Dr. Martius[ 32] lent me two pretty little volumes of "Poems, by Louis I. king of Bavaria," the present king—the first royal author we have had, I believe, since Frederic of Prussia—the best since James I. of Scotland. These poems are chiefly lyrical, consisting of odes, sonnets, epigrams. Some are addressed to the queen, others to his children, others to different ladies of the court, whom he is said to have particularly admired, and a great number were composed during his tour in Italy in 1817. Of the merit of these poems I cannot judge; and when I appealed to two different critics, both accomplished men, one assured me they were admirable; the other shrugged up his shoulders—"Que voulez vous? c'est un Roi!" The earnest feeling and taste in some of these little poems pleased me exceedingly—of that alone I could judge: for instance, there is an address to the German artists, which contains the following beautiful lines: he is speaking of art—
"In der Stille muss es sich gestalten,
Wenn es kräftig wirkend soll ersteh'n;
Aus dem Herzen nur kann sich entfalten,
Das was wahrhaft wird zum Herzen geh'n.
Ja! ihr nehmet es aus reinen Tiefen,
Fromm und einfach, wie die Vorweit war,
Weckend die Gefühle, welche schliefen,
Ehrend zeugt's von Euch und immerdar.