Handbook of Universal Literature, From the Best and Latest Authorities

by Anne C. Lynch Botta

Among the legends of the period, that of Faust, or Dr. Faustus, has obtained the most lasting popularity. There are good reasons for believing that the hero of this tale was a real personage, who lived in Suabia in the early part of the sixteenth century. He is frequently mentioned as a well-known character who gained his celebrity by the profession of magic. In the "History of Dr. Faustus," first published 1587, he is represented as a magician, who gained by unlawful arts a mastery over nature. The legend rapidly spread; It was versified by the English dramatist Marlowe, it became the foundation of innumerable tales and dramas, until, transformed by the genius of Goethe, it has acquired a prominent place in German literature.

At the conclusion of the sixteenth century, owing to the disturbed state of religious, social, and political life, and to the fact that the best minds of the age were occupied in Latin writings on theology, while a few, devoted to quiet study, cultivated only the classics, the hopes which had been raised of a national poetry and literature were blighted, and a scholastic and polemical theology continued to prevail. The native tongue was again neglected for the Latin; the national poems were translated into Latin to induce the learned to read them; native poets composed their verses in Latin, and all lectures at the universities were delivered in that tongue. The work of Luther was undone: ambitious princes and quarrelsome divines continued the rulers of Germany, and everything seemed drifting back into the Middle Ages. Then came the Thirty Years' War (1618- 1648), with all its disastrous consequences. At the close of that war the public mind was somewhat awakened, literary societies were organized, and literature was fostered; but the nation was so completely demoralized that it hardly cared for the liberty sanctioned by the treaty of Westphalia, or for the efforts of a few princes and scholars to better its intellectual condition. The population of Germany was reduced by one half; thousands of villages and towns had been burnt to the ground; the schools, the churches, the universities, were deserted; and a whole generation had grown up during the war, particularly among the lower classes, with no education at all. The once wealthy merchants were reduced to small traders. The Hanse League was broken up; commerce was suspended, and intellectual activity paralyzed. Where any national feeling was left, it was a feeling of shame and despair.

3. THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.—During the seventeenth century the German language was regarded by comparatively few writers as a fit vehicle for polite literature, and was reserved almost exclusively for satires, novels, and religious discourses.

Opitz (1597-1639) attempted to introduce the use of his native tongue, and, in a work on German poetry, explained the laws of poetic composition and the mechanism of versification.

Several scholars at length directed their attention to the grammar of the language, which, through their influence, now began to be used in the treatment of scientific subjects. Meantime great mathematical and physical discoveries were made through the Academy of Berlin, which was founded under the auspices of Leibnitz, and scientific and literary associations were everywhere established. Books became a vast branch of commerce and great philologists and archaeologists devoted themselves to the study of classical antiquity. Puffendorf expounded his theories of political history, Kepler, of astronomy, Arnold, of ecclesiastical history; and Leibnitz laid a basis for the scientific study of philosophy in Germany. Wolf shaped the views of Leibnitz into a comprehensive system, and popularized them by publishing his works in the German language. Thomasius, the able jurist and pietistic philosopher, was the first, in 1688, to substitute in the universities the German for the Latin language as the medium of instruction.

Satirical novels form a prominent feature in the prose literature of the time, and took the place of the invectives and satires of the sixteenth century. No work of fiction, however, produced such an excitement as the translation of Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe." Soon after its publication more than forty imitations appeared.

During this century the Mastersingers went on composing, according to the rules of their guilds, but we look in vain for the raciness and simplicity of Hans Sachs. Some poets wrote plays in the style of Terence, or after English models; and fables in the style of Phaedrus became fashionable. But there was no trace anywhere of originality, truth, taste, or feeling, except in sacred poetry. Paul Gerhard (1606-1696) is yet without an equal in his sacred songs; many of the best hymns which are still heard in the churches of Germany date from the age of this poet. Soon, however, even this class of poetry degenerated on one side into dry theological phraseology, on the other into sentimental affectation.

This century saw the rise and the fall of the first and the second Silesian schools. The first is represented by Opitz (1597-1639), Paul Flemming, a writer of hymns (1609-1640), and a number of less gifted poets. Its character is pseudo-classical. All these poets endeavored to write correctly, sedately, and eloquently. Some of them aimed at a certain simplicity and sincerity, particularly Flemming. But it would be difficult to find in all their writings one single thought or expression that had not been used before; although the works of Opitz and of his followers were marked by a servile imitation of French and Dutch poets, they exerted an influence on the literary taste of their country, enriched the German language with new words and phrases, and established the rules of prosody.

The second Silesian school is represented by Hoffmanswaldan (1618-1679) and Lohenstein (1635-1683), who undertook to introduce into the German poetry the bad taste of Marini which at that time so corrupted the literature of Italy. Their compositions are bombastic and full of metaphors,—the poetry of adjectives, without substance, truth, or taste.

Dramatic writing rose little above the level of the first period, The Mysteries and Moralities still continued popular, and some of them were altered to suit the new doctrines. Opitz wrote some operas in imitation of the Italian, and Gryphius acquired popularity by his translations from Marini and his introduction of the pastoral drama. The theatrical productions of Lohenstein, characterized by pedantry and bad taste, together with the multitude of others belonging to this age, are curious instances of the folly and degradation to which the stage may be reduced.