The Life, Travels, and Literary Career of Bayard Taylor

by Russell H. Conwell

He found in the first volume many references to the superstitions of the German people, and he set about learning the history of witches, fairies, sprites, and the Devil, as known to German literature. This, in itself, is no small task. He then encountered what he thought was, perhaps, a kind of burlesque on the government and its laws, and to feel sure that it was so or was not so, he studied the history of the German principalities, especially of Weimar, where Goethe resided.

He found many illustrations from the landscapes of Italy, Switzerland, Greece and Germany, and it became necessary not only to visit those countries, but to look upon the landscapes mentioned in order to be sure of the exact meaning of the words of description as they were used by the great poet. Hence, in Spain, France, Italy, Egypt, Greece, and Germany, he sought the places mentioned by Goethe in his works, and noted the correctness or error of his reading. The mountain scenes, more especially of the Hartz Mountains, and “The Brocken,” were peculiarly difficult passages in view of the possibly double meaning of many words when found in any connection, and in view of the peculiar use which Goethe so independently made of them. Hence, Mr. Taylor made frequent excursions in Europe during the last eighteen years, with the purpose in view of obtaining a more accurate knowledge of Goethe’s thoughts. Frequent references are made to customs now obsolete, to theological opinions now unknown, and words inserted long out of use or wholly made by the poet himself. All these required much study.

To know the poet necessitated a thorough insight into the history of his time, a knowledge of his companions and the circumstances under which the poem was planned and written. This led to the study of Schiller’s life, who was Goethe’s bosom friend, and to trips to the localities where Goethe resided. Thus the work opened wider and wider at each stage in his acquirements, until at last the poem he had thought to be able to read understandingly in a year, was as yet untranslated after a score of years.

He was probably assisted much by the previous translations, and had them to criticise and improve upon. But his work was higher than theirs, as he not only purposed to give the meaning and rhyme, but he intended, as far as possible, to retain the rhythmical arrangement, and secure to the English all the charms of arrangement and sound of the German original.

In this work he was often interrupted by the calls of an editorial profession, and the cares of a correspondent. His greatest delays were occasioned, however, by the production of poems on other themes. He is said to have had the “Deukalion” in mind for more than fifteen years, and upon that last work of a notable character which he has completed he bestowed much careful thought. It is a poem which, like those of Shakespeare and Goethe, grows valuable in proportion to the study bestowed upon it.

He began this translation in 1850 in a vague, uncertain way, and has continued it through all those years and did not lost sight of it throughout all his various duties, cares, and diversions. Meantime, he had published the following works: “A Journey to Central Africa,” “The Lands of the Saracen,” and “Poems and Ballads,” in 1855. “Visit to India, China, and Japan,” “Poems of the Orient,” and “Poems of Home and Travel,” in 1855. “Cyclopedia of Modern Travel,” edited in 1856. “Northern Travel—Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Lapland,” 1857. “Travels in Greece and Russia,” “At Home and Abroad,” first series, in 1859. “At Home and Abroad,” second series, and “The Poet’s Journal,” in 1862. “Hannah Thurston,” a novel, in 1863. “John Godfrey’s Fortunes,” a novel, in 1864. “The Story of Kennett,” a novel, and “The Picture of Saint John,” a poem, in 1866. “Colorado, a Summer Trip,” and edited a translation of the “Frithjof Saga,” from the Swedish, in 1867. “The Byways of Europe,” and the “Ballad of Abraham Lincoln,” and an edited edition of Auerbach’s “Villa on the Rhine,” in 1869. “Joseph and His Friends,” a novel, in 1870. Then appeared “Goethe’s Faust,” in 1871, followed by “The Masque of the Gods” (1872), and a collected and carefully edited edition of the “Illustrated Library of Travel, Exploration and Adventure,” and “Lars,” a poem, in 1873;—all of which were in his mind, more or less distinctly, previous to the publication of “Faust.” But “The History of Germany,” “The Boys of other Countries,” “Egypt and Iceland,” a volume of travel, “The Prophet,” and “Home Pastorals,” poems, as well as the recent poem of “Deukalion,” and “The Echo Club,” were subsequently conceived and written.

Thus, it will be seen, how full of interruptions the work of translation must have been when so many volumes, so many thousands miles of travel, so much editorial work, so many lectures, such need of money, and so much attention given to the construction of a home, all intervened to distract and discourage.

Yet, with a perseverance most laudable and remarkable, he kept ever before him Goethe and his works. Of the merits of his translation no final judgment can be given until the public have had more time to study the work, and until a greater number of scholars have compared it with the original. It has received great commendation; but such a work requires age, and much thought. Its beauties lie deep, and are hidden from superficial minds, and it was Mr. Taylor’s plan to follow the translation with a companion edition of the lives of Goethe and Schiller, which would in a pleasant way serve to expound and make attractive that great poem.

That his translation is regarded by the most distinguished scholars as an excellent production and worthy of an exalted position in literature, is shown by the fact that he has been so often urged by them to go on with his purposed biography of that great poet. No sooner had Mr. Taylor allowed the fact to become known, that he was engaged on such a book, than he was the recipient of many letters from all parts of the world where English-speaking people live, expressing their satisfaction that he had undertaken it, and encouraging him in many ways. This fact, however, rather delayed than assisted the work, for the appearance of so many great writers awaiting with impatience the publication of the book, startled him and magnified the importance of his labors. He felt that the combined biography of Goethe and Schiller would be the crowning work of his life, and more than once expressed the thought that it might be his last. To supply the demand for present publications, perform the duties which devolved upon him in his high office, and keep steadily advancing with the greater work, required more strength than one frame could supply. He felt the strain, and sometimes thought it best to leave everything in the line of labor, and rest. The need of such a course did not, however, seem imperative until he was too near his end to ward off the blow. Death came to him in the midst of his work, and in the most sudden manner. One day he is seen at his work; the next he is numbered among those that have lived—but are gone. His wife and daughter (Lillian), with most devoted nursing, had seen the invalid of the previous weeks reviving and gaining strength, until able again to attend to business, when, almost without warning, he sinks and dies within a few hours.

The book for reference, the packages of manuscript, the letters from admirers of Goethe and Schiller, the notes and extracts, slips and pictures, lay where he placed them, accessible to his hand; but the pen is unmoved, the author is dead, and the Lives of Goethe and Schiller are incomplete.