX, 369, (1779). 
 sSuphan VIII, 434, (1778). 
 
PATRIOTIC ENDEAVORS 143 
 
 from that of Klopstock and other enthusiasts. He himself 
 says: "I never sympathized with it in a frisking, childish 
 way." Consequently, his disappointment in its results was 
 not so keen. He sought comfort in the hope, that a higher 
 power would winnow the good from all the evil. 1 
 
 If we consider Herder's attitude toward war and blood- 
 shed we can better understand the fact that his interest in 
 the Revolution was so much cooler than that of Klopstock. 
 One of the earliest expressions concerning war we find in 
 "Haben wir noch jetzt das Publikum und Vaterland der 
 Alten?" (1765). Here he is inspired by Klopstock's ode, 
 "Das neue Jahrhundert" (1760) ; not alone his thought and 
 sentiment, but his very language, also, is a reflection of the 
 production of his great contemporary. He considers it 
 praiseworthy and honorable for a patriot to die for his 
 fatherland, whether that be a republic or monarchy, and 
 quotes in defense of his opinion a verse from Klopstock's 
 ode. Later in his life, however, one seeks vainly for such 
 praise of war. In his youth, particularly, Herder was bit- 
 terly opposed to compulsory military service, 2 and always 
 doubted the necessity of any recourse to arms. In Bucke- 
 burg he explains to Count Wilhelm his conviction that offen- 
 sive warfare should be abolished, and that the sole, legi- 
 timate employment which a country could make of force 
 was in self-defense. He believes that the only means of 
 lessening warfare and rendering it less destructive is to 
 change its entire art from the offensive to the defensive. 3 
 He often speaks of "bloody laurels and the olive branch of 
 
 1 Suphan XVIII, 314, (1792). See pQems— Suphan XXIX, 659, 
 (1790) ; XXIX, 578, (1793). Compare Erinnerungen III, 12. 
 
 2 Erinnerungen I, 33. We will recall, on the other hand, that 
 Klopstock was very much interested in military science, and studied 
 it more than once in his life. 
 
 3 Erinnerungen I, 257. See Suphan XVIII, 345, 348. 
 
144 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 the muses", 1 and particularly after the French Revolution 
 expresses his utter contempt for the conqueror. The spec- 
 tacle of one fatherland righting against another in a bloody 
 struggle he considers the worst form of barbarism. 2 He 
 curses wars of conquest, and believes that no genuine striv- 
 ing for the welfare of humanity can make any progress in 
 a state where lust of conquest upraises its banner and wears 
 the first livery of the state. 3 No claim to national glory, 
 he concludes, can be more specious and hollow than that 
 which is based upon aggression and success in arms. 4 
 
 But long before the beginnings of the Napoleonic wars 
 of conquest, Herder had expressed his contempt for blood- 
 shed. He considers nothing more horrible than human 
 sacrifice. 5 If ever the spirit of humanity wins a place in 
 the affairs of the human race, he says, man must first over- 
 come and discard this unnatural ambition after power. 6 
 For not alone do conquests change the affairs of the world ; 
 the greatest and most far-reaching changes are brought 
 about by new views of things, new orders, new laws and 
 rights. 7 Not war but peace is the natural state of un- 
 oppressed humanity. 8 Herder considered it far nobler to 
 devote one's whole life fearlessly to the search for truth, 
 freedom, and general happiness in the quieter walks of 
 existence, than to sacrifice it on the battlefield. 9 
 
 As to government, Herder considers the republican form 
 
 1 Suphan IX, 332, (1779); XXIX, 584. Compare Klopstock's 
 "Prayer of a Good King." 
 
 2 Suphan XVII, 319, (1794); XVIII, 312, (1792). 
 
 3 Suphan XVII, 55, (1793). 
 
 4 Suphan XVII, 317, (1794). 
 
 5 Suphan XIII, 462. 
 
 6 Suphan XIV, 52, (1787). 
 
 7 Suphan XIV, 361, (1787). 
 
 s Suphan XIII, 322, (1787). 
 
 » Suphan XIII, 149, (1784-85). Compare XVIII, 379, (1794); 
 XXVIII, 182, (1797). 
 
PATRIOTIC ENDEAVORS 145 
 
 the best; but he maintains that in order to become a per- 
 fect republic a country must not be satisfied with political 
 freedom alone. In 1769 he was ready to pronounce Hol- 
 land the wonder of all democracies. 1 At the same time, 
 he clear-sightedly points out that, as its single impulse is 
 the commercial spirit, it is upon the point of falling into a 
 gradual decline. If so materialistic a spirit once lays hold 
 upon a country, everything is converted into terms of in- 
 dustry. The state must not become a slave to the struggle 
 for wealth; if it would maintain itself, Herder believes, it 
 must possess higher and nobler ideals, and promote the de- 
 velopment of the spiritual powers. The boldest and most 
 nearly divine of thoughts have been conceived in republics ; 
 the noblest plans and works have been carried out within 
 republican boundaries, 2 because freedom is the underlying 
 principle of such a government. 
 
 And freedom Herder considered the highest right of 
 man. 3 As early as 1766 he writes to Hamann : "My only 
 possessions are freedom and independence. ,,4 By these he, 
 like Klopstock, means the freedom of the individual; that 
 inner liberty of conscience which permits a man to think 
 and do as he will in all of his activity. 5 "Freedom of 
 thought is the fresh air of heaven, in which all plants of 
 government, especially the arts and sciences, thrive best. 
 The regent of a state must be almost devoid of prejudices 
 if he would comprehend, bear with, and rectify, the opinions 
 of all in his state, and direct public affairs to the greatest 
 good. It is on this account that great rulers are so rare." 6 
 As soon as the spirit of freedom disappeared in Greece, its 
 
 1 Suphan IV, 409, (1769). 
 
 2 Suphan IX, 376, (1779). 
 
 3 Suphan XXXII, 234. 
 
 4 Lebensbild I, 2, p. 211. Herder to Hamann, December, 1766. 
 
 •"'Suphan I, 23, (1765). 
 
 6 Suphan IX, 361, (1779). 
 
146 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 language, climate, and people might all remain intact, but 
 art and culture were gone. 1 Since whatever is to grow 
 must grow naturally, the finest flowers of the earth — art and 
 science — demand freedom of soul. 2 Nothing can be an 
 evidence of taste, if it is not a spontaneous work of art. 3 
 Therefore, says Herder, the rewards of the great, of rulers, 
 can never be the first impulse of genius. He believes Ari- 
 osto and Racine would have been greater if they had not 
 been restrained by the court taste. He praises the gener- 
 osity of the king of Denmark in providing for Klopstock, 
 but this encouragement, he says, was in no wise the source 
 of the poet's genius. 4 Genuine freedom:, Herder believes, 
 is a matter of inner experience; just as the poor man can 
 become happy, so the slave in chains can be free. 5 
 
 Once more in the poem, "Germanien" (1798), Herder 
 gives profound expression to his great love for Germany 
 and his desire for her welfare. He rebukes his countrymen 
 for slumbering while their nation is threatened on all sides. 
 'Would they kneel before a foreign people? Do they no 
 longer respect their forefathers, or value their own heart, 
 their language, everything? He who does not protect him- 
 self is not worthy of freedom. The Germans must not look 
 to the court and church for protection ; the duty of preserv- 
 ing the fatherland lies upon the people themselves.' In a 
 prophetic vision he sees a genius come from heaven and join 
 in friendship the hands of two German powers — Austria 
 and Prussia. 6 
 
 Thus we see that both Klopstock and Herder were noble 
 
 i Suphan IXJ 328, (1779). 
 2 Suphan IX, 329, (1779). 
 3Suphan III, 438, (1769). 
 4 Suphan II, 364. 
 5 Suphan XIII, 383, (1785). 
 
 6 Suphan XXIX, 210, (1798). Compare XXIX, 551, (1780); 
 XVIII, 345. 
 
PATRIOTIC ENDEAVORS 147 
 
 German patriots in the best sense of the word, although the 
 talents of statesmanship were denied them. The time was 
 not yet ripe for that political unification of their country 
 which they so longed to see. While among their contem- 
 poraries men like Gleim, Kleist, Ramler, J. G. Jacobi, and 
 Uz were filled with the spirit of patriotism for their own 
 province, Prussia, and Denis for his country, Austria, Her- 
 der and Klopstock were broader in their sympathies and in 
 the love they bore their people and fatherland. All their 
 efforts were directed toward elevating and strengthening the 
 German nation, which, in their minds, comprised all the 
 provinces united by racial experience and tradition. The 
 spirit which had burned brightly and warmly in the hearts 
 of Klopstock and Herder, and which had kept alive the feel- 
 ing of nationalism in the works and deeds of these men, 
 during a time when external conditions threatened to dis- 
 sever the German peoples and to extinguish the spirit of 
 national consciousness, — this identical patriotism animated 
 men like Wilhelm von Humboldt, Novalis, Friedrich Schle- 
 gel, Fichte, Adam Muller, Korner, Arndt, the Grimm 
 Brothers, Wienbarg, and finally Bismarck. Although the 
 ultimate problem of political organization was left for the 
 great minds of the nineteenth century to solve, and unifica- 
 tion did not become an accomplished fact till 1871, we can 
 safely say that such a result would have been impossible 
 without the noble endeavor of such great men as Herder 
 and Klopstock. 
 
1 
 
 PART III 
 
 A TREATMENT OF KLOPSTOCK'S AND HERDERS 
 POETIC LANGUAGE 
 
 The great movement toward language- re form, introduced 
 by Opitz in the seventeenth century and continued by Gott- 
 sched in the eighteenth, was purely intellectual in character. 
 Its theories were based largely upon the works of Scaliger 
 and Ronsard, and in its later phases upon Boileau ; its chief 
 aim was to develop the German language so as to make it 
 conform to the rules set down by these critics. Language 
 was treated rather from the standpoint of grammatical 
 structure than of artistic perfection, and little or no regard 
 was paid to those peculiar qualities of the German tongue 
 which constitute its original strength and beauty. 
 
 Shortly before the middle of the eighteenth century a new 
 school of criticism arose in Switzerland under the leadership 
 of Bodmer and Breitinger, who, together with Alexander 
 Baumgarten, surveyed an entirely new path through the field 
 of pure aesthetics. They attempted to analyze the nature 
 of the beautiful, and gave recognition to the importance of 
 the creative fancy in the production of artistic master- 
 pieces. With all this, a new conception of language was 
 born. The theory was established that the language of 
 emotion and imagination differs in its very nature from that 
 
TREATMENT OF POETIC LANGUAGE 149 
 
 of reason and logic, and is entirely independent of arbitrary 
 grammatical rule. Attempts were made, also, to ascertain 
 what constitutes the aesthetic qualities of poetic language. 
 In opposition to the teachings of the Gottsched School, the 
 Swiss critics advocated the reintroduction of dialectic and 
 archaic expressions; that is, the revival of those descriptive 
 words and phrases, common in the old popular tongue, which 
 had been eliminated from the literary language. By this 
 theory the vernacular, the "Volkssprache", which since the 
 time of Luther had been utterly ignored, was once more 
 called upon to instill new life into the language of literature ; 
 and thus a doctrine which had been held fundamental by all 
 previous works on poetics was annulled. 
 
 Finally, in the original genius of Klopstock, the new 
 school of criticism found the perfect realization of its 
 tenets. With one powerful stroke this poet proved beyond 
 question the inadequacy of mere grammatical correctness 
 and perfection of form to the creation of a truly poetic lan- 
 guage. When, however, Klopstock first attempted to give 
 expression to the vast world of ideas which his genius cre- 
 ated, he found that the poetical language conventional with 
 his time was by no means adequate to a full utterance of his 
 sublime thoughts. In order, therefore, to transmit to the 
 hearts of his contemporaries some spark of that pristine 
 fire which burned in his own soul, the poet had to create 
 an entirely new terminology, one determined largely by his 
 own high conception of poetry. We remember that, ac- 
 cording to Klopstock's belief, art as a revelation of the 
 divine must breath the spirit of nature and religion ; that it 
 is in true art that man's divine nature must try to receive 
 its most perfect expression. What is, then, more natural 
 than that we should find the new poetic language created by 
 him pulsating with feeling and emotion, this primary source 
 of all genuine poetry, and animated by the spirit of religion. 
 
150 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 Klopstock's problem was to invent a terminology of suf- 
 % ficient elevation to satisfy his lofty conception of art, and 
 at the same time rich enough to give adequate expression 
 to his deep emotional experiences. The primary basis of 
 such a language (the poetic possibilities of which had 
 already been recognized by Haller and Bodmer) he found 
 in the enthusiastic religious terms in use among the many 
 devotional sects which had sprung up in the seventeenth 
 and early eighteenth centuries,— sects, indeed, whose spirit 
 was still very much alive in Klopstock's time, and whose 
 pietistic influence he had himself felt. These mysticists had 
 sought satisfaction for their religious cravings in their own 
 hearts, and their language is consequently full of expres- 
 sions which labor to describe the exuberance of their emo- 
 • tions. Klopstock, however, gave a new interpretation to 
 this language, and imparted to it a new vigor, by conduct- 
 ing it out of narrow church circles and religious bodies into 
 the broader service of art. He found much inspiration for 
 his new creation, too, in the world about him. His lyrical 
 temperament was so delicately attuned to nature that words 
 descriptive of her beauties and activities gave adequate ex- 
 pression to the poet's emotional experiences, and to the 
 I pictures created by his vivid imagination. Thus, by com- 
 ' bining a language descriptive of religious experiences with 
 one descriptive of natural phenomena (the realm of the lat- 
 ter, however, had already been entered upon by the myst- 
 icists), and enriching both by his wonderful creative power, 
 Klopstock ultimately discovered a vehicle of expression 
 capable of conveying his exalted ideas. 
 
 Gottsched and his followers, who were rationalists, pure 
 and simple, attempted to defend their critical doctrines 
 against those advanced by the Swiss critics, even in the face 
 of Klopstock's incontestable demonstration of the new the- 
 ories. In support of the Gottschedians, Schonaich pub- 
 
TREATMENT OF POETIC LANGUAGE 151 
 
 lished, in 1754, his work, "Die ganze Aesthetik in einer 
 Nuss, oder Neologisches Worterbuch .... aus den Accen- 
 ten der heil. Manner und Barden des itzigen uberreichlich 
 begeisterten Jahrhunderts zusammengetragen, und den 
 grossten Wort-Schopfern unter denselben aus dunkler Feme 
 geheiliget von einigen demiithigen Verehrern der sehrafT- 
 ischen Dichtkunst". He satirically dedicates the book to 
 the "Geist-Schopfer, dem Seher, dem neuen Evangelisten, 
 dem Traumer, dem gottlichen St. Klopstocken, dem Theo- 
 logen", and to Bodmer. The references in the title to "holy 
 men" and to "seraphic poetry", and the titles applied to 
 Klopstock in the dedication, indicate that the Gottsched 
 School, of which Schonaich was but the mouth-piece, had 
 scented the mystic origin of the new poetic language. It 
 is apparent from the first page, therefore, that the volume 
 is a bitter satire against the new school of poetry, holding 
 up to ridicule the language of Haller, Bodmer, and Klop- 
 stock. We can thus distinguish, by means of Schonaich's 
 condemnation, that part of Klopstock's language which was 
 an obsolute innovation, and by comparing it with the lan- 
 guage common to the religious enthusiasts, we can deter- 
 mine its final source. 
 
 Hamann, who was notoriously inclined toward mysticism, 
 and his pupil, Herder, studied Klopstock's new language; 
 and, as we know, the latter became its greatest interpreter. 
 Young Herder, familiar with a healthy mysticism from 
 early youth, and possessed with a temperament delicately 
 responsive to Klopstock's lyrical nature, absorbed fully the 
 great world of ideas created by the poet's imagination, to- 
 gether with its great ideal of humanity. We can safely 
 say that Herder's whole inner life was animated from early 
 youth by the same spirit which had previously stirred Klop- 
 stock. Whenever his lyrical nature sought expression in 
 verse it adopted the poetic language created by the great 
 
152 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 artist. Imbued as he was, moreover, with the new spirit 
 aroused by Klopstock, he introduced young Goethe, in 
 Strassburg (1770-1771), to the works of the older poet, 
 and thus fired the youthful genius of Germany's greatest 
 lyrical poet with the ardor of her first great modern master 
 of verse. When we, therefore, consider Klopstock's im- 
 portant position in the history of German literature, and his 
 influence on Germany's great literary masters, a study of 
 his language as an expression of his ideas will not seem 
 futile. Nor will a comparison of this language with that 
 used by his great interpreter, Herder, be in vain. 
 
 The Pietists — in which term let us include the various 
 sects of religious enthusiasts and separatists of the seven- 
 teenth and early eighteenth centuries showing traces of the 
 Platonic influence — had aimed to attain a heavenly state on 
 earth by concentrating all their physical and spiritual powers 
 on the great beyond. They believed that by shutting out as 
 much as possible the distractions of the world of the senses 
 they could overleap the barrier of material things, and thus 
 establish an avenue of direct communication with the Di- 
 vine Spirit (der Weltgeist, or spiritus universi 1 ), an actual 
 quasi — physical contact with God. They hoped to "realize 
 in thought and feeling the immanence of the temporal in 
 the eternal and of the eternal in the temporal". 2 They 
 spoke of "Verschlingen und Verschmeltzen in Gott", "uber- 
 wesentliche Vereinigung", "ungriindliche Gleichwerdung 
 Gottes", "Vergottern, Verwandlung in Gott", 3 "in Gott 
 Versinken", 4 "inwendiges Gemiiths-Gebet", "uberhimm- 
 
 1 Colberg II, 285. 
 
 2 Sharpe, page 10, quotes W. R. Inge. 
 
 3 Colberg I, 68. 
 
 4 Colberg II, 259. 
 
• TREATMENT OF POETIC LANGUAGE 153 
 
 lische Einkehr", "inwendige Einkehr." 1 These and similar 
 expressions, all revealing an attempt to describe an imme- 
 diate knowledge of God and union with Him by a rapture 
 or ecstacy, in which the soul is made to transcend its own 
 present nature, may be traced in all mystical writings from 
 their very beginning. We shall, however, confine ourselves 
 here to the poets and hymnists immediately preceding, and 
 contemporaneous with, Klopstock, noting especially those 
 terms and expressions which may be found in the works of 
 this German poet. 
 
 In meines Herzens Grunde 
 Dein Nam und Kreuz allein 
 Funkelt all Zeit und Stunde — 
 
 Valerius Herberger, 1613. 
 (Miitzell, page 6.) 
 
 Mit meinem Herz mich zu dir wend, 
 Mein Herz ist Gottes Kirchlein — 
 1st er in mir und ich in ihm — 
 
 Joh. Timaus. 
 (Miitzell, page 8.) 
 
 Sei du stets bei mir und in mir, 
 
 Mit deinem heiligen Geist mich fuhr — 
 
 David von Schweinitz. 
 (Miitzell, page 231.) 
 
 Lass uns spur en, du seist der Gott. 
 
 Michael Henrici, 1639- 
 (Miitzell, page 182.) 
 
 Vereinge mich, mein Licht, mit dir, 
 
 Dass ich stets in dir bleib, 
 
 Komm in mein Herz und wohn in mir. 
 
 Gryphius, 1663-1664. 
 (Miitzell, page 311.) 
 
 Geist des Lebens Deine Kraft Erfiill uns — 
 
 Heinrich Held. 
 (Miitzell, page 324.) 
 
 Komm! Ach komm, heiliger Geist, 
 Dich mein Herze ehrt und preist; 
 
 1 Colberg I t 68. Schonaich notes "verschlingen" and "wandeln", 
 ridiculing the latter by imposing the meaning "spazierengehen" 
 upon it. 
 
154 
 
 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 Komm zu mir, das Herze mein 
 Soil dein Haus und Himmel sein. 
 
 Georg Schramm, 1655 (?). 
 (Miitzell, page 381.) 
 
 Wie wird der Geist dadurch entzuckt; 
 Hinauf gen Himmel hingeriickt: 
 Mit Gott stets inniger vereint! 
 Die ihr von ihm ein Herz empfiengt, 
 Das sich zu Gott mit Innbrunst nahn, 
 Und seine Grosse fiihlen kann. 
 
 (Schlegel, page 2.) 
 
 O Gott und Herr den Glauben mehr 
 
 In alien Deiner Herzen. 
 
 Send ihnen den Geist mit Flammengneist — 
 
 (Arndt, page 141.) 
 
 Dass du unsichtbarer Meister, 
 
 Uns so fiihlbar nahe bist 
 
 Zunde an die Liebesflamme. 
 
 Zinzendorf. 
 (Krummacher, page 113.) 
 
 Lass uns so vereinigt werden, 
 Wie du mit dem Vater bist, 
 Bis schon hier auf dieser Erden 
 Kein getrenntes Glied mehr ist; 
 Und allein von deinem Brennen 
 Nehme unser Licht den Schein. 
 
 Zinzendorf. 
 (Krummacher, page 114.) 
 
 Ach mein Herr Jesu, dein Naheseyn 
 
 Bringt grossen Frieden ins Herz hinein, 
 
 wir seh'n dein freundliches Angesicht ..... 
 
 wohl leiblich nicht ; 
 
 Aber unsre Seele kann dich dock erfahren; 
 Du kannst dich fiihlbar g'nug offenbaren, 
 Auch ungesehen. 
 
 Grafin Zinzendorf. 
 (Krummacher, page 135.) 
 
 Ich habe Gott gesehen; 
 Er hat sich eingefunden, 
 Und sich mit mir verbunden. 
 
 (Zinzendorf [1714], page 12.) 
 
 Wohl einer jeden Seel, die sich in Ihn versenkt 
 Und ihrer Sinnen Sturm in Seiner Sanftmuth stillet. 
 
 (Zinzendorf [1722], page 48.) 
 
TREATMENT OF POETIC LANGUAGE 155 
 
 "Vollendung einer fiinfjahrig-fortgewahrten Betrachtung Gottes" 
 
 Allgegenwart! ich muss gestehn, 
 Du unaussprechlich tiefe Hohe 
 Erfullest, ohne Dich zu sehn, 
 Dock alles 3 wo ich geh' und stehe- 
 Die Spur von Deinem Allmachts-Pfad, 
 Die ewiglich nicht auszugrunden, 
 1st dennoch iiberall zu finden, 
 
 So weit man Raum zu denken hat 
 
 (Zinzendorf [1722], page 59.) 
 
 Und komm, den Lebens-Gott ganz kindlich anzubeten, 
 Versenke dich ganz tief in Seiner Liebe Grund, — 
 
 (Zinzendorf [1722], page 70.) 
 
 Nur unsre Hers en so lien sich 
 An diesem Abende verbinden, 
 Ihr Gut und Wollust ewiglich, 
 In Dir zu suchen und zu finden. 
 
 (Zinzendorf [1725], page 147.) 
 
 Zions Kinder ! konnt ihr beten, 
 Und im Geist zusammen tret en; 
 Ach ! vergesst einander nicht, 
 Jeder braucht des andern Licht. 
 Schliesst euch fein vest zusammen, 
 Giesst in eure Lampen Oel, 
 Pflegt einander Leib und Seel 3 
 Hegt zusammen euer Feuer. 
 
 (Zinzendorf [1730], page 256.) 
 
 Ihr [der Seele] gauzes Inner es, das wallt 
 Dem Brautigam zu, das treibt zusammen. 
 
 (Zinzendorf [1731], page 284.) 
 
 So weit Dein Geist mein Herz erfulle — 
 
 (von Moser, page 96.) 
 
 Leite den Urquell der innersten Triebe 
 M ague Use h hinan. 
 
 (von Moser, page 128.) 
 
 All these phrases aim to describe the soul as raised above 
 itself and filled with God's presence; they would lead the 
 soul from the external and earthly to the invisible and 
 heavenly as an experienced reality and not as a mere concept. 
 These views and expressions find an echo in Klopstock's 
 ideas and language, as we shall attempt to show. 
 
156 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 Ihn empfind, unci in ihm lebe. 
 
 (Geistliche Lieder, page 20. )i 
 
 Augenblicke deiner Erbarmungen, 
 
 O Vater, sinds, wenn du das himmelvolle Gefiihl 
 
 Deiner Allgegenwart 
 
 In meine Seele strahlst. 
 
 (Dem Allgegenwartigen, page 21. ) 2 
 
 Deiner Gottheit Gegenwart 
 Entflamm' und befliigle 
 Jede meiner Empfindungen! 
 Leite sie, Unerschafner, zu dir ! 
 
 (Dem Allgegenwartigen, page 23.) 
 
 Erheb, o meine Seele, dich iiber die Sterblichkeit, 
 Blick auf, und schau; und du wirst strahlenvoll 
 Des Vaters Klarheit 
 In Jesus Christus Antlitz schaun ! 
 
 (Das Anschauen Gottes, page 29.) 
 
 O du der Seligkeiten hochste, 
 Ueberstrome meine ganze Seele 
 Mit deinem heiligen Feuer! 
 
 (Der Erbarmer, page 40.) 
 
 Vielleicht schaft Gott Erkenntnis in mir, 
 Die meine Kraft, und was sie entflammt, 
 Wie viel es auch ist, und wie gross 
 Die ganze Schopfung mir nicht geben kann ! 
 
 (Die Gliickseligkeit Aller, page 49.) 
 
 Wie erhebt sich das Herz, wenn es dich, 
 Unendlicher, denkt! 
 
 (Dem Unendlichen, page 63.) 
 
 Dann hebt mein Geist sich, durstet nach Ewigkeit — 
 
 (Dem Erloser, page 6.) 
 
 Gib meiner SeeV ihr wahres Leben, 
 Dass sie zu dir sich zu dir erhebef 
 
 (Dem Allgegenwartigen, page 16). 
 
 Was wird das Anschaun seyn, wenn der Gedank' an dich, 
 Allgegenwar tiger! schon Kraft e jener Welt hat! 
 
 (Dem Allgegenwartigen, page 16.) 
 
 Weniger Herzen erfiillt, mit Ehrfurcht und Schauer 
 Gottes Allgegenwart! 
 
 !The quotation from the "Geistliche Lieder" are found in the 
 edition printed at Reutlingen, 1795,-— 'Geistliche Lieder. Erster 
 Teil. ,, 
 
 2 The edition of the Odes by Bode, 1771, is referred to, when- 
 ever the page is indicated. 
 
TREATMENT OF POETIC LANGUAGE 157 
 
 Lass mich im Heiligthume 
 Dich, Allgegenwdr tiger, 
 Stets suchen, und finden ! 
 
 (Dem Allgegenwartigen, page 17.) 
 
 Empfindung, bist du wahr, als diirf ich 
 Frei mit dem Schopfer der Seele redenf 
 
 (An Gott.) 
 
 Dann muss' ein Schauer von dem Unendlichen, 
 Ein sanftes Beben derer, die Gott nun sehn, 
 Ein susser Schauer jenes Lebens 
 Ueber dich kommen und dir die Seele 
 Ganz iiberstromen. 
 
 (Der Abschied.) 
 
 Herder, too, following in the steps of Klopstock, again 
 and again adopts these mystical terms to express the in- 
 timate relation of the soul to its Creator, — a thought which 
 was, likewise, a favorite one with him. 
 
 Sterblicher, blick in dich selbst, da hast du die holiere Regel, 
 Die nicht die Welten allein, die auch sich selber regiert. 
 
 (Suphan, XXIX, 161.) 
 
 However, neither Klopstock nor Herder was a metaphy- 
 sical speculator; nor was either satisfied to ignore the 
 beauty of the visible world and the inspiration each derived 
 from it. Both aspired to commune with universal truth 
 through nature in the broadest sense, and not through intro- 
 spection alone. Their poetic language is related to the lan- 
 guage of the religious enthusiasts, but the world of thought 
 lying back of it is infinitely more allembracing than was that 
 conceived by the Pietists. 
 
 We have said that his intimacy with nature furnished 
 Klopstock with an important source for those descriptive 
 terms which were to give utterance to the great emotions 
 he experienced. Schonaich here, too, aids us in determin- 
 ing which of these expressions were new and which offered 
 no appeal to the minds of the adherents of the old view of 
 things. He attacks the terms : Abend (and its compounds), 
 Abglanz, atherisch, bestrahlen, blitzen, dammern, Damme- 
 
158 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 rung, Donner, Donnern, dunkel, elektrisch, Friihling, gol- 
 den, hell, himmlisch, Leben, Licht, Luft, mitternachtlich, 
 Morgen, Mutter, Natur, nachtlich, Sommernacht, Natur, 
 ode, Schopfung, Silberton, Sonne, Stiirmen, Strahl, Trop- 
 fen, wolkenlos. All these, or related terms, as we shall 
 see, are made use of by Klopstock and Herder in their 
 descriptions of nature, and also in reference to their own 
 emotions. 
 
 Although the Pietists wished to describe primarily the 
 effect on the emotions of an introspective contemplation of 
 God, yet we do discover, as well, an attempt to realize the 
 presence of the living God in external nature. We find, as 
 a consequence, many, or all, of Klopstock's nature-terms 
 fore-shadowed in the language of the mystical poets. 
 
 Er selber ist die Sonne. 
 Machtig strahlt sein Glanz daher. 
 Das finstre Herz erleuchtet er. 
 
 Donner stimme [Gottes]. 
 
 (Schlegel, page 90.) 
 (Schlegel, pp. 80, 103.) 
 
 Deine Donnerstimrn* 
 
 Joh. Hermann, 1630. (Miitzell, page 32.) 
 
 Lass deines Geistes Morgenrothe 
 In unsern dunkeln Herzen sein. 
 
 Opitz, 1635-1636 (?). (Miitzell, page 204.) 
 Morgenrothe. 
 
 Josue Stegmann. (Miitzell, page 204.) 
 
 Du redest aus Gewittern 
 Und alle Herzen zittern. 
 
 (Schlegel, page 138- ) 
 Verruke nicht dein Seelen-Licht 
 Bis zu dem Kreis der Ewigkeiten; 
 Du mochtest Finsternis erbeuten. 
 
 (Zinzendorf, page 61, — 1722.) 
 
 Das von der Gottheit selbst in Ihm entflammte Licht 
 Begont in seinen Geist viel heller einzuscheinen. 
 
 (Zinzendorf, page 80, — 1723.) 
 
 Willst Du mit Deinem Licht durchbrechen, 
 Schenkst Du uns Deine Heiterkeit, 
 
 (Zinzendorf, page 93, — 1723.) 
 Donner stimm. 
 
 (Zinzendorf, page 15, — 1717.) 
 
TREATMENT OF POETIC LANGUAGE 159 
 
 Die so gefiirchtete und lange Nacht 
 Wird einmal unversehens ubergehen; 
 Der Tag wird desto unverriikter gldnzen, 
 Und meinen Geist in Ewigkeit bekranzen. 
 
 (Zinzendorf, page 17, — 1720.) 
 
 Sehen wir dann nicht 
 
 In dem Morgen-Licht 
 
 Einen Strahl von grossren Kr'dften, 
 
 Und durchdringendern Geschaften? 
 
 Sehen wir Dich nicht 
 
 Zions Sonnen-Licht? 
 
 (Zinzendorf, page 28, — 1721.) 
 
 Komm Ewigkeit, Inbegrif innigster Wonne, 
 Bestrahle und heitere unser Gerniith : — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, page 40—1721.) 
 
 Und wie bey finsterer Nacht ein Blitz den Himmel erleuchtet. 
 So fiihlet sich unser Geist voll Licht — 
 
 (von Moser, page 81.) 
 
 Und durch Glut, das Gold bewahrt, 
 
 Bring dein Licht in meine Seele — 
 
 (von Moser, page 117.) 
 
 Es wandelt mein armer Geist oft im Dunkeln, 
 
 Wann ihm auch vom Glanz 
 
 Des seeligen Gnaden Lichts Strahlen funkeln, 
 
 Er hat Dich nicht ganz ! 
 
 Mach, dass Dein flammendes Licht 
 Durch alle Finsterniss bricht. 
 
 (von Moser, page 127.) 
 
 Ja, wenn mir dein erwarmend Blitzen 
 Kann Blut- und Lebens-Quellen hitzen, — 
 
 (von Moser, page 15.) 
 
 Wann gleich dein Donner feurig blitzt — 
 
 (von Moser, pages 77, 17.) 
 Und wann auch finstre Kraft den Sinn verdunkelt. 
 
 von Moser, page 69.) 
 Er [mein Geist] wird mich leiten 
 
 Durch Finsterniss 
 
 Du Glanz vom ew'gen Morgensteme — 
 
 (von Moser, page 147.) 
 
 Let us now trace these expressions, descriptive of natural 
 phenomena, in Klopstock and Herder, — Kraft, Natur, Le- 
 ben, Hauch, erhaben, Strahl, Dunkel, Dammerung, Licht, 
 heiter, Nacht, Tag, Morgen, Morgenroth, Sonne, Gold, 
 rosenfarbig, Donner, Blitz, finster. At a contemplation of 
 
160 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 the beauties of nature, Klopstock is moved to express his 
 feelings : 
 
 Hoher Genuss der Schopfung, wenn wir von des Denkens Feuer 
 entflammt, sie empfinden, sie erblicken, horen, staunen vor ihr. — 
 
 (Der Unterschied.) 
 
 Schone Natur, Begeisterung sey mir dein Anschaun. 
 
 (Lossreissung.) 
 
 As always, the poet sees a manifestation of the Divine 
 
 Being in nature at the contemplation of the star-lit heavens, 
 
 and experiences a feeling of sublimity: 
 
 O Anblick der Glanznacht, Stemenheere, 
 Wie erhebt ihr! Wie entzuckst du Anschauung 
 Der herrlichen Welt! Gott Schopfer! 
 Wie erhaben bist du Gott Schopfer! 
 
 (Der Tod, p. 65.) 
 
 In nature Klopstock finds the Creator, and this universal 
 
 spirit fills his soul and finds expression in his poetry. 
 
 Ich hebe mein Aug' auf, und seh, 
 
 Und siehe der Herr ist uberall! 
 
 Mit heiligem Schauer 
 
 Brech' ich die Blum' ab 
 
 Gott machte sie, 
 
 Gott ist } wo die Blum 3 ist. 
 
 Mit heiligem Schauer, filhl' ich der Lilfte Wehn, 
 
 Hor ich ihr Rauschen ! Es hiess sie wehn und rauschen 
 
 Der Ewige! Der Ewige 
 
 Ist, wo sie sauseln, und wo der Donnersturm die Ceder stiirzt- 
 
 (Dem Allgegenwartigen, p. 19.) 
 
 Also trink' ich die reinere Luft, 
 
 Und ein sanftes frohes Gefiihl des Lebens berauscht mich. 
 
 Wie erhbht, Weltherrscher, 
 
 Deine Bewunderung den Geist des Staubs ! (Der Selige). 
 
 The term "Weltherrscher" recalls the "Weltgeist" of the 
 
 Pietists and the later use of it by Herder. In "Das Grosse 
 
 Hallelujah" Klopstock refers to God as "der Hocherhabene, 
 
 der Erste und der Vater der Schopfung". The poet uses 
 
 the word "Natur" as synonymous with God. 
 
 So wahr die Natur kein edleres Herz nicht 
 
 Ohne den heiligsten Trieb derer, die ewig sind, schuf, 
 
 (Die kiinftige Geliebte.) 
 
TREATMENT OF POETIC LANGUAGE 161 
 
 Dann trennt kein Schicksal mehr die Seelen, 
 
 Die du einander, Natur, bestimmtest. (An Fanny.) 1 
 
 Schon ist, Mutter Natur, deiner Erfindung Pracht 
 Auf die Fluren verstreut, schoner ein froh Gesicht, 
 Das den grosser* Gedanken 
 Deiner Schopfung noch einmal denkt. 
 
 (Der Ziirchersee, p. 116.) 
 (Friedensburg, p. 131.) 
 
 Die schauernde Natur. 
 
 (Geistliche Lieder, p. 78.) 
 
 Lindernde Thranen, euch gab die Natur dem menschlichen Elend 
 Weis' als Gesellinnen zu. 
 
 (An Ebert, p. 99.) 
 
 Wie umwehten uns der Duft und die Kiihlung, 
 Wie verschont warst von dem Monde, 
 Du o schone Natur! 
 
 (Die Sommernacht, p. 211.) 
 
 Sing, Telyn, dem Dichter die schonere Grazie 
 Der seelenvollen Natur! 
 
 (Der Hiigel und der Hain, p. 257.) 
 
 Euch, Sonnen, euch, Erden, euch, Monde der Erden, 
 Erfullet, ringsum mich, seine gottliche Gegenwart! 
 
 (Dem Allgegenwartigen, p. 20.) 
 
 Es singt die Natur dennoch dem, welcher sie schuf, 
 Ihr Geton schallet vom Himmel herab, laut preisend 
 In umwolkender Nacht rufet des Strahls Gefahrt 
 Von den Wipfeln, und der Berg' Haupt es herab! 
 
 (Die Gestirne, p. 59.) 
 
 Die Salbung, die vom Himmel fliesst, 
 In Gnadendurstende sich giesst, 
 Durch deine Auferstehung Kraft 
 
 1 Compare : Natur, dich hort' ich im Unermesslichen herwan- 
 deln.... Gedankenvoller, tief in Entzikkungen verloren, schwebt 
 bei dir die Natur. Aus alien goldnen Zeiten begleiten dich, Natur, 
 die Dichter (Wingolf VIII) : Ach, warum, o Natur, warum, un- 
 zartliche Mutter gabest du zum Gefuhl mir ein zu biegsames Herz 
 (Die kunftige Geliebte) ; voller Einfalt, wie du, Natur (Petrarca 
 
 und Laura) ; singe was die Natur dich lehrt (Die Braut) ; 
 
 Natur gab mir Gefuhl zur Tugend (Die kunftige Geliebte) ; Dank- 
 lied der Natur — (Die Gestirne) ; Die Stimme der Natur stammeln 
 (Der Hiigel und der Hain) ; Stimme der rauhen Natur (Der Hii- 
 gel und der Hain) ; die Natur schrieb in das Herz sein Gesetz ihm 
 (Aesthetiker) ; Jenes feurigen Naturgesangs ! (Der Hiigel und der 
 Hain). 
 
162 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 In uns ein neues Leben schaft, 
 
 Des Geistes Salbung send uns, Gott! 
 
 (Geistliche Lieder, p. 51.) 
 
 Mein Konig, wenn du fiihlst, dass sich ein sanftes Leben, 
 
 Und Ruh, durch deine Seele giesst; 
 
 So war ichs audi, die dir in deine Seele, 
 
 Der Himmel Frieden goss! 
 
 (Die Koniginn Luise, p. 142.) 
 
 Suss ist, frohlicher Lenz, deiner Begeistrung Hauch. 
 
 (Der Ziirchersee, p. 118.) 
 
 Seht ihr den neuen Zeugen des Nahen, den fliegenden Strahlf 
 
 (Die Fruhlingsfeyer, p. 38.) 
 
 Wie die erste der Liebenden 
 
 Voller Unschuld im Hauch duftender Liifte kam, — 
 
 (An Cidle, p. 134.) 
 
 The final purpose of the universe, Klopstock believes, is the 
 happiness of all beings : 
 
 Zu der Schopfung letztem Zweck der Seligkeit Aller — 
 
 (Beruhigung.) 
 
 The darkness of night furnishes a symbol for some of 
 
 the poet's ideas, and the words, dunkel, das Dunkle, are 
 
 frequently found, even before he became acquainted with 
 
 the poet, Young, to express a vague state of uncertainty, 
 
 hesitancy, or depression. 
 
 Thrdnend wandt' ich von ihm mein melancholisches 
 Mudes Auge dem Dunkeln zu — 
 
 (Petrarca und Laura.) 
 
 Wo bist du? 
 
 Dich sucht, Beste, mein einsames, 
 
 Mein fiihlend Herz, in dunkler Zukunft. 
 
 Durch Labyrinthe der Nacht hin suchts dich! 
 
 (Wingolf IV, p. 88.) 
 
 Nacht der Welten, wie wir in dunkeln Worten schaun 
 
 Den, der ewig ist! 
 
 So schaun wir in dir, geheimnissvolle Nacht, 
 
 Den, der ewig ist! 
 
 (Dem Allgegenwartigen, p. 20.) 
 
 Thranen abwischen, im Dunkeln weinen — 
 
 (Geistliche Lieder, p. 14.) 
 
TREATMENT OF POETIC LANGUAGE 163 
 
 so traf der Gedanke 
 
 Meinen erschutterten Geist, 
 
 Dass mein Auge sich dunk el verlor, und das belebende Knie mir 
 
 Kraftlos zittert, und sank. 
 
 Ach, in schweigender Nacht, ging mir die Totenerscheinung, 
 
 Unsre Freunde, vorbey ! 
 
 (An Ebert, p. 100.) 
 Immer herrlicher offenbarest du dich ! 
 Immer dunkler wird die Nacht urn dich, 
 Und voller von Seegen. 
 
 (Die Friihlingsfeyer, p. 37.) 
 Geheimnisvolle Nacht. 
 
 (Geistliche Lieder, p. 97.) 
 
 Viel Mitternacht e werden noch einst entfliehn 
 
 (Wingolf V, p. 92.) 
 Stirbt denn auch einer von uns, mich reisst mein banger Gedanke 
 Immer ndchtlicher fort! 
 
 (An Ebert, p 101.) 
 
 Thranen geliebt zu seyn 
 
 Vom gliickseligen Volk, weckten den Jiingling oft 
 In der Stunde der Mitternacht. 
 
 (Friedrich der Fiinfte, p. 122.) 
 
 Eingehiillet in Nacht, 
 
 (Friedrich der Fiinfte, p. 125.) 
 O Schmerz, da sie erschienen war, 
 Warum trafest du mich mit dem gewaltigsten 
 Deiner zitternden Kummer 
 Schwermutsvoller wie Ndchte sind? 
 
 Jahre traf st du mich schon ! Endlich 
 
 Sinkt die traurige Nacht — 
 
 (An Cidli, pp 134, 135.) 
 Dich soil der Enkel noch, du Todesstunde, feyern ! 
 Sie sey sein Fest um Mitternacht! 
 
 (Die Koniginn Luise, p. 138.) 
 Hort, durch die Nacht herauf, der dunkeln Hugel Rauschen, 
 Den Todeston! 
 
 (Die Koniginn Luise, p. 139.) 
 .... Denn die geheiligten, 
 Eresten, fest lichen Ndchte 
 Wacht der Freigeist mit dir, — 
 
 (An Young, p. 148.) 
 
 um Mitternacht auff ahren — 
 
 (Fragen, p. 147.) 
 Auch wenn stille Nacht ihn umschattend decket, 
 Schlummr' ich ihn sicher. 
 
 (An Cidli, p. 162.) 
 Finstrer Gedanke, lass ab ! lass ab in die Seele zu donnern! 
 
 (An Ebert, p. 102.) 
 
164 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 Twilight furnishes another motive for the poet : 
 
 Er sangs- Jetzt sah ich fern in der Ddmmerung 
 
 Des Hains am Wingolf Schlegeln aus dichterischen 
 
 Geweihten Eichenschatten schweben, 
 
 Und in Begeisterung vertieft und emstvoll, 
 
 Auf Lieder sinnen. 
 
 (Wingolf VII, p- 94.) 
 
 So umschatten mich Gedanken an das Grab 
 Der Geliebten, und ich seh in dem Walde 
 Nur es ddmmern, — 
 
 (Die Sommernacht, p. 211.) 
 
 Mit Entziickung wall' ich im Hain der Palmen, 
 Dichter, mit Lust, hier, wo Eich' und ihr Graun 
 Uns ddmmert, — 
 
 (Unsre Fiirsten, p. 223.) 
 
 Das Wolkchen Laune 
 
 Ddmmert schon auf ihrer Stirn. 
 
 (Die Kunst Tialfs, p. 245.) 
 
 Euch t Stunden, griiss' ich, welche der Abendstem 
 Still in die Ddmmerung mir zur Empfindung bringt. 
 
 (Die Stunden der Weihe.) 
 
 Tief in die Ddmmrung hin sah es und suchte sich, 
 
 Seiner Thranen Genossin, auf, 
 
 Dich des ndchtlichen Hains Sangerin, Nachtigall ! 
 
 (Petrarca und Laura.) 
 
 Wenn die Strahlen von der Ddmmrung nun entfliehn, und der 
 
 Abendstem 
 Die sanfteren, entwolkten, die erfrischenden Schimmer nun 
 Nieder zu dem Haine der Barden senkt, 
 
 (Thuiskon.) 
 
 Sieh den ruhenden See, wie sein Gestade sich, 
 Dicht vom Walde bedeckt, sanfter erhoben hat, 
 Und den schimmernden Abend. 
 In der griinlichen Ddmmrung birgt. 
 
 (Friedensburg, p. 131.) 
 
 Es sank die Sonne, Ddmmerung kam, der Mond 
 
 Ging auf, begeisternd funkelte Hesperus 
 
 (Wissbegierde.) 
 
 Ich seh in Wingolfs fernen Hallen 
 Tief in den schweigenden Ddmmerungen 
 Dort seh ich langsam heilige Schatten gehn ! 
 
 (Wingolf V, p. 90.) l 
 
 1 Compare: Der Abend dammert — (Edone) ; der Dammerung 
 Stern — (Die kiinftige Geliebte) ; kaum noch sichtbare Damme- 
 rung — (Zwei Johanneswurmchen). 
 
TREATMENT OF POETIC LANGUAGE 165 
 
 Just as the night, darkness, shadows, and twilight force 
 their beauty upon Klopstock and affect his moods, so, too, 
 do daylight and the dawn of morning spread their charms 
 before him and move his soul to poetry. 
 
 Wenn auch das Gotteslicht 
 
 Heller mir meine Flecken nicht zeigte — 
 
 (Das Anschaun Gottes, p. 25.) 
 
 Ach du redest umsonst, vor dem gewaltigen Kelchglas, 
 Heitre Gedanken mir zu ! 
 
 (An Ebert, p. 99.) 
 Schon wie die junge Morgenrote — 
 
 (Wingolf II, p. 82.) 
 
 O Bild, das jetzt mit den Fittigen der Morgenrote schwebt! 
 (Der Hiigel und der Hain, p. 254.) 
 
 O du, das uns mit jeder frohlichen Hoffnung umlachelt, 
 Festliches erstes Jahr ! 
 Mit dem Fliigel der Sommer morgenrothe, 
 Schwebst du dem Tage voran ! 
 
 (Das neue Jahrhundert, p. 176.) 
 
 Dennoch glaubt' ich — und, ach, Wonne war mir, 
 
 Morgenrothlicher Glanz der goldne Traum, 
 
 (Mein Irrthum.) 
 
 Ein hoher Genius der Menschlichkeit 
 
 Begeistert dich. 
 
 Du bist die Morgenrothe 
 
 Eines nahenden grossen Tags. 
 
 (Der jetzige Krieg.)l 
 Wenn ihm [dem May] Thau, hell wie Licht, aus der Locke 
 tt j , trauft, 
 
 Und zu dem Hiigel herauf rothlich er kommt. 
 
 (Die fruhen Graber, p. 204.) 
 Die Fliigel der Morgenrothe wehen . . 
 
 (Mein Vaterland, p. 269.) 
 
 Der die Schickungen lenkt, heisst des frommsten Wunsch, 
 Mancher Seligkeit goldnes Bild 
 Oft verwehen — 
 
 (An Bodmer, p. 114.) 
 Komm, goldne Zeit— 
 
 (Wingolf VIII, p. 95.) 
 Lass die goldne Leyer schweigen. 
 
 (Der Hiigel und der Hain, p. 252.) 
 
 1 Compare: Die Morgenrothe— (Der Geschmack). 
 
166 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 The majesty of thunder and lightning often inspire Klop- 
 stock ; he is fond of presenting the thought that thunder is 
 the voice of God. 
 
 Wenige, deren Ohr 
 
 Ihn [den Schopfer], in dem machtigen Rauschen des Sturm- 
 winds hort 
 Im Donner, der rollt im lispelnden Bache, 
 Unerschaffner, dich vernimmt ! 
 
 (Dem Allgegenwartigen, p. 17.) 
 
 Denn Jehovah redet ! 
 
 Zwar durch den rollenden Donner auch 
 
 Durch den fliegenden Sturm, und sanftes Sduseln. 
 
 (Der Erbarmer, p. 41.) 
 
 Gott der Donner. 
 
 Wingolf I, p. 79.) 
 
 Mich, dem des Hains Sduseln ertont und der Quelle 
 Stimmchen, der Sturm und der Donner und das Weltmeer. 
 
 (Der Geschmack.) 
 
 Seht ihr den Zeugen des Nahen den zuckenden Strahl? 
 Hort ihr Jehovahs Donner? 
 
 Den erschiitternden Donner des Herrn 
 
 Und die Gewitterwindef Sie tragen den Donner 
 
 Hort ihr hoch in der Wolke den Donner des Herrn? 
 
 (Die Fruhlingsfeyer, pp. 37, 38.) 
 
 Als die Posaun' auf Sinai schwieg, " 
 Und die Stimme der Donner! 
 Als Gott sprach 
 Von Gott sprach! 
 
 (Das Anschaun Gottes, p. 27.) 
 
 des Donnerers Auge — 
 
 (Fur den Konig, p. 9.) 
 
 Welcher Donner gibt mir Stimme? 
 
 (Die Welten, p. 56.) 
 
 So erbebt ich, als mich von alien Gedanken der bangste 
 Donnernd das erstemal traf! 
 
 (An Ebert, p. 99.) 
 Mit erhob'ner Woge besturmt ! Als donnr' er, 
 Rauschet der Strom, — 
 
 (Arganippe and Phiala, p. 177.) 
 
 Es tonet sein Lob Feld, und Wald, Thai, und Gebirg, 
 Das Gestad' hallet, es donnert das Meer dumpfbrausend 
 Des Unendlichen Lob, — 
 
 (Die Gestirne, p. 59.) 
 
TREATMENT OF POETIC LANGUAGE 167 
 
 Des Zeug' ist Hochsted, dort, wo die dunkle Schlacht 
 Noch donnert, — 
 
 (Fragen, p. 147.) 
 
 Herder quite as joyfully as Klopstock sings loud praises 
 to the night which fills him with thoughts of a higher world 
 and brings rest to his heart : 
 
 Kommst du wieder, heilge, stille Mutter 
 Der Gestirn' und himmlischer Gedanken, 
 
 neiget sich ermattet 
 
 Meine Bilder-uberfiillte Seele, 
 
 Harrend, dass Dein sanfter Schwamm sie losche, 
 
 Sie mit Bildern andrer Welten tranke, 
 
 Und mein lechzend Herz mit Ruhe labe 
 
 Weite Nacht umf asset meine Seele! 
 Meere der Unendlichkeit umfangen 
 
 Meinen Geist, die Himmel aller Himmel ! 
 
 Hohe Nacht, ich knie vor Deinem Altar! 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 213.) 1 
 
 Herder uses "Nacht", "dunkel", "Dammerung" and "Don- 
 ner", as does Klopstock: 
 
 Vom schonen Land bin ich verbannt; 
 In dunkler Feme dammert's kaum 
 
 Schlaft nie fur mich 
 Ein Herz, das meinen Gram versteht, 
 Durchs dunkle Leben mit mir geht? 
 
 Wer bin ich, 
 
 dass ich hinein in jenes Dunkel seh, 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 605.) 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 605.) 
 
 '(Suphan XXIX, 556.) 
 
 sein Nichts voll Dunkel schrecket 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 255.) 
 
 1 Mitternachtsgedanken (Suphan XXIX, 8, 494) ; Mitternacht 
 (243, 249, 449, 490, 489, 511) ; Nacht (13, 231, 247) ; kalte Mitter- 
 nacht (245) ; Nachtvoll (249) ; oft soil es uns bei Mitternacht 
 hier schaudern (312) ; der Mitternacht Gestalten (323) ; Mutter 
 Nacht (324) ; Mitternachts-Dunkel (341) ; Sohn schaudernder 
 Mitternacht (341) ; hohe Graun der Nacht (352) ; Schopfungs- 
 Mitter-nachts-Gedanken (352) ; Dammernacht (369) ; Gesang der 
 Nacht (433) ; Die Stimme zur Mitternacht (464) ; Graun der Mit- 
 ternacht (509); tiefe Mitternacht (546). 
 
168 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 Sah Seelentief und Hohn, ihr tiefes Werden 
 
 und Seyn von Licht zu Licht, 
 vom dumpfen Anschaun hier auf dunkler Erden 
 
 bis An- zu Angesicht 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 378, )i 
 
 Bleib' bei uns, Herr, verlass' uns nicht, 
 
 f uhr' aus der Ddmmrung uns zum Licht 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 632.) 
 
 Es donnert — um mich rauschts, wie Heere : — 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 267.) 
 
 Sohn schaudernder Mitternacht. 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 341.) 
 
 .... um mich Nacht! (Suphan XXIX, 231.) 
 
 So lange Nacht und Tag sich mischt, 
 Und was des Himmels Sterne segnen, 
 Wird in der Ddmmrung erfrischt 
 Mit Liebe Liebe sich begegnen. 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 125.) 2 
 Des Herren FVVink sprach Ja ! einsylbicht lallen 
 
 des Zornes Donner nach das Ja ! 
 
 und ich — bin Mensch, auf dem der Donner hing 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 236.) 
 Und wie Er starb, da halber Saklen Schmerzen 
 vereint ihn fassten, innres Nervesol 
 wie Blut auskochten, und herauf zum Herzen 
 
 als Sieger donnerten, 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 10.) 
 Und Gott? Blitzt er? donnert er? 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 235.) 3 
 
 Herder uses the figure of dawn frequently. 
 
 1st Mensch und Morgenroth das schonste dieser Erden, 
 was wirst Du — beider Bild — erst in der andern werden ! 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 535.) 
 
 Die Sonn' ist da! Die Morgenrothe 
 
 Verrbhtet .... (Suphan XXIX, 43.) 
 
 1 Compare : dunkel (Suphan XXIX, 177); heiliger Dunkel 
 (10) ; wie ihn Dunkel fasste (10) ; dort auf wiistem, dunklem 
 Meer (437); Dunkelheit (594). 
 
 2 Compare : Ihr Antlitz schien die Dammerung aufzuhellen (Su- 
 phan XXIX, 171) ; holde Dammerung (205) ; Nebel und Dam- 
 merung (556) ; rothes dammerndes Auge (518) ; in dunkler Feme 
 dammerts kaum (605) ; noch dammerts tief (543) ; Dammerung 
 (507). 
 
 3 Compare: Donnergott (Suphan XXIX, 22, 404); Donner- 
 vogel (37) ; Donnerschlage (248) ; Donnerwagen (252). 
 
TREATMENT OF POETIC LANGUAGE 169 
 
 Die Morgenrothe lacht (Suphan XXIX, 52.) 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 164.) 
 
 Da ging ihnen auf der Freude, 
 Auf der Hoffnung Morgenrothe 
 
 schone Morgenrosen 
 
 mit der Thr'dne in dem Busen 
 
 und ihr Auge Morgenroth! (Suphan XXIX, 316.) 
 
 Zephyr kehrt zuruck 
 
 Zum jungen Morgenroth (Suphan XXIX, 357.) 1 
 
 The "allgemeiner Weltgeist", or spiritus universi of the- 
 
 osophy, Herder, as well as Klopstock, conceives of as a great, 
 
 infinite, invisible spirit which embraces all the universe and 
 
 brings man's complete inner self (feeling combined with 
 
 reason) into perfect harmony. Its human manifestation is 
 
 love and friendship, and its ultimate goal is the peace and 
 
 happiness of the human race. 
 
 .... o schone Mutter Natur 
 
 dein edelster Funke! 
 
 Freundschaft! Edelster Funke .... des edelsten Funk en 
 
 In aller deiner Flammennatur 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 367.) 
 Die zarten Bande, die das Weltall halten, 
 Die ewig junge rege Sympathie, 
 Die Himmelsglut, in der die Wesen brennen 
 Wie willst du anders sie als Liebe nennen? 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 172.) 
 In Ein Gefiihl verschlungen 
 Sind wir ein ewig all — 
 In Einen Ton verschlungen 
 Der Gottheit WiederhalL (Suphan XXIX, 93.)2 
 
 1 Suphan XXIX, 178 — (Aurora:) Und gebe Blumen, Junglingen 
 und Schonen — Erfrischend sie, der Morgenrothe Kleid, — Mor- 
 genroth (XXIX, 13). 
 
 2 Compare: Weltgericht (Suphan XXIX, 39); (Lebensbild III, 
 1, p. Ill) ; (XXIX, 205, 305) ; Rettergeist, Schutzgeist (492) ; 
 Schopfer, Urkiinstler (559) ; Schopfer Geist (641) ; Menschen- 
 gott (455-456) ; Gott Schopfer, Natur Vater, Mittler (234) ; Er- 
 dengeist (232) ; Erdengenius (572) ; der grosse rege Geist (206) ; 
 Urgeist, Sonnengenius (207) ; Allmacht'ge Giite (566) ; Schopfer- 
 duft (390) ; Triebe der Gottheit— Geist der Schopfung (325) ; 
 Mittelpunkt (221, 235) ; es schlagt ein grosses Herz in der Natur 
 (209); O Natur! du glanzest unerschopflich reich (287); Mutter 
 Natur (364-365); Lebensgeist, Wiirkgeist, Freudengeist (438). 
 Compare: Suphan XXIX, 115, 235 344, 375, 442, 444, 455f, 566, 
 610, 230, 325, 221, 287, 364f., 438; IV,' 168, 205. 
 
170 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 Since it is the divine fire which, according to the Pietists, 
 fills and intoxicates the human mind, we may easily com- 
 prehend how Feuer, Flamme, Funke, Zunden, Glut, Brand, 
 brennen, Anflammen, flammen, entflammen, entziinden, ent- 
 glimmen, gluhen, funkeln, briinstig, schmelzen, and similar 
 expressions should come to be employed as metaphors to 
 denote the agitation of the God-illumined soul. We meet 
 expressions like "Enthusiasterey", 1 "vom verschlingenden 
 eine Unempfindlichkeit und Vergessenheit aller Dinge wur- 
 kenden Enthusiasmo", "Zerschmeltzung, Einfluss, Entziin- 
 dung wesentlicher Inflammation. 2 
 
 Der kam einsmals mit Feuers Gneist. 
 
 (Arndt, p. 138.) 
 Seitdem das Feuer von Jesu Christ 
 Auf Erden angezundet ist, 
 Wird alles mit Gerechtigkeit, 
 Als wie mit Funken uberstreut. 
 
 Zinzendorf (Krummacher, p. 63.) 
 Aus des ewgen Feuers Glut 
 Mich zu retten, fliesst dein Blut. 
 
 (Schlegel, p. 77.) 
 Bring Dein Feuer zur lichten Loh ! 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 199,-1728.) 
 Feuer-Flammen. 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 248,-1729; p. 275, 1731.) 
 Andacht-F^w^r. 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 270,-1730.) 
 
 Hegt zusammen euer Feuer 
 
 Hohlet neue Gluht zum Feuer. 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 256,-1730.) 
 
 Je mehr der Geist zur Ruhe zieht, 
 Und sich in sanftem Feuer stahlet, 
 Das wenig Funken von sich spruht — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 272,-1730.) 
 
 i Colberg I, 69, and II, 268. 
 
 2 Colberg I, 68. Schonaich ridicules similar expressions : An- 
 dachtsbrand, angebrannt, befeuern, Brand, brennen, elektrisch, ent- 
 flammen, entziinden, Feuer, feurig, Flammenstrom, funkeln, gluhen. 
 
 "Die Seele, ausser sich und uber sich erhoben, stromt in Gott 
 ein und wird in Gott verwandelt, gleichwie ein ins Feuer gelegtes 
 Eisen sich verwandelt. Sie ist dann Gottfarbig, mit dem Wesen 
 Gottes durchgossen, gleichwie Gold und Erz in eine Masse ver- 
 schmolzen sind". — Matthai, p. 67. 
 
TREATMENT OF POETIC LANGUAGE 171 
 
 Dein feuriges Gebliite, 
 Das schmerzlich gluhte, 
 Und Liebesfunken spriihte, 
 Hats angefacht. 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 336, — 1733.) 
 
 Ein Feuer glimmt in meinem Blute, 
 
 Mir wird ein Strahl der Gottheit kund 
 
 O H titer von dem heilgen Feuer! 
 Entzunde meinen Geist und Leyer — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 11.) 
 
 Dein Altar sollen Herzen werden, 
 Von Deiner reinen Glut entflammt, 
 Dein Wind soil stets ihr Feuer mehren 
 Und alle fremde Glut verzehren, — 
 Dein Feuer wallt und brennt auf Erden. 
 
 (von Moser, p. 52.) 
 
 F euerflammend Auge 
 
 Je williger das Herz zum Creuz sich findet, 
 
 Je mehr wird auch der Liebe Glut entziindet 
 
 (von Moser, p. 68.) 
 Send ihnen den Geist mit Flammengneist. 
 
 (Arndt, p. 141.) 
 Zunde an die Liebesflamme. 
 
 Zinzendorf. (Krummacher, p. 113.) 
 Geuss tief, tief in mein Herz hinein, 
 
 Die Flamme deiner Liebe 
 
 Von Gott strahlt mir ein Freudenlicht. 
 
 (Schlegel, p. 113.) 
 Flamm und Brand des Zornes — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 68,-1722.) 
 O dass der angeflammten Triebe 
 Nur eine einge Flamme war! 
 Du hast uns alle angezundet. 
 Der Prediger, und wer ihn hort, 
 Wer als ein reiner Funk entglommen : 
 Hat einen Hauch von Dir bekommen, 
 Der wieder in Dein Feuer fahrt. 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 93,-1723.) 
 Mich reisst ein Brand der Liebe hin. 
 
 (von Moser, p. 12.) 
 Dein Brand, der alle Harte schmelzet, 
 Erweckt mir eine hohre Glut. 
 
 (von Moser, p. 15.) 
 Die ihr von ihm ein Herz empfiengt, 
 Das sich zu Gott mit Innbrunst nahn — 
 
 (Schlegel, p. 21.) 
 Deiner Liebe Brunst — 
 
 Opitz, 1634-1635. (Miitzell, p. 204.) 
 
172 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 Glut — 
 
 (Schlegel, p. 104.) 
 
 Herr Jesu ! Deines Her sens Gluht — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 161,-1727.) 
 
 Gluht der ewigen Liebe — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 250,-1730.) 
 
 Das Priester Volk jauchzt von Deiner Glut durchdrungen 
 
 Mit himmlisch angeflammten Zungen. 
 
 (von Moser, p. 45.) 
 
 Als es [sein Herz] in tiefem Jammer gliihte — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 48.) 
 
 Je mehr wird auch der Liebe Glut entziindet. 
 
 (von Moser, p. 68.) 
 
 Du brantest selbst in ihm, du reines Licht. 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 108—1724.) 
 Wohin noch keine Sinnen gehn, 
 Da kan das Hers noch brennen. 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 137,-1725.) 
 
 Wenn sie [die Freude] auf Herz-Altaren brennet. 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 147,-1726.) 
 
 Wie brennen, wie flammen die freudigen Triebe, 
 Die kein Verstand begreifen kan. 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 148—1726.) 
 
 Vor Liebe brennen. 
 
 (Zinzendorf* p. 292, — 1731.) 
 
 Und im brennenden Verlangen, 
 Deine Salbung zu empfangen. 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 316, — 1732.) 
 
 Mach, dass Dein flammendes Licht 
 Durch alle Finsterniss bricht. 
 
 (von Moser, p. 127.) 
 
 [Seyd] voll obenher entjlammter Brunst. 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 56, — 1722.) 
 
 Das von der Gottheit selbst in Ihm entflammte Licht 
 . Begont in seinen Geist viel heller einzuscheinen. 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 80,-1723.) 
 
 These terms, all derived from the fundamental image of 
 a divine fire, are used by both Klopstock and Herder when 
 attempting to describe the emotions stirred by the sublime, 
 or filled with the Divine Presence. 
 
 Ohn' ihn war deine Gegenwart 
 Feuereifer, und Rache mir! 
 
 (Dem Allgegenwartigen, p. 24.) 
 
TREATMENT OF POETIC LANGUAGE 173 
 
 O du der Seligkeiten hochste 
 Ueberstrome meine ganze Seele 
 Mit deinem heiligen Feuer! 
 
 (Der Erbarmer, p. 39.) 
 
 dass Christen noch einst 
 
 Wir entflammen mit dem Feuer 
 Das zu Gott steigt! 
 
 (Unsre Fiirsten, p. 223.) 
 Schon erzittert das Volk! schon gliihet 
 Feuer des Himmels in ihm! 
 
 (Die Chore, p. 230.) 
 Nur mein Auge soil's mit schmachtendem Feuer durchirren. 
 
 (Die kiinftige Geliebte, p. 279.) 
 Flammen. 
 
 (Geistliche Lieder, p. 30.) 
 Ich will die heisse Wissbegier derm 
 Loschen ! Sie bleibt ; sie ist heilig Feuer, 
 
 (Wissbegierde.) 
 
 dass mein geweihter Arm 
 
 Vom Altar Gottes Flammen nehme! 
 Flammen ins Herz der Erlosten strome ! 
 
 (Dem Erloser, p. 7.) 
 Eine Flamme von dem Altar an dem Thron 
 Ist in unsre Seele gestromt ! 
 
 (Das grosse Hallelujah, p. 69.) 
 Auf ! in den Flammendampf hinein ! 
 
 (Schlachtgesang, p. 71.) 
 In sie hatt' er der Dichtkunst 
 Flamme gestromt, aus der vollen Urne! 
 
 (Wingolf VII, p. 95.) 
 Ein Flammenwort. 
 
 (Ihr Tod.) (Mein Vaterland, p. 269.) 
 
 Wenn du durch deinen lebendigen Schwung zu dem 
 Liede dich aufflammst. 
 
 (Die Lerche und die Nachtigall.) 
 Gluhst von der Lerche Glut. 
 
 (Sie.) 
 Mit feurigem Durst trinken — 
 
 (Gegenwart der Abwesenden.) 
 (An Cidli, p. 168.) 
 Wie gluheten wir — 
 
 (Die Vortrefflichkeit.) 
 Mein gliihendes Angesicht. 
 
 (Die Friihlingsfeyer, p. 35.) 
 Flammenblick — 
 
 (Die beyden Musen, p. 152.) (Hermann, p. 265.) 
 
174 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 Du starbst! dein Blut 
 Entflammt die Glut. 
 
 (Geistliche Lieder, p. 28.) 
 Kann was feyrlicher denn uns wie ein Konig seyn, 
 Der zwar feurig und jung, dennoch ein Weiser ist. 
 
 (Friedensburg, p. 132.) 
 
 Feurig er ausrufen — 
 
 (Fragen, p. 146.) 
 
 Blick, der feurig zur Erde sich senkt — 
 
 (Die beyden Musen, p. 152.) 
 Sein feuriges Herz — 
 
 (An Gleim, p. 159.) 
 
 Feuriger blickt sie — 
 
 (Siona, p. 189.) 
 Nicht mit der Rechte schopft der Dichter, 
 Feuriger, leckt er die Silberquellen ! 
 
 (Kaiser Heinrich, p. 181.) 
 
 Heil mir mein Herz gltiht, feurig und ungestiim 
 Bebt mir die Freude durch mein Gebein dahin! 
 
 (Der Abschied.) 
 
 der du edel und feuervoll 
 
 Stumper der Tugend und Schriften hassest! 
 
 (Wingolf III, p. 86.) 
 
 Mit frommer Sehnsucht entbrennen — 
 
 (Geistliche Lieder, p. 21.) 
 Damit ihr Hers entbrenn! — 
 
 (Geistliche Lieder, p. 35.) 
 
 Seinen brennenden Durst, Freunden ein Freund zu sein! 
 
 (An Gleim, p. 159.) 
 Feurig beseelet er die Saiten — 
 
 (Braga, p. 208.) 
 Schweig! Ich bilde mir ein Bild 
 Jenes feurigen Naturgesangs ! 
 
 (Der Hugel und der Hain, p. 254.) 
 
 Welch ein neues Gefiihl gliihte mir! 
 
 (Bardale, p. 105.) 
 Sein Antlitz gluht vor Ehrbegier. 
 
 (Heinrich der Vogler, p. 111.) 
 
 Und doch die Wange niemals mit gliihender 
 Schamvoller Rothe farben? 
 
 (Fragen, p. 146.) 
 Was that dir, Thor, dein Vaterland? 
 Dein spott' ich, gliiht dein Herz dir nicht 
 Bey seines Namens Schall ! 
 
 (Wir und Sie, pp. 220, 222.) 
 Gluhend ist seine Seele. 
 
 (Mein Vaterland, p. 269.) 
 
TREATMENT OF POETIC LANGUAGE 175 
 
 Er sass, gluhend vor Frohlichkeit — 
 
 (Aus der Vorzeit.) 
 
 Entgliiht kein Zorn dir, Dichter? 
 
 (Verschiedene Zwecke.) 
 [Frey] Von Tauscherey 
 Des heissentflammten Leibes sey — 
 
 (Geistliche Lieder, p. 52.) 
 
 allein die letzte 
 
 Rache gliihet, wie keine 
 Sonst, von zerstorender Glut. 
 
 (Die Rache.) 
 
 Doch diese bebte mannlich, und gliihende 
 Siegeswerthe Rothen uberstromten 
 Flammend die Wang! 
 
 (Die beyden Musen, p. 151.) 
 
 meine Kraft, und was sie entflammt — 
 
 (Die Gluckseligkeit Aller, p. 49.) 
 
 Herr Herr Gott! den dankend entflammt, kein Jubel genug 
 
 besingt. 
 (Dem Unendlichen, p. 63.) 
 
 Umsonst entflammt uns kiihner Muth — 
 
 ( Schlachtgesang, p. 71.) 
 
 hat sich des Jiinglings Blick 
 
 Entflammt! — 
 
 (Fragen, p. 147.) 
 
 Doch wenn dich, Jiingling, andere Sorg' entflammt — 
 
 (Der Rheinwein, p. 166.) 
 
 Ich seh, ich sen', ein Geist der Patrioten 
 Entflammet der Krieger Schaar! 
 
 (Aganippe und Phiala, p. 178.) 
 
 Lispel, entflohn jenem Gesang der entflammten 
 Sonne des Heils — 
 
 (Die Zukunft, p. 186.) 
 Von des Lohns Verachtung entflammt — 
 
 (Unsre Fiirsten, p. 226.) 
 
 Ach von des Sohns Liede beseelt, von der Heerschaar 
 Sions entflammet, erheben sie ihr Loblied ! 
 
 (Die Chore, p. 230.) 
 
 Und fragst, ob wie du er entflamme den Gesang? 
 
 (Unsre Sprache, p. 244.) 
 
 entflammt von mehr denn nur Ehrbegier, 
 
 (Mein Vaterland, p. 271.) 
 
 Denket er [Geist des Staubs] dich, Herrlicher, welches Gefiihl 
 Flammt in ihm ! welcher Gedank' hebt ihn, denket er dich ! 
 (Die hochste Gluckseligkeit, p. 66.) 
 
176 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 Und lass sie [die Seele] 
 
 Aufflammen in Entzuckungenl 
 
 aber Stolz 
 
 Funkelf im Blick einiger auch. 
 
 (Der Erbarmer, p. 39.) 
 (Sponda, p. 193.) 
 
 nur selig, wenn von dir entzundet, 
 
 Er [der Geist] seinen Schopfer empfindet! 
 
 (Geistliche Lieder, p. 21.) 
 von seinem Wuth entsiindet — 
 
 (Geistliche Lieder, p. 66-) 
 
 Herder is quite as fond as Klopstock of emphasizing the 
 
 presence of "divine fire" in the human heart. He appears 
 
 as peace-maker in one verse and appeals to man's divine 
 
 nature, the source of all his noblest powers : 
 
 Freunde, lasst den Zwist! 
 Das heilige Feuer auf des Ewigen 
 Altar in unsrer Brust, Beredsamkeit, 
 Weisheit und Dichtkunst, die dies Feuer entflammt, 
 Dass es der Menschheit reiner, warmer brenne, 
 Und jede Kunst, die bessre Zeiten fordert 
 Sie alle sind von heiliger Natur 
 Und ewger Wahrheit, tausendfaltiger 
 Verwandlung fahig, und doch stets Dieselbe. 
 
 (Suphan, XXIX, 217.) 
 Beim heilgen Feuer, das Jova in mich goss, 
 
 Beim Flammenmeer aus dem es floss 
 
 du hor' es, der auf Feuertronen 
 
 Entschluss und That mit Gottes Wage wiegt — 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 266.) 
 
 o f asst 
 
 mich, Feuer! Ich filhls! es tagt! 
 
 Ja ! leben will ich und modern nicht ! 
 
 Staub bin ich; denn Staub wollt ich seyn ! — Doch nah 
 am dunklen Feu'rmeer oben gebar sich still 
 ein Funke sum Gott mir, der mir gliiht 
 in jeder Nerv' ! Ich fuhls! 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 245.) 
 Menschenherz, du Feuermeer y 
 wallend Gottesglut daher — 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 438.) 
 Brennt das, was in mir brennt, als Flamme nur 
 des Aschenhaufens in der Erde Dunst? 
 O nein, o nein ! Der Dunst der Erde flammt 
 nicht auf, der Seele Feuer; er vertilgts; 
 und Geister fesselt ihre Schwere nicht! 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 614.) 
 
TREATMENT OF POETIC LANGUAGE 177 
 
 Des Mannes Feuer brennt ihm auf sein Hers, 
 in seinen Adem quillt der Flammenstrom, 
 der friiher ihn gen Himmel tragen soil. 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 562.) 
 — o Seele ! Er 
 in Dich sich hauchte gab Dir seinen Schleier 
 
 voll heller Dunkelheit 
 Die, Heiligstes der Schopfung, wo sein Feuer 
 
 zum Himmel wallt und streut 
 der Allmachtsliebe Funken! 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 377.)* 
 
 Herder uses the word "gluhen" in much the same way as 
 
 does Klopstock. Instances of its use are: 
 
 wo du mir ein starker Lied gesungen, 
 das noch jetzt in meinen Adem gluht. 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 279.) 
 
 Du gitihst! wir gluhen! — Ich fuhl — Voll bin ich 
 
 des Geistes des Taumelkelchs! 
 
 Ich gliih! 
 
 Sie spotten ! Die Zunge gliiht vor Pfeilen.2, 3 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 268.) 
 
 i Compare: Suphan XXIX, 115, 250, 252, 555; XXVIII, 331; 
 I, 256; IV 368; VIII, 334. 
 
 2 Compare: Feuer (Suphan XXIX, 262, 39, 246, 248); Feuer 
 der Mitternachte (509) ; Feuermeer (XXIX, 250, 438) ; Feuer- 
 ross (252) ; Feuergebet (269) ; Feuerblick (252) ; Feuerstrome 
 (347); Feurflammen (401, 634); Feurig (252); Flamme (492, 
 160, 159) ; Flammengluhn (599) ; Flammenstrom (207) ; Flam- 
 menmeer (313, 460) ; Flammenzuge (322) ; Flammennatur (367) ; 
 Flammchen Freud' und Hoffnung (487) ; flammen (30, 265, 460) ; 
 wild emporflammen (370) ; aufflammen (228, 322) ; flammende 
 Rache (276) ; Lebensquell, flammend Licht (641) ; anfeuern (177) ; 
 mit Leben entziinden (599) ; Funke (14, 265) ; Fiinkchen (103) ; 
 droben gluhen schon der Liebe-Funken (172) ; Lebensfunk (204) ; 
 Alle Funken des allweiten Aethers (219) ; schwarze Funken spriihn 
 (243) ; Sonnenfunk (228) ; Aethersfunken (247, 344) ; Freund- 
 schaft, edelster Funke (367) ; Funken vom ewigen Strahl (124) ; 
 Seelenbrand (24) ; Sommerliebesbrand (367) ; Brand im Herzen 
 (590) ; deines Herzens rege Glut (79) ; Thranen gluhn (10, 248) ; 
 (das Menschenherz) aufbrausend gliiht es (205) ; Himmelsgluht 
 (Heiliger Geist) (46) ; gluhn (250, 261 262, 265, 269, 460, 597) ; 
 Gluht (253, 258) ; Jugendglut (323) ; Schmerz glut in der Seele 
 (604) ; so singt so lang ihr feurig seid (412) ; jeder Sonnenstrahl 
 von Wonne gliiht (236). 
 
 3 This term "gluhen" is adopted by Goethe, who probably ac- 
 quired it from Herder while with him in Strassburg. See Faust's 
 first monologue in Part II, Scene 1. 
 
178 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 The Pietists sought by means of introspection to obtain a 
 true peace of mind amid the illusions, instability, and unrest 
 of the external world; hence we find repeated use of the 
 terms: Friede, Ruhe, Rast, Stille, ruhen. 
 
 Dein Friedens-Huttle'm prangte hier 
 Mit Frieden in dem Streit-Revier. 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 62, — 1722.) 
 
 Wie siisse hingegen, wie schone klingt, Friede 
 Und Ruhe von Arbeit und ewige Rast! 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 40,-1721.) 
 
 Vergonnt es mir, erlauchte Chore ! 
 Dass ich die siisse Lieder hore, 
 Die ihr in der geschaft'gen Ruh, 
 Wann ihr den Trieb der Gottheit fiihlet, 
 Dem Wesen aller Wesen spielet. 
 
 (von Moser, p. 12.) 
 Der Seelen und Gewissens Ruh. 
 
 (Mutzell, p. 251—1640.) 
 Hers und Hers vereint zusammen, 
 Sucht in Gottes Herzen Ruh*. 
 
 Zinzendorf. ( Krummacher, p. 112.) 
 
 Durch ihn find ich in der Arbeit Rast, 
 Und Ruhe mitten im Getummel. 
 
 (Schlegel, p. 109.) 
 
 Je mehr der Geist zur Ruhe zieht, 
 Und sich in sanftem Feuer stahlet. 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 272,-1739.) 
 
 Was fiihlet nicht mein Geist vor Frieden! 
 
 (von Moser, p. 33.) 
 
 Und sinkt erstaunet in die Ruh. 
 
 (von Moser, pp. 45, 110.) 
 
 Das Hers empfindet, bey des Leibs Ermiiden, 
 Gott lichen Frieden. 
 
 .... dich briinstig zu lieben, 
 
 Bringt erst die Seele zur volligen Ruh. 
 
 Erquicke mich mit Deinem Frieden, 
 Versenke Dich mit Deinem Frieden 
 In meinen Geist. 
 
 (von Moser, p. 67.) 
 (von Moser, p. 91.) 
 
 (von Moser, p. 134.) 
 
 "Ueber die Ruhe des Gemuths." 
 . . . Und zwar die Freud in siisser SHU — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 123,-1725.) 
 
TREATMENT OF POETIC LANGUAGE 179 
 
 Gottes Fiihrung fordert Stille. 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 191—1728.) 
 
 Du Geist des Herrn ! mit deiner Fiille 
 
 Versenke Dich in meinen Geist 
 
 Und lehre mich in heil'ger Stille 
 
 Wie man Dich kennt und wiirdig preisst. 
 
 (von Moser, p. 39.) 
 
 In heiliger und sichrer Stille 
 Speisst meine Seele aus der Fiille 
 Wo Gnade stets aus Gnade fliesst! 
 
 (von Moser, p. 57.) 
 
 Wer bringt mich zur seeligen Sabbat hs-S ' title f 
 
 (von Moser, p. 126.) 
 
 O welche sanfte Stille! 
 Wann Seele , Geist und Wille 
 Gedanke, Sinn und Muth 
 In seiner Liebe ruht. 
 
 (von Moser, p. 157.) 
 
 O Hochzeit, die man Sabbaths-Ruhe nennet, 
 O Tag des Herrn ! 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 224,-1729.) 
 
 Weil doch die Ruhe Zeit ein miides Hers erfreut. 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 246,-1730.) 
 
 These expressions, denoting the peace and quiet of the 
 human mind and heart, may be traced in Klopstock. 
 
 Mit jenes Lebens Ruh 
 Erquickst, beschattest du 
 Mich schon in diesem Leben ! 
 
 (Geistliche Lieder, p. 3.) 
 
 Wenn ich im f reudigen Gebet, 
 
 Zu der Sieger Chor, zu dir empor, 
 Steig ich dann, ruh in dir. 
 
 (Geistliche Lieder, p. 4.) 
 
 Des Lebens wahrste Ruh — 
 
 (Geistliche Lieder, p. 16.) 
 
 Wenn wir des Vaters Willen thun; 
 Konnen wir in sicherm Frieden ruhn. 
 
 (Geistliche Lieder, p. 17.) 
 Wenn sie singen, 
 Entzuckt sie Jesu Christi Ruh! 
 
 (Geistliche Lieder, p. 103.) 
 
 Mein Konig, wenn du fiihlst, dass sich ein sanftes Leben, 
 Und Ruh, durch deine Seele giesit — 
 
 (Die Koniginn Luise, p. 142.) 
 
180 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 Auf den Fliigeln der Ruh, in Morgenluften, 
 
 Kommst du den Himmel herab. 
 
 (An Cidli, p. 156.) 
 
 Der Tugend und der Liebe Ruhe — 
 
 (An Cidli, p. 157.) 
 
 mit stiller Ruh feiern wir — 
 
 (Das neue Jahrhundert, p. 174) 
 
 O Gefuhl, Weissager 
 
 Inniger ewiger Ruh. 
 
 (Die Zukunft, p. 186.) 
 
 Es erfullet Wehmut und Ruh, Wonn' erfullt 
 
 Mir das Herz, wenn du dein Lied, Himmlische singst. 
 
 (Siona, p. 189.) 
 
 ach, der Beruhigung 
 
 Dass meine Seele, Gott, mit dir reden darf. 
 
 (An Gott.) 
 
 Closely related to the phrases just pointed out are those 
 which describe the darker, the melancholy side of human 
 inner experiences. A marked sign of the state of deepest 
 agitation which had suddenly seized man, and the conse- 
 quent recognition given once more to man's emotional 
 nature in the eighteenth century, is the frequent mention in 
 the literary works of that period (even found in Goethe) 
 of weeping and tears. This tendency has frequently been 
 misinterpreted; even a physiological explanation has been 
 offered. However, this form of so-called sentimentalism 
 is but a transitional stage from an age of pure intellectual- 
 ism, where reason ruled supreme, to a period in which the 
 feelings were again to play a part in life. The language 
 which the Pietists chose to give utterance to this sombre 
 vein in man's nature, and which Klopstock and Herder 
 adopted, is quite as offensive to Schonaich as are the more 
 enthusiastic terms. He forgets that the state of melancholy 
 is simply a transitional stage in human experience and ridi- 
 cules the words: melancholisch, ruhen, weinen, Thranen, 
 lallen, verstummen, empfinden, seufzen, stammeln, still, 
 Dunkel, mitternachtlich. 
 
TREATMENT OF POETIC LANGUAGE 181 
 
 Er selbst entzundet 
 
 Ein himmlisch Sehnen. 
 
 (von Moser, p. 66.) 
 
 [Wir] wallen mit Wehmut in irdischen Grenzen — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 40,-1721.) 
 
 Das Auge fliesst von herben Thrdnen t 
 Den Zeugen W ehmuts-v oiler Treue. 
 
 T kronen Weinen. 
 
 Euch wein ich traurige Gedanken- 
 
 Ein Hers, das iiber Jesu Leiden 
 Sich weich und satt geweint. 
 
 (von Moser, p. 51.) 
 
 (von Moser, p. 75.) 
 
 (von Moser, p. 111.) 
 
 (von Moser, p. 169.) 
 
 Thrdnen .... zahlen — 
 
 (Mutzell, p. 251,-1640.) 
 (Schlegel, p. 38.) 
 Rinnt, herbe Thrdnen, Tag und Nacht. 
 
 (Mutzell, p. 302) Gryphius, 1660? 
 
 Bange Thrdnen — 
 
 (Schlegel, pp. 37, 146.) 
 
 Der Christ, der hier mit Thrdnen sat — 
 
 (Schlegel, p. 39.) 
 
 [Wir] giessen auf dein kiihles Gras 
 Ein Gottgeweytes Thrdnen-Maass. 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 62,-1722.) 
 Thrdnen-S oaten — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 268,-1730.) 
 
 Er selbst entzundet bey Seufzer, Schmerz und Thrdnen. 
 
 (von Moser, p. 66.) 
 
 Let us find these same expressions in Klopstock and 
 Herder. 
 
 mit frommer Sehnsucht entbrennen. 
 
 (Geistliche Lieder, p. 21.) 
 
 Ihr andern [Stunden], seyd der sckwermutksvollen 
 Liebe geweiht ! und umwolkt und dunkel! 
 
 (An Fanny, p. 110.) 
 
 Ernste Muse, verlass den wehmuthsvollen Gedanken, 
 Der dich traurig vertieft. 
 
 (Friedrich der Fiinfte, p. 126.) 
 
182 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 Die erschien mir ! O Schmerz, da sie erschienen war, 
 Warum trafest du mich mit dem gewaltigsten 
 Deiner zitternden Kummer, 
 Schwermuthsv oiler t wie N'dchte sind? 
 
 (An Cidli, p. 134.) 
 Ohne Wehmut uns freun ! 
 
 (Das neue Jahrhundert, p. 176.) 
 Wehmut — 
 
 (Aganippe und Phiala, p. 179.) 
 Ach, so vergehn mir die iibrigen Jahre voll Schwermuth. 
 
 (Selmar und Selma, p. 284.) 
 Sollt um seinen entschlafenen Konig nicht Thrdnen der Weh- 
 muth 
 Lange vergiessen ein Volk, dessen Wittwe nicht weintf 
 
 (Rothschilds Graber, p. 287.) 
 Weggehn muss ich, und weinen ! Mein schwermuthsv oiler 
 
 Gedanke 
 Bebt noch gewaltig in mir. 
 
 (An Ebert, p. 99.) 
 
 Ebert, mich scheucht ein trilber Gedanke 
 
 Tief in die Melancholey! 
 
 (An Ebert, p. 99.) 
 Thrdnend wandt' ich von ihm mein melancholisches 
 Mudes Auge dem Dunkeln zu. 
 
 (Petrarca und Laura.) 
 Einsam und wehmutsvoll 
 Und still und weinend irr' ich, und suche dich — 
 
 (Wingolf IV, p. 89.) 
 Als wir an jenen traurigen Abenden, 
 Um dich voll Wehmuth still versammelt — 
 
 (Wingolf V, p. 92.) 
 Nicht jene Schwermuth, die ich an deiner Brust 
 Verstammelnd weinte — 
 
 (Der Abschied.) 
 
 Stumme Wehmuth — 
 
 (Salem.) 
 
 Wehmuth — 
 
 (Der Abschied; Siona.) 
 Wehmiitiges Lied — 
 
 (Die kiinftige Geliebte.) 
 
 Gedanke voll NacHt — 
 
 (Friedrich der Fiinfte.) 
 
 Wenn seh ich dich? wenn weint mein Auge 
 Unter den tausendmal tausend Thrdnen? 
 
 (Dem Erloser, p. 4.) 
 
 Thranenvoll Gebet — 
 
 (Geistliche Lieder, p. 8.) 
 
TREATMENT OF POETIC LANGUAGE 183 
 
 Freudenthranen — 
 
 (Geistliche Lieder, pp. 10, 25, 83.) 
 
 (Die Friihlingsfeyer, p. 34.) (Fur den Konig, p. 9.) 
 mit Thrdnen anbeten — 
 
 (Geistliche Lieder, p. 37.) 
 
 mit lauten Thrdnen singen — 
 
 (Geistliche Lieder, p. 75.) 
 
 Freudige Thrdnen — 
 
 (An Young, p. 148.) 
 
 Trilbende Thrdnen, — 
 
 (An Cidli, p. 156.) 
 
 mit lauten Thrdnen der Freude — 
 
 (Dem Allgegenwartigen, p. 18.) 
 
 Freudenthranen — 
 
 Mutterthrdnen — 
 Entzilckende Thrdnen — 
 Lied voll Thrdnen — 
 
 (Der Erbarmer, p. 41.) 
 (Heinrich der Vogler, p. 113.) 
 
 (Das neue Jahrhundert, p. 172.) 
 
 (Das neue Jahrhundert, p. 174.) 
 
 (Wingolf II, p. 83.) 
 Thrdnen — 
 
 (An Ebert, p. 102.) (Die todte Clarissa, pp. 127, 129.) 
 (Die Koniginn Luise, pp. 139, 140.) (An Cidli, p. 154.) 
 
 Thrdnen der Wonne, dankende Thrdnen — 
 
 (Die Genesung des Konigs, p. 52.) 
 Thrdnen nach besserem Ruhm — 
 
 (Der Lehrling der Griechen, p. 76.) 
 Da flossen ungesehne Thrdnen 
 Aus dem geruhrten entziickten Auge. 
 
 (Wingolf III, p. 86.) 
 Sahst du die Thrdne, welche mein Herz vergoss — 
 
 (Wingolf V, p. 89.) 
 Geh ! ich reisse mich los, obgleich die mannliche Tugend 
 Nicht die Thrdne verbeut — 
 
 (An Giseke, p. 97.) 
 Wenn nicht Thrdnen die Seele vergiesst — 
 
 (An Giseke, p. 98.) 
 .... dann will ich thrdnenvoll 
 Voll froher Thrdnen jenes Lebens 
 Neben dir stehen — 
 
 (An Fanny, p. 110.) 
 Thrdnen nach Ruhm .... Thrdnen geliebt zu seyn — 
 
 (Friedrich der Fiinfte, p. 122.) 
 
184 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 Da weinten wir! Auch der, der sonst nicht Throne;} kannte, 
 Ward blass, erbebf und weinte laut! 
 
 (Die Koniginn Luise, p. 137.) 
 Sie [die Musik] verachtet 
 Alles, was uns bis zur Throne nicht erhebet ! 
 
 (Die Chore, p. 229.) 
 Die Schmerzen wollt ich singen. Ich horte schon 
 Des Abschieds Thranen am Rosenbusch 
 Weinen! weinender Thranen 
 Stimmen die Saiten herab! 
 
 (An Cidli, p. 167.) 
 Die Mutter und die Braut trocknen die bebende Throne schnell, 
 Denn des Todten Verdienst entweihten Thranen! 
 
 (Das neue Jahrhundert, p. 173.) 
 David horte der Mutter 
 
 Freudeweinendes Lied — 
 weinte vor Freude — 
 
 (Messias, XIX, line 496.) 
 (Messias III, line 166.) 
 
 Er fuhlt' ihn nicht, weinte, 
 
 Weinete lout, mit der Wehmut Schauer auf W ehmutsschauer , 
 
 dass ihm die ganze Seele zerfloss. 
 
 (Messias XVII, line 38.) 
 
 Verstummel 
 
 Denn du vermagst nicht, o du der wehmuthtonenden Harfe 
 Leisester Laut, das erste Stammeln der Mutter zu weinen ! 
 
 (Messias, XII, line 388.) 
 
 Konnt ich jetzt weinen, so weinf ich ihn 
 
 (An meinen Bruder Viktor Ludwig.) 
 
 Ach, so werd' ich um dich mein ganzes Leben durchweinen. 
 
 (Selmar und Selma.) 1 
 
 Habt ihr Thranen, die ganz des Guten Innerstes riihren, 
 Thranen des tiefsten Grams, blutige Thranen : so weini! 2 
 
 (Nantes.) 
 
 1 Compare : Freude weinen (Danklied) ; freudeweinend (Mes- 
 sias XV, 322; X, 367; XIX, 723); lachelte weinend (Messias IV, 
 723) ; Dank ausweinen (Messias XI, 1439) ; von der Liebe froh 
 weinen (Petrarca und Laura) ; das Herz weint (Messias X, 488) ; 
 vor Gram und Zorn weinen (Messias III, 623) ; das Elend weinen 
 (Messias X, 513) ; voll Jammer weinen (Messias XII, 583) ; das 
 Mitleid weint (Epigram 104); (Messias XIII, 679; Messias V, 
 629; III, 616; V, 98; XII, 301; Hermanns Tod, scene 14). 
 
 2 Die Seele vergiesst Thranen (An Giseke) ; Thranen bewe- 
 gen die Seele (Messias IV, 256) ; Thranenvolle Seele, dankende 
 Thranen (Messias XI, 328) ; see further: Messias II, 129; II, 754; 
 XI, 566; XII, 52; XV, 469; XII, 743; XVII, 343; IV, 257; 
 
TREATMENT OF POETIC LANGUAGE 185 
 
 In Herder we find: 
 
 Nach manchem voller Muh' und Sehnen 
 
 Verzeuften Jahr 
 Umarmten sich in frohen Thranen 
 Ein liebend Paar. 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 150.) 
 Die Thrane, die dir reine Liebe weiht 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 178.) 
 Denn in mir weint mein Herz vor JJnmut — 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 196. )* 
 
 This rare use of the word "tears", or even "weinen", in 
 Herder, as compared with its abundance in Klopstock and 
 its reappearance in Goethe, is quite worthy of note. The 
 spirit of exaggerated melancholy has become less vivid in 
 Herder; it is still alive in him, but is no longer prone to 
 seek such an outward manifestation. 
 
 Herder, like Klopstock, gives utterance to his feelings of 
 melancholy. 
 
 Du Stimme, die in Nachtmelancholien 
 Gespensterfurchtbar Rechnung mit mir haltst 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 267.) 
 Lass uns weinen ! .... Seelenvoller und himmlischer 
 ein Strom der Wehmuth 
 
 Nie spricht lauter die Lipp' als wenn sie bebt 
 Unaussprechlich bebt im Seufzen! 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 501.) 
 Susse Wehmut — 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 500.) 
 
 XVIII, 173; IV, 402; V, 514; VI, 591; IX 105; XVIII, 704; 
 IV, 1062; IV, 770; XIV, 1258; XV, 355; ix!, 166; X, 646; XI, 
 1381; VI 357; XI, 1186; IV, 904; III, 690; XIV, 212; VIII, 
 480; XIII, 682; X, 299: IV, 38; I, 538; I, 698; III, 83; XX. 
 959; IV, 341; II, 126; Salem; Die Lehrstunde ; An Cidli ; Die 
 Chore; Gegenwart der Abwesenden; An Young; Die Genesung 
 des Konigs; Der Abschied; An Ebert; An Giseke; Die ktinftige 
 Geliebte; Friedrich der Fiinfte. 
 
 1 Compare: Freude Thranen (Suphan XXIX, 188, 361, 523); 
 Thrane riihrt nicht (243) ; Thranenblick (512) ; Liebesthranen 
 Blick (497) ; Thranen der Dankbarkeit (361) ; Thranen ausstro- 
 men (483) ; lass dir Thranen danken (15) ; er scherzt dir Thra- 
 nen zu (196) ; Thranenblut, heisse Jugendzahren (280) ; mit Thra- 
 nen lallen (281) ; bittere Thranenfluth (346) ; menschenfreund- 
 liche Thranen (352) ; Freudeweinen (17) ; vor Liebe weinen (33) . 
 
186 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 In speaking of their aspirations after heavenly bliss, the 
 
 Pietists employed such phrases as, "Erhebung des Hertzens 
 
 zur himmlischen Siissigkeit", "Entziickung und Ohnmacht 
 
 der Seelen", "hochgepriesene hauffige gottliche Entziik- 
 
 kung". 1 Terms descriptive of religious ecstacy used by them 
 
 are: durchdringen, beben, erschuttern, berauscht, jauchzen, 
 
 Schauer, schaudern, entzticken, erquicken, zittern, Grauen, 
 
 hiipfen. Expressions similar to these are made the subject 
 
 of ridicule by Schonaich: herzerhohend, sich erheben, 
 
 himmlisch, das Siisse, Entziickung, gottlich, ohnmachtig, 
 
 wallen, fliessen, giessen, beben, bejauchzen, erschuttern, 
 
 Hallelujah, hiipfen, jauchzen, erbeben, Jubelgesang, schau- 
 
 ern. 
 
 Von seiner durchdringenden Liebe geriihrt — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 47,-1722.) 
 
 O Wort, das meinen Geist durchdringt — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 32.) 
 
 Ein Etwas Durchdringt mit Kraft das lachzende Hers. 
 
 (von Moser, p. 81.) 
 Lass Deine Salbung uns durchdringen. 
 
 (von Moser, p. 137.) 
 Mein Hers, von Dank durchdrungen — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 149.) 
 O Ruhrung! o Empfinden! 
 Das meinen Geist durchging! 
 
 (von Moser, p. 157.) 
 Ich bebe [vor Traurigkeit] — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 154,-1727.) 
 Bebend zittern — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 141.) 
 Drumm mussten Deine theuren Glieder zittern, 
 Dein edler Leib vor Angst und Graus erschuttern — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 11,-1713.) 
 Von Stolz berauscht — 
 
 (Schlegel, p. 51.) 
 Jauchzende Seele — 
 
 (Schlegel, p. 64.) 
 mit jauchzendem Getummel — 
 
 (Schlegel, p. 100.) 
 Jauchzen — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, pp. 36, 38 [1721]; p. 274 [1730].) 
 
 i Colberg I, p. 68. 
 
TREATMENT OF POETIC LANGUAGE 187 
 
 [Das Priester-Volk] jauchzt von Deiner Glut durchdrungen — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 45.) 
 Ja jauchzend wird mein Herze brechen — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 147.) 
 O schaudervolle State ! — 
 
 (Schlegel, p. 62.) 
 Wie wird der Geist dadurch entziickt; — 
 Hinauf gen Himmel hingeriickt — 
 
 (Schlegel, p. 2.) 
 Entziickt von gottlichem Gefuhle 
 Ertont das Chor vom Harfen-Spiele 
 In ruhrendem und sanftem Klang. 
 
 (von Moser, p. 45.) 
 So filhlet sich unser Geist voll Licht; 
 
 Hebt sich mit heiligem Muth auf den frohlockenden Schwingen 
 Zu seinem ersten Ursprung hin 
 Und lacht, voll himmlischer Lust, mit Gottes Speise erquicket — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 81.) 
 Und alle Herzen zittern — 
 
 (Schlegel, p. 138.) 
 Ich, Dein Geschopf, muss zittern und erbeben — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 11.,— 1713.) 
 Drum mussten Deine theuren Glieder zittern } 
 Dein edler Leib vor Ansgt und Graus erschiittern, 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 12,-1713.) 
 Wer seufzt mit solchem bangen Zittern — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 41.) 
 Den ganzen Grdul der Siinden 
 Lasst mich die mit Graun empfinden. 
 
 (Schlegel, p. 48.) 
 Der Tod, der mir sonst vieles Grauen macht! 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 17,-1720.) 
 Unser Herz hilpft — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 187,-1728.) 
 
 Both Klopstock and Herder employ these enthusiastic 
 
 modes of expression, as we shall see. However, Klopstock 
 
 seems to have added to this store the terms : Taumel, 
 
 trunken, 1 Schauer, Schauder, schaudern. The mystic word 
 
 "Berauscht" is not found in Klopstock. 
 
 Sag es mit einem durchdringenden Ach — 
 
 (Die kiinftige Geliebte, p. 279.) 
 Aber wir 
 Erbeben Ewiger vor dir — 
 
 (Geistliche Lieder, p. 21.) 
 
 1 Colberg I, p. 68, does note "geistliche Trunkenheit", however. 
 
188 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 Deiner Seele Beben — 
 
 (Geistliche Lieder, p. 31.) 
 Ich freue mich, und bebe doch 
 So driickt mich meines Elends Joch. 
 
 (Geistliche Lieder, p. 80.) 
 Der Seraph stamtnelts, und die Unendlichkeit 
 Bebts durch den Umkreis ihrer Gefilde nach — 
 
 (Dem Erloser, p. 3.) 
 Sie bebt! 
 
 (Das Anschaun Gottes, p. 29.) 
 Und die eherne Brust bebt ihm. 
 
 (Die Welten, p. 29.) 
 Dies vor Empfindnng bebende sanfte Herzl 
 
 (Wingolf IV, p. 89.) 
 Mein schwermuthsv oiler Gedanke 
 Bebt noch gewaltig in mir — 
 
 (An Ebert, p. 99.) 
 
 so erbebt ich und das bebende Knie mir 
 
 Kraftlos zittert, und sank. 
 
 mit bebender Stimme der Liebe — 
 Dreimal erbebtest du [Herz] — 
 Bebende Thranen — 
 
 (An Ebert, p. 100.) 
 
 (Salem.) 
 
 (Petrarca und Laura.) 
 
 (Das neue Jahrhundert.) 
 
 Ich will mit bebendem Fusse 
 Gehn. 
 
 (An Ebert, p. 102.) 
 Ach du machst das Gefuhl siegend, es steigt durch dich 
 Jede bliihende Brust schoner, und bebender, 
 Lauter redet der Liebe 
 Nun entzauberter Mund durch dich ! 
 
 (Der Ziirchersee, p. 118.) 
 Komm ! ich bebe vor Lust! 
 
 (Hermann und Thusnelda, p. 144.) 
 Und o ! wie beb ich ! o ihr Unsterblichen ! 
 
 (Die beyden Musen, p. 153.) 
 Wie der triibe, bange, der tieferschiitterte Zweifler — 
 
 (Der Eroberungskrieg.) 
 Erschutterung des Innersten, dass Himmel 
 Und Erde mir schwanden 
 
 (An den Erloser.) 
 Erschiitterung seiner Seele — 
 
 (Der Abschied; Die Stunden der Weihe.) 
 
TREATMENT OF POETIC LANGUAGE 189 
 
 Hellere Lippe singend erschutterte das Herz — 
 
 (Die Musik.) 
 
 Der Erschutterte — 
 
 (Der Segen.) 
 
 J duchzen—~' 
 
 (Geistliche Lieder, pp. 25, 40, 58.) 
 (Heinrich der Vogler; Der Ziirchersee; Dem Erloser.) 
 
 Laut jauchzen — 
 
 (Geistliche Lieder, p. 35.) 
 Ein lauter Seegen 
 Jauchzt dem edleren zu — 
 
 (Fur den Konig, p. 9.) 
 Du mein kiinftiges Seyn, wie jauchz' ich dir entgegen! 
 
 (Die Gliickseligkeit Aller, p. 49.) 
 
 Fallet mit Jauchzen vor dem Erbarmer aufs Antlitz nieder'.l 
 (Die Genesung des Konigs, p. 54.) 
 
 Jauchzende Jugend der Liebe — 
 
 (Salem.) 
 Jubel — 
 
 (Der Abschied.) (An Young.) (Fur den Konig.) 
 
 Seele entziicken — 
 
 (Geistliche Lieder, pp. 18, 19.) 
 
 noch bebt mir mein Herz — 
 
 (An Cidli, p. 155.) 
 Ich sahe, noch beb f ich davor! — 
 
 (Skulda, p. 212.) 
 
 Sanft nicht gebebt, wenn die Schaaren in dem Tempel 
 Feyrend sangen ! 
 
 (Die Chore, p. 228.) 
 Schallt, dass der Tempel ihm bebt! 
 
 (Die Chore, p. 230.) 
 
 Sinkt sie, von siisser Gewalt der mdchtigen Liebe bezwungen, 
 Nie mit der Ddmmerung Stern mir an die bebende Brust? 
 
 (Die kunftige Geliebte, p. 280.) 
 Fiihle dies bebende Herz! 
 
 (Selmar und Selma, p. 285.) 
 
 Oft um Mitternacht wehklagt die bebende Lippe — 
 
 (Die kunftige Geliebte, p. 279.) 
 Und denkt Gedanken, dass Entzuckung 
 Durch die erschutterte Nerve schauert. 
 
 (Dem Erloser, p. 3.) 
 
 1 Hallelujah (Der Abschied; Dem Allgegenwartigen ; Die Friih- 
 lingsfeyer; Der Erbarmer; Die Genesung des Konigs.) Jubel- 
 chore (Die Friihlingsfeyer). 
 
190 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 .... so traf der Gedanke 
 Meinen erschutterten Geist — 
 
 (An Ebert, p. 100.) 
 Ein mir lispelnder Hauch, und ein erschiittemdes Ach — 
 
 (Die kiinftige Geliebte, p. 280.) 
 Jede Tiefe des Herzens erschuttem. 
 
 (Der Bund.) 
 mit dem ersten entziickenden Gruss — 
 
 (Die Genesung, p. 13.) 
 In Entzuckung vergehn — 
 
 (Die Friihlingsfeyer, p. 32.) 
 
 Aufflammen in Entzuckung — 
 
 (Der Erbarmer, p. 39.) 
 
 Noch mit Entzuckung hor' ich der Erde gelindes Rauschen! 
 (Die Genesung des Konigs, p. 53.) 
 
 Sing in Entzuckung — 
 
 (Die Gestirne, p. 60.) 
 
 .... o sey dann, Gefuhl 
 Der Entzuckung, wenn auch ich sterbe, mit mir! 
 
 (Der Tod, p. 65.) 
 
 mit Graun fullt, und Ehrfurcht der Anblick mit Entzuckung 
 Das Herz dess, der sich da freut, wo Freud ist. 
 
 (Der Vorhof und der Tempel, p. 68.) 
 
 Schon gl'dnzt die Trunkenheit des Quells dir, 
 Ebert, aus hellem entzuckt em Auge. 
 
 (Wingolf I, p. 80.) 
 
 Da flossen ungesehne Thrdnen 
 
 Aus dem geriihrten entziickten Auge. 
 
 (Wingolf III, p. 86.) 
 
 Sing noch Beredsamkeit ! die erste weckt 
 Den Schwan in Glasor zur Entzuckung auf — 
 
 (Wingolf II, p. 82.) 
 
 Gedankenvoller, tief in Entziickungen 
 Verlohren, schwebt bey dir die Natur. 
 
 (Wingolf VIII, p. 95.) 
 Ihm horcht entzuckt — 
 
 (.Wingolf, V, p. 91.) 
 
 wenn mich die junge Lust 
 
 In die Wipfel des Hains entzuckt I 
 
 (Bardale, p. 105.) 
 
 Denn sie fuhlet sich ganz, und giesst Entzuckung 
 In dem Herzen empor die voile Seele — 
 
 (An Cidli, p. 156.) 
 Entzuckende Thrdnen — 
 
 (Das neue Jahrhundert, p. 174.) 
 
 Ahndung in mir dunkles Gefuhl der Entzuckung. 
 
 (Die Zukunft, p. 186.) 
 
TREATMENT OF POETIC LANGUAGE 191 
 
 Es drangen alle Genien sich 
 
 Der entzuckenden Harmonie urn ihn her. 
 
 (Sponda, p. 193.) 
 
 mit Entziickung, wall' ich im Hain der Palmen — 
 
 (Unsre Fiirsten, p. 223.) 
 Zitternd freu ich mich — 
 
 (Das Anschaun Gottes, pp. 25, 29.) 
 Mein Herz zittert! 
 
 (Wingolf VI, p. 93.) 
 [Ich will] zitternd mein Haupt gen Himmel erheben-^ 
 
 (An Ebert, p. 102.) 
 Oft erfullet er auch, was das erzitternde 
 Voile Herz kaum zu wunschen wagt. 
 
 (An Bodmer, p. 115.) 
 Schon erzittert das Volk! 
 
 (Die Chore, p. 230.) 
 
 Des Celten Leyer, die die Felsen 
 
 Taumeln, und wandeln aus Wolken lehrte. 
 
 (Wingolf I, p. 78.) 
 Taumellos — 
 
 (Der Rheinwein, p. 164; Skulda, p. 214.) 
 Und denkt Gedanken, dass Entziickung 
 Durch die erschuiterte Nerve schauert! 
 
 (Dem Erloser, p. 3.) 
 Und andrer Schauer Trunkenheiten 
 Werden dich dort, wo du schlummerst, wecken. 
 
 (Dem Erloser, p. 3.) 
 mit hingesenktem trunkenem Blick sie seh ! 
 
 (Dem Erloser, p. 5.) (Compare: Die beyden Musen, 
 p. 151; Die Chore, p. 227; An Young.) 
 Trunkene Lust — 
 
 Trunken von Liebe — 
 
 Die trunknere Lippe — 
 
 nahte die Begeistrung mit ihm, 
 
 O wie trunken von dem Mimer! 
 
 horchte mit trunknem Ohr — 
 
 Die trunk ne Seel' — 
 
 (Wir und Sie, p. 221.) 
 Dass entziickt, wenn sie sah, was gebohren war, 
 Ihr des beseelteren Blicks Trunkenheit schwamm. 
 
 (Die Barden, p. 232.) 
 
 (An Cidli, p. 154.) 
 
 (An Cidli, p. 156.) 
 
 (An Gleim, p. 159.) 
 
 (Braga, p. 207.) 
 (Skulda, p. 214.) 
 
192 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 Das sagt uns kein Dichter, 
 
 Selbst wir entziickt im Geschwatz trunkner Beredsamkeit nicht. 
 
 (Die kiinftige Geliebte, p. 283.) 
 
 wenn sie [die voile Seele], dass sie geliebt wird, 
 
 Trunken von Liebe sich's denkt ! 
 
 (An Sie.) 
 
 wo's von Entzuckungen 
 
 Taumelnd schwebt um mein trunknes Haupt! 
 
 (Petrarca und Laura.) 
 
 Trunkenheit glanzt aus hellem entzucktem Auge- 
 
 (Wingolf I.) 
 
 Trunknes Wiedersehen 
 
 (An Gott.) 
 
 (An Gott.) 
 
 (Kaiser Alexander.) 
 
 (Das Denkmal.) 
 
 (Das Denkmal.) 
 
 Trunken in ihrem Arm — 
 
 W onnetrunknes Auge — 
 
 Trunkner Geist — 
 
 Darf sich taumelnd die Freude freun- 
 
 Taumelflug — 
 
 (Die Ratgeberin.) 
 Weniger Herzen erfullt, mit Ehrfurcht und Schauer 
 Gottes Allgegenwart ! 
 
 (Dem Allgegenwartigen, p. 17.) 
 mit heiligem Schauer 
 
 Brech' ich die Blum ab 
 
 mit heiligem Schauer, fuhl' ich der Liifte Wehn — 
 
 (Dem Allgegenwartigen, p. 19.) 
 
 von richtendem Ernst schauernd — 
 
 (Der Lehrling der Griechen, p. 76-) 
 Voll heiliger tiefeingehiillter Schauer — 
 
 (Die Koniginn Luise, p. 138.) 
 
 Was nicht fullet den Geist mit Schauer — 
 
 (Die Chore, p. 229.) 
 
 Unbesingbare Lust, ein siisser begeisternder Schauer — 
 
 (Die kiinftige Geliebte, p. 280.) 
 
 Schauert hin [Winde] durch den Wald — 
 
 (Die kiinftige Geliebte, p. 282.) 
 
 [Er] Weinete laut, mit der Wehmut Schauer auf Wehmuts- 
 
 schauer — 
 (Messias XVII, line 38.) 
 
 da liefen mir Schauer durch alle Gebeine — 
 
 (Messias VI, line 121.) 
 
TREATMENT OF POETIC LANGUAGE 193 
 
 Machtiges Feuer, ein Schauer vom Himmel 
 Hub ihn empor. 
 
 (Messias IV, line 391.) 
 ....tief in mein Herz hin 
 Drang ein Schauer wallender Freuden — 
 
 (Salem.) 
 Auch scheint die Natur hier 
 Ueberall still zu schauern, als ware Gott zugegen. 
 
 (Messias V, line 653.) 
 Ein stiller Schauer deiner Allgegenwart 
 Erschiittert, Gott, mich. 
 
 (An Gott.) 1 
 
 Let.us now note instances of the use of the above phrases, 
 descriptive of the more violent emotions, in Herder. The 
 use of the term "Trunkenheit" is not so frequent as in Klop- 
 stock; Herder seems not to have grasped its spiritual sig- 
 nificance, or at least to have preferred an avoidance of the 
 word in that sense. A few instances, however, may be 
 indicated : 
 
 Dir dank ich meine Trunkenheit! 
 
 ich trank, ward trunken t und erfreut! 
 
 (Fluch iiber die Gelegenheit, Suphan XXIX, p. 275.) 
 
 Schau, wie uniher der ganze Himmel trunken 
 sich spiegelt in des Meeres Angesicht- 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 172.) 
 
 Was alldurchwallend die Natur bewegt, 
 
 Und dir im Auge, jetzt von Thrdnen triibe, 
 Jetzt freudetrunken himmlisch glanzt, ist — Liebe. 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, p. 171.) 
 
 Trunken sehen — 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 73.) 
 Taumeln — 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 265.) 
 
 1 Compare: Im Schauer namloser Angst (Messias IV, 852); 
 dem Schauer steht dab Haar empor (Die Denkzeiten) ; Schauer 
 des ewigen Todes (Messias V, 611) ; Schauer der Nacht (Messias 
 V, 596) ; mit heiligem Schauer vernehmen (Messias VIII, 325) ; 
 mit freudig schauerndem Danke (Messias XI, 552) ; langsame 
 Schauer (Messias II, 755) ; sanftes Schauers voll (Messias XX, 
 1052) ; sanfter Ahndung Schauer (Die Wenigen) ; schaurig (Her- 
 manns Tod, scene I) ; Schauer des ewigen Todes (Messias V, 
 
 611) ; die Erde erbebte mit stillem Schauer (Messias V, 378) ; 
 
 Ein gewaltiger Schauer fasste den Seraph (Messias I, 148) ; der 
 siisse Schauer (Der Abschied). 
 
194 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 ich schaudre, schaudernd 
 
 wach ich, und um mich Nacht! 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 231.) 
 
 Sohn schaudernder Mitternacht — 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 341.) 
 
 Gott ist um mich ! Hier fiihlt die Seek einen Tropfen von dem 
 Schauder der sie durchstromt, wenn sie, als ein neugeschaffner 
 Engel, einst vor Gott tritt! (Lebensbild I, 2, p. 82.) 
 
 Schauer klang ihm mdchtig ewig ins Innre. 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 340. )i 
 
 . . O hor's allmachtge Stimme 
 die mir auch diese Zeugenwelt, 
 ich seh und beb, gewiss vor Augen stellt: 
 Ich beb : der Richter, Engel, Engel, ich ! — ich hore : 
 Es donnert — um mich rauschts, wie Heere : 
 in mir; wie still? Gott? Engel, ich hore 
 Erbebe Herz und schwore. 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 267.) 
 
 — mit Beben 
 der Freude starb Roms Patriot! 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 33.) 
 
 die Laufe bebt und singt — 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 62.) 2, 3 
 
 Wie schauderts hier ! 
 
 Hor' Daphne, hor' ein Wunderlied 
 im Schauder dieser Baume! 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 305.) 
 
 die Nacht schaudervoll — 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 52.) 
 
 Allmachtiger Schauer dringt durch alle Wesen — 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 115.) 
 
 1 Compare: schaudernd (Suphan XXIX, 141, 16, 10, 310); 
 tiefschaudernd (268) ; Schaur (XXVIII, 41) ; Gottes Schauer 
 (XXIX, 376); heiliger Schaur (257); kalte Schauer (358); 
 Todesschauer (358) ; Schauder (24) ; schaudern (42, 1, 6) ; Pro- 
 phetenschauder (1) ; schauert (504) ; der Gottheit Schatten win- 
 ken .... sein Abhauch, Seele, winkt mir Schauer auf Schauer 
 schon (378) ; ewge schaudernde kalte Nacht (327) ; Heldenschaur 
 (330); Abschiedsschauer (483). 
 
 2 Compare: beben (Suphan XXIX, 10, 25, 234, 460); Herz 
 bebt (34) ; bebend (41) ; Zarte Laute mit ihrem sanften Beben 
 (152) ; mit Beben erhort' ichs (377) ; Lippe bebt im Seufzen( 501). 
 
 3 Otto Lyon gives but a few passages from Goethe which show 
 the use of Schauder and schaudern; many more could be found. 
 
TREATMENT OF POETIC LANGUAGE 195 
 
 Wer bin ich? Alles erwacht in mir! Mein Geist! 
 
 Hohen Tiefen ! ich schaudre! 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 258.) 
 
 ich schwebt' entziickt 
 
 auf des Grases Wipfeln, iiber Blumen und Klee 
 und befliigelt schweben die Gedanken empor — 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 266.) 
 
 The word "erschiittern" is not a favorite one in Herder; 
 
 on the other hand, he seems fond of the term "hupfen", 
 
 rarely, if ever, found in Klopstock. 
 
 So gehn am Auferstehungsfeste 
 
 Aus Asche Leiber auf, 
 
 Und hupfen froh urns Grab in Strahlenrustung : 
 
 So hupft — der Seher siehts! — so hupfst du Stadt 
 
 Bald, statt des Greuels der Verwiistung, 
 
 Um eine neue Stadt! 
 
 Und dreimal hupft die Erde wieder 
 und jauchzt Hallelujah. 
 
 O wie hiipfet das Herz mir 
 
 Und Erden hupfen — 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 15.) 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 226.) 
 (Suphan XXIX, 677.) 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 16.) 
 Sie [Musik] bebt aus Chemoniser Saiten 
 den zartsten Silberpfeil in meine Brust 
 Ihre Laute bebt; ich bebel 
 sie hupft; ich hupfl sie schwebt; ich schwebe! — 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 236.) l 
 Da jauchzte Katharinens Welt, 
 Und bebte nicht mehr. 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 25.) 
 Er siehts und jauchzt und stirbt; — 
 O wer jauchzt ihn nicht nach — 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 269.) 
 
 1 Compare: Hallelujah (Suphan XXIX, 13); Jubel (XXIX, 
 13, 228) ; jauchzen (XXIX, 16, 17, 30, 248, 252, 499) ; Freudenton 
 (XXIX, 31); Ton der Freude (XXIX, 78); Himmelsfreuden 
 (XXIX, 35) ; entziickt den Blick empor wenden (XXIX, 14) ; 
 das Chor der horchenden Entziickten (XXIX, 87) ; entziickt sin- 
 gen (XXIX, 179) ; dann werde ich hoch zu dir entziickt, und singe 
 Dich (XXIX, 234) ; entziickt (XXIX, 269) ; entziickender Fest- 
 geruch (XXIX, 271) ; Freundschaft entziickt Haupt und Brust 
 (XXIX, 284) ; mit entziickter Seele (XXIX, 287) ; Ohnmacht der 
 Zerstreuung (XXIX, 257); die Welt entzucken (XXIX, 412); 
 alle Herzen wallen auf (XXIX, 485). 
 
196 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 Denn wenn ihm Morgensterne jauchzen — 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 16.) 
 Denn ich [die lyrische Muse] sing, hiipf alles — 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 252.) 
 
 Terms which attempt to express moments of great happi- 
 ness or great sadness — Lallen, verstummen, seufzen, stam- 
 meln — are severely criticized by Schonaich. These, as we 
 should suppose, are of mystic origin, showing the enthu- 
 siastic state of mind which fails to find expression in 
 language. 
 
 Seufzer — 
 
 (Miitzell, p. 251,-1640.) 
 Gott! werd ich stets von Seufzen miide — 
 
 (Schlegel, pp. 143, 98.) 
 Dein noch unverstandliches Lallen 
 Muss den Seelen susse schallen. 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 26,-1720.) 
 Seufzen — 
 
 '(Zinzendorf, pp. 38 [1721] ; 39 [1721]; 256 [1730].) 
 Seufzer — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, pp. 264 [1730]; 335 [1733].) 
 
 Mein innerstes der Seelen gliihet, 
 
 Indem mir Wort und Ausdruck fliehet .... 
 
 Indem ein schwaches Lallen — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 12.) 
 Wer $e ifzt mit solchem bangen Zittern — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 41.) 
 Dir verborgene Seufzer schicken — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 55.) 
 Er selbst entzundt bey Seufzen — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 66.) 
 
 der Du manche Nacht 
 
 mit Thranen seufzend zugebracht.. 
 
 (von Moser, p. 94.) 
 Will ich von euren Gottes-Liedern 
 Das Echo stammelnd hier erwiedern — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 111.) 
 
 Klopstock experienced the same enthusiastic state of 
 mind, and hence in describing sadness, despondency, melan- 
 choly, as well as extreme happiness, he speaks of "seufzen" 
 and "stammeln". We find only rare use of the mystic term, 
 
TREATMENT OF POETIC LANGUAGE 197 
 
 "Lallen", however; on the other hand, Klopstock seems to 
 have introduced the word "verstummen". 
 
 Seufzen — 
 
 (Geistliche Lieder, p. 29.) (Der Abschied.) 
 Stammeln — 
 
 (Geistliche Lieder, p. 22.) 
 Lob ausstammeln — 
 
 (Geistliche Lieder, p. 81.) 
 
 der Mann kam 
 
 Seufzend ini Ozean urn — 
 
 (An Giseke, p. 97.) 
 Nach mir einmal auch seufzen wirst — 
 
 (An Bodmer, p. 114.) 
 Dieser erseufzende Mund — 
 
 (Die kunftige Geliebte, p. 282.) 
 Kein unvollendetes Wort, welches im Seufzer verrlog — 
 
 (Die kunftige Geliebte, p. 283.) 
 
 Jungling, der seiner Einsamkeit Tage 
 
 Fuhlt und seufzend ihr Ende verlangt — 
 
 (Salem.) 
 Wo kein miitterlich Ach, bang bei dem Scheidekuss 
 Und aus blutender Brust geseufzt — 
 
 (Der Lehrling der Griechen.) 
 
 aber nun redeten 
 
 Frohe Seufzer und Thr'dnen nur. 
 
 (Petrarca und Laura.) 
 
 In this verse we see how the poet tries to show the intimate 
 relation between joy and sorrow. We find him doing this 
 constantly; besides presenting us with the highest joy and 
 deepest sorrow he gives us descriptions of a middle state, 
 wherein both emotions merge. This, later, becomes a fun- 
 damental thought in Herder's philosophy; and as such it 
 finds recurrent expression in his poetry as well as in his 
 prose. 
 
 We find instances of the word "stammeln" : 
 
 Schlafend sieht sie den Jungling, wie er in Thranen zerfliesst, 
 Und mit bebender Stimme die Liebe 
 
 Und stammelnd ihr sagt, dann wieder in Thr'dnen zerfliesset 
 Und mit stummer Wehmuth ihr flehet. 
 
 (Salem.) 
 Der Seraph stammelts — 
 
 (Der Erloser, p. 3.) 
 
198 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 [So soil] Meine Lippe dich stammeln — 
 
 (Der Erbarmer, p. 40.) 
 Der nicht noch Einmal Dank, wenn er entschlummert, 
 Gott aus des Herzens Innersten stammle — 
 
 (Die Genesung des Konigs, p. 54.) 
 Dem unsre Psalme stammeln — 
 
 (Das grosse Hallelujah, p. 69.) 
 .... jenen furchtbaren Tag, den die Muse des Tabor 
 jetzo stammelnd besingt — 
 
 (Friedrich der Fiinfte, p. 126.) 
 
 doch lispelt 
 
 stammelnde Freude mit auf ! 
 
 (An Cidli, p. 167.) 
 
 Kaum stammelnd 
 
 Hort' er ihn [Prophetengesang] schon! 
 
 (Aganippe und Phiala, p. 78.) 
 Oft stammelst du mir die Stimme der Natur — 
 
 (Der Hugel und der Hain, p. 254.) 
 Kein halb stammelnder Blick voll unaussprechlicher Reden — 
 
 (Die kiinftige Geliebte, p. 283.) 
 
 Kaum gebohren wird ihm das Kind schon lallen. 
 
 (Fur den Konig, p. 10.) 
 
 Wenn in des edelmuthigen Gellert harmonischem Leben 
 Jede Saite verstummt! 
 
 (An Ebert, p. 100.) 
 
 die verstummende Seele — 
 
 (An Ebert, p. 102.) 
 Wer mehr empfand, blieb unbeweglich stehen, 
 Verstummt', und weint' erst spat. 
 
 (Die Koniginn Luise, p. 137.) 
 Und schon waren die Saiten 
 Klage zu singen verstummt! 
 
 (An Cidli, p. 168.) 
 Verstumme ! 
 Denn du vermagst nicht, o du der wehmuttonenden Harfe 
 Leisester Laut, das erste Stammeln der Mutter zu weinen! 
 
 (Messias XII, line 388.) 
 
 Er [wie stammeln wir ihn], der Unaussprechliche — 
 
 (Beruhigung.) 
 
 Ebert verstummst du nicht hier? 
 
 (An Ebert.) 
 
 Unempfundene Gebete stammeln — 
 
 (Der Abschied.) 
 
 Tone der Menschen herabzustammeln — 
 
 (An Gott.) 
 
TREATMENT OF POETIC LANGUAGE 199 
 
 Stammelnde Freude — 
 
 (Gegenwart der Abwesenden.) 
 Verstummend weinen — 
 
 (Der Abschied.) 
 Verstummen— 
 
 (Wink.) 
 Stilles Stammlen — 
 
 (An Gott.) 
 
 Instead of the word "stammeln", which might be called 
 
 a favorite with Klopstock, Herder employs the mystic term 
 
 "lallen" with practically the same meaning. 
 
 Volk, verstehst es nicht 
 
 Wias da aus Blick und Zunge bricht 
 
 Und "Mutter" lallt im tiefsten Schmerz — 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, p. 40.) 
 
 ich lall f Jehovah nach und bete an . . 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 237.) 
 
 denen ich voll nachgelallt 
 
 oft benetzt mit heissen Jugendzahren. 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 280.) 
 Lallen — 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 17, 235, 244.) 
 
 In common with Klopstock, Herder makes frequent use 
 
 of "seufzen", "stumm", and "verstummen". 
 
 Die Nachtigall seufzt' tiber seinem Haupt 
 Ihr Lied der Liebe — 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 205.) 
 Ungehort 
 Erklang Dein Seufzen in ihr Herz. 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 208.) 
 Wo bist du — Zartlicher — den mein Gedanke kusset 
 nach dem mein Seufzer seufzt, und stille Sehnsucht brennt. 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 232.) 
 Die Seele wendet 
 sich in sich selbst und warmt sich 
 mit Seufzen ) sich mit einer warmen Thr'dne — 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 510.) 
 O du, in Einem grossen Seufzer 
 Gen Himmel ziehend ! 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 303.) l 
 Stumm 
 1st alles um mich her; ach so verstummt — 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 204.) 
 
 1 Compare: seufzen (Suphan XXIX, 174); hoffen und seufzen 
 (XXIX, 450) ; seufzen in Schmerz (XXIX, 550) ; Empfindung 
 
200 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 soil stumm denn Eines herben Falles 
 
 ich alle sehn 
 Da sterben? 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 505.) 
 Ein hohes Loblied 
 Dem der Sturm verstummet — 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 219.) l, 2 
 
 We have said before that the mysticists laid more em- 
 phasis on the spiritual and emotional side of man's nature 
 than on the physical and rational; as a consequence, we 
 find repeated occurence of Herz, Seele, Gefuhl, Empfindung, 
 Schmerz, Begier, Trieb, riihren, spiiren, wallen, geniessen. 
 
 Mein Hers lass nicht erkalten — 
 
 (Miitzell, p. 21,-1630.) 
 Lass deines Geistes Morgenrothe 
 In unsern dunklen Herzen sein — 
 
 (Miitzell, p. 204.) 
 Und war' ein Hers so fest als Stein — 
 
 Zinzendorf. (Krummacher, p. 112.) 
 
 Hers und Hers vereint zusammen. 
 
 Zinzendorf. (Krummacher, p. 112.) 
 
 Auch mein Hers brennt vor Lieb — 
 
 (Schlegel, pp. 73, 148.) 
 Und alle Herzen zittern — 
 
 (Schlegel, p. 138.) 
 Mein Herse ist dem Herrn iibergeben — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 17,-1720.) 
 Da ist mein offnes Hers — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 39,-1720.) 
 So komm und blase Deine Flamm 
 Im Her sen auf — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 137, — 1725.) 
 
 Nur unsre Hersen sollen sich 
 An diesem Abende verbinden — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 147,-1726.) 
 
 seufzete (XXIX, 233) ; Menschenseufzer und Bruderthrane 
 (XXIX, 525) ; stummen ersten Seufzer wiederfodern (XXIX, 
 502) ; nie spricht lauter die Lipp' als wenn sie bebt unaussprech- 
 lich bebt im Seufzen (XXIX, 501) ; Seufzerlein (XXIX, 498) ; 
 seufzend liegen (XXIX, 204) ; Verseufztes Jahr (XXIX, 150) ; 
 
 1 Compare: stummes Bild (XXIX, 502); die Lippe bebt wie 
 stummen ein Seufzerlied noch (p. 499) ; verstummt (210, 226.) 
 
 2 Otto Lyon quotes a few passages from Goethe which show the 
 use of Stammeln, unaussprechlich, Wehmuth, verstummt, dammert, 
 warmen (pp. 46f). 
 
TREATMENT OF POETIC LANGUAGE 201 
 
 unser Herze hupfet — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 187—1728.) 
 Du Ehr-erbittiglich geliebter Herzens-Bruder ! 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 326, — 1733.) 
 
 Herz der Triebe — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 358,-1734.) 
 Herz der Gottlichen Natur, 
 Herz der offenbarten Liebe, 
 Herz der Triebe, 
 Unsre Herzen opfern Dir 
 
 Liebe hier 
 
 Herz der Welt ! belebe uns 
 
 Gottheit, unsre Hiitte zittert, 
 
 Aber unser Herze lacht ! 
 
 Herz der Kraft! durchdringe doch — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 196—1728. Compare p. 316,-1732.) 
 Mein Herze drangt sich zu dem Munde — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 11.) 
 
 Welch eine Salbung durchstromt mein Herz! — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 33.) 
 Manch Stromlein von den Segens-Fluten 
 Sich in mein diirstend Herz ergiesst. 
 
 (von Moser, p. 57.) 
 In deren Herzen reine Liebe flammet — 
 
 (von Moser, pp. 69, 128.) 
 
 Ein Etwas Durchdringt mit Kraft das lachzende Herz — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 81.) 
 Das Herz, von Freude geriihrt, preist — .... 
 Dir danke mein brennendes Herz — 
 
 (von Moser, pp. 82, 149, 130.) 
 Oft sturmt auf das gelassne Herz 
 Ein Heer verzagender Gedanken — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 100.) 
 Das Feuer, das Dein Herz entzundt — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 139. Compare pp. 140, 143, 161.) 
 Ein Herz, das iiber Jesu Leiden 
 Sich weich und sattgeweint. 
 
 (von Moser, p. 169.) 
 Hor unser Gbet, das wir jetzund 
 Zu dir sprechen von Herzen Grund. 
 
 (Mutzell, p. 5.) V. Herberger, 1610. 
 Mich iiberzeuget Herz und Sinn — 
 
 (Mutzell, p. 25.) 
 Und die nicht danken Gott, mit Herz und Munde: — 
 
 Heinrich Klose, 1633. (von Mutzell, p. 224.) 
 Die edle Seele — 
 
 Joh. Hermann, 1630. (Mutzell, p. 16.) 
 
202 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 Seele wird betrubt — 
 
 (Schlegel, p. 62.) 
 Jauchze Seele — 
 
 (Schlegel, p. 64.) 
 
 Nach dir Durstet meine ganze Seele — 
 
 (Schlegel, p. 113.) 
 Hat meine Seele Jesum lieb — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 137,-1725.) 
 Wie selten sind die auserwehlten Seelen — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 159,-1727.) 
 Seelen-Freund — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 167,-1727.) 
 Unsre Seel ist ja genesen — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 196,-1728.) 
 
 Wenn wir nicht mit ganzer Seele 
 
 Uns in Seine Liebe ziehn — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 265,-1730.) 
 Darum entbrennt die Seele bald — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 284,-1731.) 
 Die Liebe macht die Seele still — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 285,-1791.) 
 Meine Seele opfert dir — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 316,-1792.) 
 Ein Balsam, doch ein Schwerdt, das machtig 
 Durchs Innerste der Seelen gent- 
 
 (von Moser, p. 50.) 
 So wie Du Quell der reinsten Liebe ! 
 In aufgethane Seelen quillst — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 52.) 
 miudem vereinigt und verbunden 
 An welchen meine Seele glaubt — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 57.) 
 
 Bringt erst die Seele zur volligen Ruh — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 91.) 
 Durchheilige all meiner Seelen Triebe — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 107.) 
 ziinde meine Seele an — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 116.) 
 Den Nahmen, welcher unser Hers erfreut 
 Und als ein Salbol Geist und Seel erneut — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 130.) 
 durstge Seele — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 136.) 
 Seele liebt — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 152.) 
 So fiihlt's [ein Herz] die Kraft von Jesu Blut — 
 
 Zinzendorf. (Krummacher, p. 63.) 
 
TREATMENT OF POETIC LANGUAGE 203 
 
 Von alien, die Dich [Liebe] je gef unlet — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 146, — 1726.) 
 
 Zwar filhl ich meines Lebens Quelle — 
 
 (von Moser, pp. 30, 12.) 
 
 Ja, ich fiihl ein Scheiden 
 
 Der Geist will sich vom Leibe kleiden, 
 Er fiihlet Gottes Gegenwart — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 32.) 
 
 Was fiihlet nicht mein Geist vor Frieden ! 
 
 (von Moser, pp. 33, 114, 81.) 
 
 Wie Gott der ganze Himmel fuhlt — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 111.) 
 
 Wir fiihlen mehr, als Worte sagen konnen — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 246, — 1748.) 
 
 Lasst mich die [Siinden] mit Graun empfinden — 
 
 (Schlegel, p. 48.) 
 
 Wie unaussprechlich weit erhaben 
 Empfindet sich mein edler Geist — 
 
 (von Moser, pp. 26, 152.) 
 
 Ein unaussprechliches Gefuhl durchgeht die denkende Seele — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 80.) 
 
 Ein Etwas das man schmackhaft empfindet — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 81.) 
 
 Dir dankt mein brennendes Hers mit der empfindlichsten Liebe — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 82.) 
 
 mit unaussprechlich schmerzlichem Empfinden — 
 
 von Moser, p. 104.) 
 
 O welch ein beugendes Empfinden 
 Durchgeht mein Hers — 
 
 (von Moser, pp. 133, 67.) 
 
 zu unausloschlich gleichem Liebe-Empfinden — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 143.) 
 
 Dass oft, von Schmerz durchwiihlt, das Auge thrdnte — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 85.) 
 
 [Liebe] Entsiinde meine Triebe — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 13,-1714.) 
 
 Der Vater enibrennet vor herslichem Trieb — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 46, — 1722.) 
 
 In dieser Art, aus solchem Trieb — 
 Hat meine Seele Jesum lieb. 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 137, — 1725.) 
 
204 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 Wie brennen, wie flammen die freudigen Triebe — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 148—1726.) 
 Der aufgeregte Liebes-Trieb — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 153,-1727.)) 
 Theure Bruder! eure Liebe 
 Ziindet meine lauen Triebe— 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 254,-1730.) 
 Du stellst in gottlichem Gerichte 
 Dem Sunder 'ruhrend vors Gesichte — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 51.) 
 Das Herz von Freude geruhrt — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 82.) 
 Ist's moglich, ruhren euch noch Thrdnen? 
 
 (von Moser, p. 112.) 
 
 Wann ihr den Trieb der Gottheit fuhlet — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 12.) 
 Und durch den feurigen Trieb des jammernden Erbarmens — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 61.) 
 Durchheilige all meiner Seelen-Triebe — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 107.) 
 O welch Entzucken! welche Triebe! 
 
 (von Moser, p. 135.) 
 Den Brand der feurigen Erlosungs-Triebe — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 143.) 
 Lass uns spiiren, du seist der Gott. 
 
 Michael Henrici, 1639. (Mutzell, p. 182.) 
 Geniesst der Mund auch ausserlich 
 Nichts von der ird'schen Speise — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 103.) 
 O Freund! es wallt in mir — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 149.) 
 
 These same expressions, emphasizing man's emotional 
 
 nature, may be traced in Klopstock. 
 
 Damit ihr Herz entbrenn! 
 
 (Geistliche Lieder, p. 35.) 
 
 aus ganzem Herzen lieben — 
 
 (Geistliche Lieder, p. 91.) 
 
 So soil meine Seele dich denken 
 Dich empfinden mein Herz ! 
 
 (Der Erbarmer, p. 40.) 
 
 Wie erhebt sich das Herz — 
 
 (Dem Unendlichen, p. 63.) 
 
 Mein Herze zittert! 
 
 (Wingolf VI, pv 93.) 
 
TREATMENT OF POETIC LANGUAGE 205 
 
 was das Hers der Edlen hebet — 
 
 (Wingolf VI, p. 94.) 
 [Du] fur mein Herze gemacht — 
 
 (An Bodmer, p. 114.) 
 
 Oft erfiillet er auch, was das ersitternde 
 Voile Hers kaum zu wunschen wagt. 
 
 (An Bodmer, p. 115.) 
 
 und tauscht, tauschet mein Hers mich nicht? 
 
 wie dankbar 
 
 Wallt mein freudiges Hers in mir. 
 
 Nichts Unedles, kein Stolz (ihm ist mein Herz zu gross!) 
 
 Ach, du kennst ja mein Hers, wie es geliebet hat! 
 
 Gleicht ein Hers ihm ? Vielleicht gleichet dein Hers ihm nur ! . . 
 
 Dich zu finden, ach dich, lernt' ich die Liebe, sie, 
 
 Die mein eigenstes Hers himmlisch erweiterte — 
 
 (An Cidli, pp. 135, 136.) 
 
 Unerforschter, als sonst etwas den Forscher tauscht, 
 
 Ist ein Hers, das die Lieb empfand, 
 
 noch bebt mir mein Herz — 
 
 (Am Cidli, pp. 154, 155.) 
 
 So emport auch ihr Hers deinem Gesange schlagt : 
 
 O so kennt sie doch Gleimen, 
 
 Und sein feuriges Hers nicht ganz ! 
 
 (An Gleim, p. 159.) 
 mit Freude tief im Hersen — 
 
 (Das neue Jahrhundert, p. 174.) 
 Wenn meine ganse Seele fleht — 
 
 (Geistliche Lieder, p. 4.) 
 Seele entsilcken — 
 
 (Geistliche Lieder, pp.* 18, 19.) 
 
 unsrer Seele wahrste Ruh — 
 
 (Geistliche Lieder, p. 22.) 
 
 aus ganser Seele ringen — 
 
 (Geistliche Lieder, p. 23.) 
 Des Frommen Seele denkt — 
 
 (Geistliche Lieder, p. 31.) 
 Aus ganser Seele lieb en (meinen) (weihen) (flehen). 
 
 (Geistliche Lieder, pp. 43, 44, 106, 40.) 
 Seele lechst — 
 
 (Geistliche Lieder, p. 46.) 
 Dieser Endlichkeit Looss, die Schwere der Erde 
 Fiihlt auch meine Seele — 
 
 (Dem Allgegenwartigen, p. 15..) 
 Erheb, o meine Seele, dich iiber die Sterblichkeit — 
 
 (Das Anschaun Gottes, p. 29.) 
 
206 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 Nein ! wenn sie nur bewundert, 
 Hebt sich die Seele zu schwach! 
 
 O du der Seligkeiten hochste, 
 Ueberstrome meine ganze Seele — 
 
 Meine Seele stehet still — 
 
 Geneuss, o Seele, deine Seligkeit! 
 
 (Der Erbarmer, p. 39.) 
 
 (Der Erbarmer, p. 39.) 
 (Der Erbarmer, p. 39.) 
 (Der Erbarmer, p. 42.) 
 
 Wenn meine reifere Seele 
 Jahrtausende noch gewachsen wird seyn, — 
 
 (Die Gluckseligkeit Aller, p. 46.) 
 
 Des Herzens Werth 
 
 Welch gottlich Meisterstiick sind Seelen — 
 
 (Wingolf III, p. 86.) 
 
 Die ganze Seele bildet in ihm [Blick] sich mir! 
 
 Diess vor Empfindung bebende sanfte Herz! 
 
 Sahst du die Thrdne, welche mein Herz vergoss — 
 
 (Wingolf IV, V, pp. 88. 89.) 
 
 hat Seelen, die sich ftihlen, gebildet. 
 
 (Wingolf VIII, p- 95.) 
 Sieht dein Auge nicht bang um sich her, nicht starr ohne 
 
 Seele ? 
 (An Ebert, p. 99.) 
 
 Seele zur Freundschaft erschaffen, du dann die leeren 
 
 Tage 
 Sehn, und filhlend noch seyn? 
 
 (An Ebert, p. 101.) 
 
 Finstrer Gedanke, lass ab! lass ab in die Seele zu donnern! 
 
 die verstummende Seele 
 
 Fasst dich, Gedanke, nicht mehr ! 
 
 (An Ebert, p. 102.) 
 
 Und Ruh, durch deine Seele giesst ; 
 
 So war ichs auch, die dir, in deine Seele, 
 Der Himmel Frieden goss! 
 
 (Die Koniginn Luise, p. 142.) 
 Und zwo bessere Seelen nun 
 
 Ganz, das erstemal ganz, fuhlen wie sehr sie sind ! 
 
 Wer mit Thranen? und wer mit dem verweilenden, 
 
 Vollem Blick , und der Seele drin? 
 
 O dann wahlte die Seele falsch — 
 
 (An Cidli, p. 154.) 
 Oben beginnt jezo der Psalm, den die Chore 
 Singen, Musik, als ob kunstlos aus der Seele 
 
 Schnell sie stromte ! 
 
 Kraftvoll, und tief dringt sie ins Herz! 
 
 (Die Chore, p. 229.) 
 
TREATMENT OF POETIC LANGUAGE 207 
 
 In Hermanns heisser Seele — 
 
 (Hermann, p. 266.) 
 Wir fiihlen dich zwar — 
 
 (Geistliche Lieder, p. 21.) 
 mit heiligem Schauer, filhl' ich der Liifte Wehn, — 
 
 (Dem Allgegenwartigen, p. 19.) 
 
 Denn sie denken, sie [die Welten] fiihlen 
 Deine Gegenwart nicht. 
 
 (Dem Allgegenwartigen, p. 21.) 
 
 Wie fuhV ich es in mir, wie klein ich bin! 
 
 (Die Gliickseligkeit Aller, p. 49.) 
 Gefilhl der Entziickung — 
 
 (Der Tod, p. 65.) 
 Mein filhlend Herz — 
 
 (Wingolf IV, p. 88.) 
 
 fiihlend noch seyn — 
 
 (An Eber't, p. 101.) 
 Welch ein Gefilhl glilhte mir! 
 
 (Bardale, p. 105.) 
 
 der fiihlenden Fanny gleich — 
 
 (Der Zurchersee, p. 116.) 
 Ach du machst das Gefilhl siegend — 
 
 (Der Zurchersee, p. 118.) 
 
 dieses Gefilhl so sanft — 
 
 (An Cidli, p. 135.) 
 Wacht der Freigeist mit dir, und fiihlts — 
 
 (An Young, p. 148.) 
 
 O Freyheit ! 
 
 Dem Herzen gross Gefilhl! 
 
 (Das neue Jahrhundert, p. 71.) 
 
 dunkles Gefilhl der Entziickung 
 
 o Gefilhl, Weissager 
 
 Inniger ewiger Ruh — 
 
 (Die Zukunft, p. 186.) 
 Wonnegefiihl hebt sie empor — 
 
 (Die Chore, p. 229.) 
 Ja, Melodie, aber verwebt von des Herzens 
 Feinstem Gefilhl! 
 
 (Teone, p. 235.) 
 Ach ! warum, o Natur, warum, unzartliche Mutter, 
 Gabst du zu dem Gefilhl mir ein zu biegsames Herz? 
 
 (Die kiinftige Geliebte, p. 279.) 
 
 Filhle diess bebende Herz! 
 
 Was mein liebendes Herz, meine Selma, dir filhlt! 
 
 Und diess Ach des Gefilhls — 
 
 (Selmar und Selma, p. 285.) 
 
208 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 Ihn empfind, und in ihm lebe — 
 
 Er seinen Schopfer empfindet — 
 
 (Geistliche Lieder, pp. 20, 21.) 
 
 Ich empfinde dich — 
 
 (Geistliche Lieder, p. 4.) 
 
 Meine Seele diirstet ! 
 
 Du denkst, du empfindest, — 
 
 (Dem Allgegenwartigen, p. 22.) 
 
 Ohn' Empfindung des Augenblicks — 
 
 (Das Anschaun Gottes, p. 28.) 
 
 Und der Junglinge Herz schlug schon empfindender 
 
 Und wir Junglinge sangen, 
 Und empfanden, wie Hagedorn. 
 
 (Der Ziirchersee, p. 117.) 
 
 Gottinn Freude! du selbst! dich, wir empfanden dich! 
 
 (Der Ziirchersee, p. 118.) 
 
 Aber euch sag ich sie ganz des vollen Herzens Empfindung- 
 Wie das Hers sie empfand, — 
 
 (Friedrich der Fiinfte, p. 125.) 
 
 Wer mehr empfand, blieb unbeweglich stehen, — 
 
 (Die Koniginn Luise, p. 137.) 
 
 Den Gedanken, die Empfindung, treffend, — 
 
 (Unsre Sprache, p. 242.) 
 
 dein gleich empfindendes Herze, — 
 
 (Die kiinftige Geliebte, p. 281.) 
 
 Alle empfind ich von dir ; 
 
 Kaum, dass noch die fiihlende Seele 
 
 Ganz die voile Gewalt dieser Empfindungen fasst! 
 
 (Die kiinftige Geliebte, p. 283.) 
 
 Ihren gottlichsten Trieb lockt dein Gesang hervor. 
 
 (Bar dale, pp. 104, 106.) 
 
 und riihrt dich 
 
 Etwa der Dichter allein? 
 
 (Teone, p. 235.) 
 
 wie dankbar 
 
 Wallt mein freudiges Herz in mir! 
 
 (An Cidli, p. 135.) 
 (Der Verwandelte.) 
 
 Jeder wallende Hauch deiner beseelten Brust 
 Hebt mich zu den Unsterblichen. 
 
 (Petrarca und Laura.) 
 
 In describing the intimate relations of the human emo- 
 tions between individuals, as well as between man and God, 
 
TREATMENT OF POETIC LANGUAGE 209 
 
 the mysticists make use very frequently of Liebe, Freund, 
 and edel. 
 
 Ziinde an die Liebesfiamme 
 
 Zinzendorf. ( Krummacher, pp. 113, 126.) 
 O grosse Lieb, o Lieb ohn alle Masse — 
 
 (Miitzell, p. 39.) 
 
 Deiner Liebe Brunst — 
 
 Opitz, 1634-1635? (Miitzell, p. 204.) 
 
 Auch mein Hers brennt vor Lieb — 
 
 (Schlegel, p. 73.) 
 Die Flamme deiner Liebe — 
 
 (Schlegel, p. 113.) 
 Du Herz-vertraute Liebe — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 13, — 1717.) 
 Von seiner durchdringenden Liebe geriihrt — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 47,-1722.) 
 
 Wie labet uns der Trank, den Seine Liebe quillet! 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 48,-1722.) 
 Du hoch gebenedeyte Liebe — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 93,-1723.) 
 Ziind alien ihren Wandel 
 mit Deiner Liebe an. 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 104,-1724.) 
 O Liebe! wunderbares Gut Liebes-Glut- 
 
 Herz der offenbarten Liebe 
 Unsre Her sen op fern Dir 
 Liebe hier — 
 
 Gluht der ewgen Liebe — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 146, — 1726.) 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 196,-1728.) 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 250,-1730.) 
 
 Bruder-Liebe 
 
 Theure Briider! eure Liebe 
 Ziindet meine lauen Triebe. 
 
 (Zinzendorf, pp. 254, 257,-1730.) 
 Wenn Du nicht vor Liebe brenntest — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 280,-1731.) 
 Die Liebe macht die Seele still — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 285,-1731.) 
 Innigst-liebe Liebe! 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 315, — 1732.) 
 Mich reisst ein Brand der Liebe hin — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 12.) 
 Du unerschopfliches Meer von gottlicher Menschen-Liebe! 
 
 (von Moser, p. 60.) 
 
210 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 Je mehr wird auch der Liebe Glut entziindet— 
 
 (von Moser, p. 68.) 
 In deren Herzen reine Liebe flammet — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 69.) 
 Wann ihm sein Liebes-Herz nicht brennte— 
 
 (von Moser, pp. 74, 121.) 
 Todte durch Dein Liebes-Feuer — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 117.) 
 O Liebe! komm! entziinde meinen Geist — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 130.) 
 Gegen-Liebe Glut — 
 
 .... wie er sich mir 
 
 Mit Freundschaft hat verbunden — 
 
 mit seinem hocherhabnen Freund, 
 mit Gott, stets inniger vereint! 
 
 (von Moser, p. 139.) 
 (Miitzell, p. 34.) 
 (Schlegel, p. 2.) 
 
 Christum lieben ist die Kette, 
 So die Freundschaft feste macht 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 49.— 1723- ) 
 Wenn aber Christus uns von neuem erst verbunden: 
 So ist die Freundschaft auch mit leichter Miih gefunden — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 101,-1724.) 
 Du auserkorner Seelen-Freund — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 146,-1726.) 
 SzeXtn-Freund — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 167,-1727.) 
 Freund der Seelen — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 171,-1727.) 
 Mein Schmelzer ist zugleich der Freund, 
 
 Den meine Seele liebet 
 
 (von Moser, p. 101.) 
 O Freund! es wallt in mir — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 149.) 
 
 die edle Seele — 
 
 Joh. Hermann, 1630. (Miitzell, p. 16.) 
 Gieb mir deinen edlen Sinn — 
 
 (Schlegel, p. 136.) 
 Zahl der Edlen — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 170,-1727.) 
 
 Ihr Ausdruck ist Voll edler Einfalt — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 50.) 
 
 In common with the Pietists Klopstock employs "Liebe" 
 and "Freund"; he does not, however, confine himself so 
 strictly to a religious meaning, but more often emphasizes 
 
TREATMENT OF POETIC LANGUAGE 211 
 
 the purely human value of love and friendship. Naturally 
 then, too, our poet lays greater stress on the noble quality 
 — das Edle — of human sentiment and action, and intro- 
 duces the term "Menschlichkeit". In fact, this term may 
 be considered the watch-word of Klopstock's whole en- 
 deavor, — nobility of character as expressed in "Menschlich- 
 keit". 
 
 Aus gamer Seele lieben — 
 
 Aus gam em Her sen lieben — 
 
 Ach, Bardale, du singest 
 Liebe zu den Unsterblichen ! 
 
 (Geistliche Lieder, p. 43.) 
 (Geistliche Lieder, p. 91.) 
 
 (Bardale, p. 104.) 
 
 Sang ich von Liebe dir? 
 
 1st das Liebe, was dir zartlich vom Auge rinnt? — 
 
 (Bardale, p. 106.) 
 Ihr andern [Stunden], seyd der schwermuthsvollen 
 Liebe geweiht! — 
 
 (An Fanny, p. 110.) 
 
 Ach, sie finden sich nicht, die fur einander doch, 
 Und zur Liebe geschaffen sind. 
 
 (An Bodmer, p. 114.) 
 
 Liebe, dich, 
 
 Fromme Tugend, dich auch giessen ins sanfte Hers — 
 
 (Ziirchersee, p. 119.) 
 
 Lang in Trauren vertieft, lernt' ich die Liebe, — 
 
 (An Cidli, p. 134.) 
 
 Darum liebe mich, Cidli, 
 
 Denn ich lernte die Liebe von dir! 
 
 Dich zu finden, ach dich lernt' ich die Liebe, — 
 
 (An Cidli, p. 136.) 
 
 Unerforschter, als sonst etwas den Forscher tauscht, 
 
 1st ein Hers, das die Lieb empfand, 
 
 Jeine trunk ene Lust, wenn die erweinete 
 Fast zu selige Stunde kommt, 
 
 Die dem Liebenden sagt, dass er geliebet wird ! 
 
 Ach, wie gliicklich dadurch! Wer der geliebet wird spricht 
 Diese Liebe mit Worten aus? 
 
 (An Cidli, p. 154.) 
 
 wenn sie [die voile Seele], dass sie geliebt wird, 
 
 Trunken von Liebe sichs denkt! 
 
 (An Sie.) 
 
212 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 Aber susser ists noch, schoner und reizender, 
 
 In dem Arme des Freundes wissen ein Freund zu seyn! 
 
 (Der Ziirchersee, p. 120.) 
 O so bauten wir hier Hutten der Freundschaft uns! 
 
 (Der Ziirchersee, p. 120.) 
 
 dieser [Konig] wird Menschenfreund 
 
 Seyn, und Vater des Vaterlands! 
 
 (Friedrich der Fiinfte, p. 121.) 
 
 Seinen brennenden Durst, Freunden ein Freund zu seyn ! 
 
 (An Gleim, p. 159.) 
 Das Gesetz der heiligen Freundschaft — 
 
 (Der Hiigel und der Hain, p. 258.) 
 
 Ein lauter Seegen 
 
 Jauchzt dem edleren zu, — 
 
 (Fin* den Konig, p. 9.) 
 Edel handelt! — 
 
 (Fiir den Konig, p. 10.) 
 
 Wie sich die wenigen Edlen liebten ! 
 
 (Wingolf V, p. 92.) 
 
 was das Herz der Edlen hebet — 
 
 (Wingolf VI, p. 94.) 
 
 San f ten edlen Gefiihls — 
 
 (An Giseke, p. 98.) 
 Wenn in des edelmuthigen Gellert — 
 
 (An Ebert, p. 100.) 
 Einen Begliickteren, doch nicht edlern! 
 
 (An Fanny, p. 109.) 
 .... 1st des Schweisses der Edlen werth ! 
 
 (Der Ziirchersee, p. 119.) 
 
 war der Eroberer 
 
 Fiir den Edleren viel zu klein ! 
 
 (Friedrich der Fiinfte, p. 121.) 
 
 Und die Edlen nicht kennen 
 Die so einsam hier unten sind? 
 
 (Friedensburg, p. 132.) 
 
 Wer edel herrscht, hat doch Jahrhunderte gelebt ! 
 
 (Die Koniginn Luise, p. 143.) 
 
 mit edlern Blick — 
 
 (Die beyden Musen, p. 151.) 
 
 Sprich nur wider dich selbst edel, und ungerecht! 
 
 (An Gleim, p. 160.) 
 
 Aber das edelste 
 1st Tugend! 
 
 (Der Rheinwein, p. 166.) 
 
TREATMENT OF POETIC LANGUAGE 213 
 
 So wahr die Natur kein edleres Herz nicht 
 
 Ohne den heiligsten Trieb derer, die ewig sind, schuf ! 
 
 (Die kiinftige Geliebte, p. 282.) 
 
 Dass er die Ehre der Menschlichkeit sey! 
 
 Sanftes Leben, du Gott der Menschenfreunde ! 
 
 Giebs dem Theuren, dem Guten, 
 
 Ihm, der die Wonne der Menschlichkeit ist! 
 
 (Fur den Konig, pp. 8, 9, 11.) 
 
 Gottinn Freude ! .... Schwester der Menschlichkeit — 
 
 (Der Ziirchersee, p. 118.) 
 
 Der nennt der Menschlichkeit Ehre, 
 
 Welcher Friederich nennt ! 
 
 Ach den Tag wird dann der sanften Menschlichkeit Lohn seyn — 
 
 (Friedrich der Funfte, p. 126.) 
 
 Es ist, in diesem hohern Leben, 
 
 Fur sanfte Menschlichkeit viel Lohn — 
 
 (Die Koniginn Luise, p. 142.) 
 
 Die Menschlichkeit, diess grosste Lob der Erde ! 
 
 (Die Koniginn Luise, p. 143.) 
 
 Ein hoher Genius der Menschlichkeit 
 Begeistert dich. 
 
 (Der jetzige Krieg.) 
 
 Klopstock's fondness for "Freude" and "Wonne", also, 
 
 is foreshadowed in the religious mysticists. With the latter, 
 
 as we should expect, the religious significance is uppermost. 
 
 Himmelsfreud — • 
 
 (Miitzell, p. 36.) 
 
 Freuden-voll — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 36, — 1721.) 
 
 [der Geist] hat den Quell der Freude funden; 
 
 Und war die Freud in siisser Still. 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 123,-1725.) 
 
 Das Herz, von Freude' geruhrt — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 82.) 
 
 Komm Ewigkeit Inbegriff innigster Wonne — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 40,-1721.) 
 
 In Klopstock we find: — 
 
 Wenn ich im freudigen Gebet — 
 
 (Geistliche Lieder, p. 4.) 
 
 Voll von ihres Gottes Freuden — 
 
 (Geistliche Lieder, p. 20.) 
 
214 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 .... dein Blut 
 
 Entflamm die Glut 
 
 Der Geist der Freudigkeit in uns 
 
 (Geistliche Lieder, p. 25.) 
 
 der sich da freut, wo Freud ist — 
 
 (Der Vorhof und der Tempel, p. 68.) 
 Wir freun uns Himmelsfreuden, — 
 
 (Das grosse Hallelujah, p. 69.) 
 Unter dem Fliigel der Freud' umarmen. 
 
 (Wingolf I, p. 81.) 
 Kommt, unaussprechlich susse Freuden! 
 
 (An Fanny, p. 110.) 
 
 Siisse Freude, — 
 
 (Der Ziirchersee, p. 116.) 
 
 Gottinn Freude — 
 
 (Der Ziirchersee, p. 118.) 
 
 warum ergiesset sich 
 
 Diese Freude, der Reiz heller vom Auge herab? 
 
 (Friedensburg, p. 131.) 
 
 Und mir wachen mit Lacheln 
 
 Alle schlummernde Freuden auf ! 
 
 wie dankbar 
 
 Wallt mein freudiges Herz in mir! 
 
 . . . der Liebling der Freude- 
 
 (An Cidli, p. 135.) 
 (An Gleim, p. 158.) 
 
 Nicht mit der larmenden Pracht 
 Der Freude tief im Herzen — 
 
 (Das neue Jahrhundert, p. 174.) 
 
 Wonn' und Dank und Freudenthranen — 
 
 (Geistliche Lieder, p. 10.) 
 
 Wonn' erfullt 
 
 Mir das Herz, wenn du dein Lied, Himmlische, singst. 
 
 (Siona, p. 189.) 
 Wonnegefuhl hebt sie empor, — 
 
 (Die Chore, p. 229.) 
 
 Wonnel Das Volk halt sich noch kaum ! 
 
 (Die Chore, p. 230.) 
 
 The mystical conception of the Divine Presence in the 
 soul necessarily called forth the term "Geist" very frequent- 
 ly in the writings of the Pietists. The God-illumined soul 
 was filled with the "holy spirit" ; and insofar it was raised 
 up and above its common earthly level to the higher, the 
 nobler, the sublime. 
 
TREATMENT OF POETIC LANGUAGE 215 
 
 Wie wird der Geist dadurch entzuckt — 
 
 (Schlegel, p. 2.) 
 Send ihnen den Geist mit Flammengneist — 
 
 (Arndt, p. 141.) 
 Durch deinen Geist 
 Mir Hilfe leist. 
 
 (Miitzell, p. 30.) 
 
 Und der erloste Geist ist Dir zum Opfer recht — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 39—1721.) 
 
 Und meinen Geist in Ewigkeit bekranzen — 
 
 Zinzendorf, p. 17—1720.) 
 
 Noch eines Freundes Herz mit deinem Geist verbinde — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 44,-1722.) 
 
 Das von der Gottheit selbst in Ihm entflammte Licht 
 Begont in seinen Geist viel heller einzuscheinen. 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 80,-1723.) 
 So steht der Geist doch ungebunden — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 123, — 1725.) 
 Wir wiinschen ihr der Salbung sanftes Regen, 
 Darinnen sich der gute Geist bewegt. 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 160,-1727,) 
 Lass Dein Leben ihren Geist 
 Auf das kraftigste erheben — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 197,-1728.) 
 Ach Geist des Herrn ! komm uberschatte sie — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 226, — 1729.) 
 Und im Geist zusammentreten — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 256,-1730.) 
 Je mehr der Geist zur Ruhe zieht — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 272,-1730.) 
 Christen Aus dem Geist des Herrn gezeuget — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 279—1731.) 
 Der Geist der Aeltesten kam plotzlich uber dich — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 326, — 1733.) 
 
 Entziinde meinen Geist und Leyer — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 11.) 
 
 Ich schwing mich aus dem Creys der Welten 
 Durch den mir eingeblasnen Geist — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 12.) 
 
 Wie unaussprechlich weit erhaben 
 Empfindet sich mein edler Geist — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 26.) 
 
 Was f unlet nicht mein Geist von Frieden! 
 
 (von Moser, p. 33-) 
 
216 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 Du Geist des Herrn! mit Deiner Fiille 
 Versenke Dich in meinen Geist — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 39.) 
 Geist-Schopfer — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 40.) 
 
 Wird doch der Geist, auf den er gnadig blicket, 
 
 Trostvoll entziicket — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 68.) 
 So fuhlet sich unser Geist voll Licht — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 81.) 
 
 du Geist der himmlisch reinen Liebe — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 107.) 
 Der Geist fuhlt sich mehr frey und seelig — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 114.) 
 
 Likewise in Klopstock do we find repeated use of "Geist" 
 with similar mystical meaning. 
 
 Geist der Salbung — 
 
 (Geistliche Lieder, p. 17.) 
 Geist Schopfer, Gott! 
 
 (Geistliche Lieder, p. 24.) 
 Entflamm die Glut 
 Du Geist der Freudigkeit in uns. 
 
 (Geistliche Lieder, p. 28.) 
 Des Geistes Salbung send uns Gott! 
 
 (Geistliche Lieder, p. 57.) 
 Dann hebt mein Geist sich — 
 
 (Dem Erloser, p. 6.) 
 Wie erhoht, Weltherrscher, 
 Deine Bewundrung den Geist des Staubs! 
 
 (Die hochste Gliickseligkeit, p. 66.) 
 
 Dann soil mein Schutzgeist — 
 
 (Wingolf II, p. 83.) 
 
 ewiger Geist, Seele zur Freundschaft erschaffen — 
 
 (An Ebert, p. 101.) 
 
 Und den Geist, der diess alles schuf ! 
 
 (Bardale, p. 107.) 
 Des Landes Schutzgeist — 
 
 (Die Koniginn Luise, p. 141.) 
 
 Das Werk des Meisters, welches von hohem Geist 
 Gefliigelt hinschwebt, — 
 
 (Fragen, p. 147.) 
 
 des Deutschen Geist 
 
 (Der Rheinwein, p. 164.) 
 
TREATMENT OF POETIC LANGUAGE 217 
 
 So verkiindiget' ihn, als er noch Jungling war, 
 Sein aufsteigender Geist! 
 
 (An Gleim, p. 161.) 
 
 Jetzt brachte Geister ihm, 
 
 Die sie, in Nachten des Monds, Liedern entlockt, 
 Die Nome Werandi, — 
 
 (Skulda, p. 213.) 
 
 Was nicht fiillet den Geist mit Schauer! 
 
 (Die Chore, p. 229.) 
 
 kommst du von dem begeisternden 
 
 Achaerhomus ? 
 
 CWingolf I, p. 79.) 
 
 Da kommst du jetzt her, hast aus dem Mimer schon 
 Die geistervolle silberne Flut geschopft! 
 
 (Wingolf I, p. 80.) 
 
 hell der Begeisterung! 
 
 Sie fiihret, hoch den Fliigel, Begeistrung her! 
 
 (Wingolf IV, p. 90.) 
 
 Und in Begeisterung vertieft und ernstvoll — 
 
 (Wingolf VII, p. 94.) 
 Suss ist, frohlicher Lenz, deiner Begeistrung Hauch, — 
 
 (Der Ziirchersee, p. 118.) 
 Wolkenlos herauf, nahte die Begeistrung mit ihm, — 
 
 (Braga, p. 207.) 
 O Begeistrung! 
 
 (Unsre Sprache, p. 242.) 
 Schone Natur, Begeistrung sey mir dein Anschaun. 
 
 (Lossreissung.)l 
 
 Closely related to "Geist" are the words "Salben" and 
 "Salbung". 
 
 Woll'st auch die Diener salben — 
 
 (Krummacher, p. 205.) 
 Wir wunschen ihr der Salbung sanftes Regen — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 160,-1727.) 
 
 Deine Salbung zu empfangen — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 196,-1728; and p. 316,-1732.) 
 
 Den Laut der Salbung zu verstarken — 
 
 (Zinzendorf, p. 285,— 1731.) 
 
 1 Compare in Herder : 
 Ja ewig, ewig! iiber alien Kreis der Zeit 
 hoch durch den Zeitstrom aller Sonnenmeere schwing dich 
 mein Geist zur Ewigkeit (Suphan XXIX, pp. 235, 236.) 
 Mein edles Herz schlagt freier, und mein Geist denkt hoher auf. 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, p. 612.) 
 
218 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 Welch eine Salbung durchstromt mein Herz! 
 
 (von Moser, p. 33-) 
 Wann Deine Salbung in mir spricht, — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 54.) 
 
 Den Du mit Deiner Salbung weyhst, — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 55.) 
 Den Nahmen, welcher unser Herz erfreut 
 
 Und als ein Salbol Geist und Seel erneut, 
 
 Gesalbt mit Gottes Majestat — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 130.) 
 Lass Deine Salbung uns durchdringen — 
 
 (von Moser, p. 137.) 
 Erneure mich mit Deinen S alb ungs- Kraft en- 
 
 (von Moser, p. 144.) 
 
 We find instances of the use of the same word in Klop- 
 stock. 
 
 Geist der Salbung — 
 
 (Geistliche Lieder, p. 17.) 
 Die Salbung, die vom Himmel fliesst — 
 
 (Geistliche Lieder, p. 51.) 
 Leben, ja leben soil mein Gesalbter! 
 
 (Die Genesung des Konigs, p. 52.) 
 
 The art of music, with its law of "Harmonie", gives 
 birth to the thought (foreshadowed in the writings of the 
 mysticists) 1 in Klopstock's mind that a similar law of har- 
 mony governs the play of all human faculties, the perfect 
 union of which would make the complete man. As early 
 as 1747 he recognizes in his friend, Ebert, an approach 
 to this ideal; he sings of him: 
 
 Dir schlagt ein mannlich Herz auch ! Dein Leben tont 
 Mehr Haromnien, als ein unsterblich Lied. 
 
 (Wingolf VI, p. 94.) 
 A year later, he says of his old teacher, Gellert : 
 
 Wenn in des edelmiithigen Gellert harmonischem Leben 
 Tede Saite verstummt ! 
 
 (An Ebert, p. 100.) 
 
 On the final day of reckoning the poet believes this perfect 
 
 harmony of all things will be brought about. 
 
 *In gleicher Harmonie (Zinzendorf, p. 104,-1724); Harmonie 
 (von Moser, p. 20) ; Verschmaht nicht unsre Harmonien, — (von 
 Moser, p. 112). 
 
TREATMENT OF POETIC LANGUAGE 219 
 
 Was in der Dinge Lauf jetzt missklingt, 
 Tonet in ewigen Harmonien! 
 
 (An Fanny, p. 109.) 
 
 Wer gab Harmonie, Leyer, dir? 
 
 (Die Gestirne, p. 61.) 
 Es drangen alle Genien sich 
 Der entziickten Harmonie um ihn her. 
 
 (Sponda, p. 193.) 
 
 Herder, like Klopstock, employs the word "Harmonie" in 
 describing the unity of nature ; but he also uses almost inter- 
 changeably with it the term "Sympathie", which plays so 
 great a role in Plotinus and the Neo Platonists. 
 
 Von Himmel klingt die Harmonie; 
 Und Himmelsseelen bindet sie. 
 
 Auf Einem Wege 
 
 Ward aus allem Sympathie 
 
 Der Spharen sangen mir Harmonie; 
 Der Stimmen siisseste, Sympathie . . 
 
 Weisheit, Nacht und Giite weben 
 In des Wurms und Engels Leben 
 Wahrheit, Harmonie und Gliick. 
 
 Sie o Sie (Menschlichkeit) 
 Die Konigin der Harmonie. 
 
 Es schwebet aus den Saiten; 
 Es lispelt mir ins Ohr. 
 Der Geist der Harmonieen, 
 Der Weltgeist tritt hervor. 
 Ich bin es, der die Wesen 
 In ihre Hiille zwang, 
 Und sie mit Zaubereien 
 Der Sympathie durchdrang. 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 691.) 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 130.) 
 
 "(Suphan XXIX, 189.) 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 122.) 
 (Suphan XXIX, 607.) * 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 93.) 
 
 1 Compare : Wo in einer andern Welt Harmonieen klingen 
 (Suphan XXIX, 107); Der Wesen Harmonie (140); hore mit 
 Geistes Ohr die hohe Harmonie (209) ; ich fuhl und seh und hore 
 die Harmonie der ganzen Sphare schoner Jugend (286) ; horetest 
 Harmonie der Sprachen um dich ! (325) ; schweig, o hohe Harmonie 
 meiner Seelenkrafte ! (444) ; mein Herz ward Spharenharmonie 
 (559) ; und ein Sternengang voll ewger Harmonieen (560) ; Klang 
 und Maas und Sympathie (153) ; Die Harmonie der Welt (157). 
 
220 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 Des Weltalls siisse Symphonien 
 Umtonten sie; 
 
 Der Liebe siisse Harmonieen 
 | Durchwallten sie. 
 
 (Suphan XXIX, 151.) 
 
 We will recall that according to Klopstock's conception 
 of the genius the greatness of the artist lay in the fact that 
 he could not alone feel this harmony of soul with God, which 
 is common to the human race, but that in addition he 
 possessed a certain mysterious power which enabled him to 
 embody in lasting form what his divinely inspired soul 
 experienced. This thought receives repeated expression in 
 the poet's own works; and in describing the state of the 
 artist's feelings during moments of the deepest agitation, 
 Klopstock relies on the language of the mysticists. 
 
 Vielleicht schafft Gott Erkenntnis in mir, 
 Die meine Kraft, und was sie entflammt, 
 Wie viel es audi ist, und wie gross, 
 Die ganze Schopfung mir nicht geben kann ! 
 
 (Die Gluckseligkeit Aller, p. 49.) 
 
 Feurig beseelet er die Saiten, und der Felsen lernts, 
 Denn die Telyn scholl ! 
 
 (Braga, p. 208.) 
 
 Das Werk des Meisters, welches von hohem Geist 
 Gefliigelt hinschwebt, ist, wie des Helden That, 
 Unsterblich! wird, gleich ihr, den Lorber, 
 Mannlich verdienen, und nieder sehen! 
 
 (Fragen, p. 147.) 
 
 Wen des Genius Blick, als er gehohren ward, 
 Mit einweihendem Lacheln sah, — 
 
 (Der Lehrling der Griechen, p. 175.) 
 
 Die ganze Lenz streute mein Genius. 
 
 (Wingolf I, p. 81.) 
 
 OmW— Verdeckt dem Auge, welches der Genius nicht scharft— 
 
 (Wingolf V, p. 90.) 
 
 Auch dich werd ich nicht sehn, wie du dein Leben lebst, 
 Werd ich einst nicht dein Genius. 
 
 (An Bodmer, p. 114.) 
 
 Sie haben hohen Genius? 
 Wir haben Genius, wie Sie? 
 
 (Wir und Sie, p. 220.) 
 
TREATMENT OF POETIC LANGUAGE 221 
 
 Uns macht Unsterblich des Genius Flug — 
 
 (Unsere Fursten, p. 225.) 
 
 Leicht springt er, ein Genius, auf, 
 Spielt am Sprosse des Eichenhains! 
 
 (Die Barden, p. 232.) 
 
 Doch verlasst nie dein Phantom meinen Geist, 
 Wie ein Bild, welches mit Lust Geniushand 
 Bildete— 
 
 (Stintenburg, p. 237.) 
 
 Noch rauschest du stets mit Geniusfluge die Saiten herab! 
 (Der Hiigel und der Hain, p. 254.) 
 
 Und in Begeisterung vertieft und ernstvoll, 
 Auf Lieder sinnen. — 
 
 (Wingolf VII, p. 95.) 
 
 Denn Jehova redet! 
 
 Zwar durch den rollenden Donner auch 
 
 Durch den fliegenden Sturm, und sanftes Sauseln; 
 
 Aber erforschlicher, daurender, 
 
 Durch die Sprache der Menschen. 
 
 Der Donner verhallt, der Sturm braust weg, das Sauseln 
 
 verweht, 
 Mit langen Jahrhunderten strbmt die Sprache der Menchen 
 
 fort, 
 Und verkiindet jeden Augenblick, 
 Was Jehova geredet hat! 
 
 (Der Erbarmer, pp. 40, 41.) 
 
 die Natur Sie hats 
 
 Gethan! hat Seelen, die sich fiihlen, 
 Fliegen den Geniusflug gebildet. 
 
 (Wingolf VIII, p. 95.) 
 
 O Begeistrung! Sie erhebt sich! Feuerigeres Blicks, 
 Ergiesset sich ihr Auge, die Seel' in der Glut! 
 
 (Teutone.) 
 
 wenn euch nicht Geist ward, 
 
 Dem die Empfindung heisser glut, wie ihn Bilder entflammen, 
 Und in dem, Beherrscher der Flamm' und der Glut, das Urtheil 
 Unbezaubert den Ausspruch thut — 
 
 (Die Rathgeberin.) 
 
 Meinen erhabensten 
 Gedanken, lehr' ihn Hoheit, fuhr' ihn 
 Wahrheiten zu, die es ewig bleiben, 
 
 Dass ich den Nachhall derer, dies' ewig sind, 
 Den Menschen singe, dass mein geweihter Arm 
 Vom Altar Gottes Flammen nehme, 
 Flammen ins Herz der Erlosten strbme! 
 
 (Dem Erloser.) 
 
222 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
 The poet receives his inspiration from nature herself in 
 her most beautiful attire. 
 
 Suss ist, frohlicher Lenz, deiner Begeistrung Hauch. 
 
 (Der Ziirchersee.) 
 
 Aber nun wandelt an dem Himmel der erhabne Mond 
 Wolkenlos herauf, nahte die Begeistrung mit ihm. 
 
 (Braga.) 
 
 Schone Natur, Begeistrung sey mir dein Anschaun. 
 
 (Lossreissung.) 
 
 Herder's conception of genius we know to have coincided 
 very closely with that of Klopstock. In his description of 
 genius Herder once employed the very word used by the 
 religious enthusiasts to describe the state of the soul when 
 completely rilled by the Divine Spirit. He writes to Ha- 
 mann in 1766; "Ich gestehe gern, dass ich das Phlegma 
 eines homme d'esprit noch gar nicht mit dem Enthusiasmus 
 des Genius zu verbinden weiss". 1 In another letter, written 
 to Merk, in September 1770, he aims to explain inspiration 
 in a mystical way, not however in the narrow church sense : 
 "Lasst uns, Freunde ! uns zusammen drdngen und uns nach 
 Herzenslust idealisiren; das jagt Funken durch Seel' und 
 Herz! Wir elektrisiren uns aneinander zur Wirksamkeit, 
 und in der Folge auch immjer zum Gliicke! Das ist die 
 Inspiration, die wunderbare Schopferkraft Belebung der 
 Seelen, wie der elektrische Funke es vielleicht in Blut und 
 Sonne ist." 2 We will recall in the essay on the ode Herder 
 uses the word "fire" in reference to genius — "Odenfeuer", 3 
 "Feuer des Herrn", 4 "Dies freche Feuer des Parenthyrsus 
 ist das schopferiscke Genie". 5 He says all true works of 
 
 1 Lebensbild I, 2, ,p. 179. 
 
 2 Lebensbild III, 1, p. 116. Compare: "so singt, so lang ihr 
 feurig seid", Suphan XXIX, 412. 
 
 3 Lebensbild I, 3, a, p. 64. 
 
 4 Lebensbild I, 3, a, p. 87. 
 
 5 Lebensbild I, 3, a, p. 89. 
 
TREATMENT OF POETIC LANGUAGE 223 
 
 art must possess "Feuer" and "Geist". 1 In 1769 he speaks 
 of a "fiery genius". 2 
 
 Finally we may sum up the whole new message of an 
 ideal humanity which Klopstock, and, in his foot-steps, 
 Herder, brought to Germany in Herder's own Stanza: 
 
 "Ich 
 bins in dem die Schopfung sich 
 punktet, der in alles quillt 
 und der Alles in sich fuhlt! 3 
 
 1 Lebensbild I, a, a, p. 96. 
 
 2 Suphan IX, p. 83. He writes to Merk, September 2, 1770 : 
 
 "Die elektrische Empfindung im menschlichen Herzen." 
 —Lebensbild III, 1, p. 104. 
 
 3 Suphan XXIX, p. 444. 
 
i 
 
 CONCLUSION 
 
 In the foregoing work Klopstock and Herder have been 
 presented as two noble representatives in Germany of the 
 "philosophical age", — that age of protest against the intel- 
 lectualism of the preceding century. Klopstock has been 
 described as the first poet to give full exprssion to that new 
 activity which aimed to awaken true humanity, and which, 
 by so doing, finally transformed man's whole intellectual, 
 religious, moral, and political life. The poet himself was a 
 splendid example of the "complete man", "des ganzen Men- 
 schen", the ideal of the eighteenth century, whose faculties, 
 physical, intellectual and spiritual, and all that enters into a 
 personality, had the fullest, freest, and most harmonious 
 play. The genius of Klopstock, kindled at the new spirit, 
 turning from art to nature, from artifice to simplicity, 
 became the creator of modern German poetry. Herder, 
 who likewise possessed a complete command of his facul- 
 ties, and partook of the nature of genius, was able to ap- 
 preciate fully the new note sounded in Klopstock's poetry 
 and became its greatest interpreter. The influence of both 
 men made itself felt in the field of literature, of religion, 
 and even in the affairs of country and government. 
 
 In the realm of art Klopstock, as poet, and Herder, as 
 constructive critic, proved that the greatest masterpieces 
 are products of the imagination and not the result of spec- 
 ulative reason. Accordingly, the true poet is a genius, a 
 born dreamer possessed with originating powers which bring 
 forth real works of art, unhampered by convention or rule. 
 
CONCLUSION 225 
 
 Both men were filled with the spirit of true religion, free 
 from all formality and tradition. To them religion is not 
 theology, but is the intimate relation between God and man 
 as it finds expression in the relation of man to his fellow- 
 beings. It is a universal and fundamental thing, and is not 
 confined within the walls of the church, excepting as that 
 is the formal representative of religion. "Menschlichkeit" 
 is the one great word taught by Klopstock and Herder; 
 re-echoed in the poetry of the one and in the sermons and 
 prose-writings of the other, it forms the basis of their 
 religion. 
 
 The poet and the critic were both active in preserving 
 Germanic spirit, at a time when many things threatened to 
 dissolve it. Their patriotic endeavors were a direct and an 
 indirect means of arousing the Germans themselves to a 
 realization of their own abilities, and of the great inher- 
 itance bequeathed to them by a rich past. At a time when 
 the princes and rulers of the country turned to foreign 
 models in all things, men like Klopstock and Herder had 
 to keep alive national consciousness; without them, we may 
 say, the final consolidation of Germany would have been 
 impossible. 
 
 If, now, the present work has been successful in present- 
 ing in a new light the positions occupied by Herder and 
 Klopstock in the cultural history of Germany, particularly 
 in their relations to each other, its original purpose will 
 have been accomplished. Should this book in addition be 
 the humble means of arousing an interest in the life and 
 work of these two masters, and thus introduce if but a very 
 few readers to that great world of ideas comprehended by 
 both Klopstock and Herder, the writer will be most boun- 
 tifully repaid and feel that his efforts will not have been 
 in vain. 
 
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230 HERDER AND KLOPSTOCK 
 
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 1810. 
 
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 Klopstock als Mensch und als Dichter. Naumburg, 1824. 
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 Die ganze Aesthetik in einer Nuss oder Neologisches Worter- 
 
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 1899-1900. 
 
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 Psalter und Harfe. Leipzig, 1847. 
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 Nachgelassene geistliche Lieder. Leipzig, 1862. 
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 geschichte. Tubingen, 1905. 
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BIBLIOGRAPHY 231 
 
 Unger, Rudolph, 
 
 Herder und die Aufklarung. Jena, 1845. 
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 Ausgewahlte Oden und Elegien von F. G. Klopstock. Soest, 
 
 1866. 
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 Brunn, 1883. 
 
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 PERIODICALS 
 
 Archiv fur Litteratur-Geschichte, 1873-74. Vol. 3. Pp. 261-268. 
 
 Pp. 393-415. Klopstockiana aus C A. Bottigers Nachlass. 
 Archiv fur Litteratur-Geschichte. Vol. 2, 4, 5. 
 
 Briefe von Klopstock. 
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 "Unbekannte Spruche Herders". Ditntzer. 
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 Gieseke. 
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 Baumgarten. 
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 zu Fanny". 11 Briefe an Bodmer, 1748-49. 
 
VITA. 
 
 The writer was born in Chicago, Illinois, October 3, 1885. 
 He was graduated from the Robert A. Waller High School 
 (Chicago) in 1905. During the years 1905-1909 he at- 
 tended the Ohio State University, from which institution he 
 received the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1909. The same 
 year he was elected to the Ohio Epsilon Chapter of Phi Beta 
 Kappa. He was Substitute Instructor in Germanic Lan- 
 guages and Literatures in the Ohio State University during 
 1909-1910, at the same time pursuing graduate work in 
 German and French literature. In 1910 he was elected a 
 University Fellow in German in the Graduate School of the 
 University of Illinois, where he received the degree of 
 Master of Arts in 1911. The two years following he con- 
 tinued as Fellow in German at the University of Illinois, 
 from which institution he received the degree of Doctor of 
 Philosophy in 1913. 
 

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