P. 63, No. - St. 1. Und sprach's, &c. Goethe had such a high notion of this historical ballad (written in June, 1797) that he considered it and the Kraniche des Ibykus as eine neue, die Poesie erweiternde Gattung.'

66

P. 63, No. XXI. The Greek lyric poet Ibycus, a native of Rhegium, in the 6th century B.C., is said to have been murdered by robbers in a desert, whilst a flock of cranes was flying over him. He called upon the latter to avenge his death, and when the murderers were present in the Theatre of Corinth and a flock of cranes appeared on the horizon, one of the former exclaimed involuntarily, "Behold the avengers of Ibycus!" which incident brought their crime to light. These bare outlines Schiller found in Plutarch and Suidas, and in an epigram of Antipater Sidonius, and surrounding the subject with a poetical halo, he produced the present classical ballad in 1797.

- St. 4.

P. 65, No. - St. 2. The Prytanes were the chief magistrates in certain Greek towns. P. 66, No. Der streng, &c. Schiller intentionally departed in several details from the usual description of the Greek stage, the appearance of the Furies, &c., in order to produce a greater dramatic effect.

Es steigt, &c. The gigantic appearance of the Greek actors was owing to their use of the cothurnus

P. 6, No. - St. 3. Wohl dem, &c.

The present truly sublime chorus contains several reminiscences of the Chorus of the Furies in the Eumenides of Aeschylus (1. 300, sq.).

P. 70, No. XXII. The principal incidents of this historical ballad, which dates from 1798, and is one of the most popular of Schiller's narrative poems, were found by the poet in Hyginus,* from whose account several passages have been most felicitously adapted. The other classical versions of the story-in some of which the two friends are called "Damon and Pythias," or rather " Phintias "—were also known to Schiller.

St. 1. Zu Dionys, &c., i.e. Dionysius the Elder (405-367 B.C.), well-known for his tyranny and distrustfulness.

P. 72, No. St. 3. Da stürzet, &c. This incident, as well as that of the 'burning thirst,' have been invented by the poet.

P. 74, No. St. 3. Mich Henker, &c. "Exclamatque a longe: Sustine carnifex, adsum quem spopondit.” (Hyginus)..

P. 75, No.- St. 1.

"Utinam ego tertius vobis amicus adscriberer" (Cicero, Tuscul. Qu. 5. 22), and similarly Hyginus.

This touching incident of faithful friendship was very popular in the Middle Ages. In this country Richard Edwards's "Damon and Pithias' was performed at Christmas before Queen Elizabeth by the children of the Chapel Royal.

P. 75, No. XXIII. Schiller himself did not remember the exact source from which he drew the main incidents of this popular and heroic ballad, written in 1797. The story of an Italian Diver, known as 'Colan Pesce (Nicholas, surnamed the Fish), who lived about the 13th century, in the reign of the Emperor Frederick I. or Frederick II., and who performed most remarkable feats in the water, has been related by several writers in the 15th and the 16th centuries, but the fullest account

* Hygini, Fabula, cclvii.

of him was given by Kirchner, in his Mundus Subterraneus (1678). Schiller had not read any of these accounts, and it may be that the story had been told him by word of mouth, or that he found it in some forgotten novel.

P. 76, No.- St. 3. After having contemplated the Rheinfall of Schaffhausen Goethe wrote from Stäfa, under date of Sept. 25, 1797, to Schiller: "Bald hätte ich vergessen, dasz der Vers Es wallet und siedet und brauset und zischt,' u.s.w., sich bei dem Rheinfall trefflich legitimirt hat; es war mir sehr merkwürdig, wie er die Hauptmomente der ungeheuern Erscheinung in sich begreift," &c. A similar tribute of admiration was paid to Schiller by Wilhelm von Humboldt, who said: Wer einmal am Rheinfall steht, wird sich beim Anblick unwillkürlich an die schöne Strophe des Tauchers erinnern, welche dies verwirrende Wassergewühl malt, das den Blick gleichsam fesselna verschlingt; und doch lag auch dieser keine eigene Ansicht zu Grunde. The last remark in particular is an acknowledgment of the almost unprecedented intuition with which Schiller was endowed. No doubt he had carefully read the description of the Charybdis in the Odyssey (xii. 234, &c.), and in Virgil (Aen. iii. 420, &c.), but the only thing approaching remotely a waterfall he had seen was a watermill. P. 77, No. Und wärfst du, &c. The parenthetical speech in the present and the next stanza must be assumed to have been uttered by one of the spectators. It is like the chorus in the Greek drama, and heightens the suspense of the reader. P. 78, No. St. 5.

St. 3.

St. 3.

Und der Mensch, &c. This and the following two lines are often quoted as the 'moral' of this ballad. P. 79, No. Schiller wrote to Körner, who objected to the expression purpurner: “Wegen der purpurnen Finsternis' brauchst du dir keine Sorge zu machen. der Taucher sieht wirklich unter der Glocke die Lichter grün und die Schatten purpurfarbig. Eben darum lass' ich ihn wieder umgekehrt, wenn er aus der Tiefe heraus ist (P. 78, St. 5) das Licht 'rosig' nennen, weil diese Erscheinung nach einem vorhergegangenen grünlichen Scheine so erfolgt."-It is conjectured that the poet owed the optical information to Goethe. Wie's von, &c. The mention of Salamanders, Lizards and Dragons is quite in keeping with the legendary character of the present ballad. P. No. St. 4. The stachlichte Roche, 'sting ray,' is a very dangerous fish, but not so the Klippenfisch, 'rock fish,' or 'lub-fish.' The shark is admirably qualified by the expression, des Meeres Hyäne. P. No. St. 5. Unter Larven, &c., among larvæ, i.e. among shapeless creatures.

"The

P. 80, No. St. 2. Da kroch's heran, &c. The Diver now describes the approach of a polypus. It has been observed that the indefinite es is here most effectively used. Lord Lytton says, picture of the lonely Diver amidst the horrors of the abyss, dwells upon the memory amongst the sublimest conceptions of modern poetry.' P. 81, No. XXIV. The subject of this legendary and heroic ballad, written in August, 1798, was taken by Schiller from Vertot d'Aubœuf's Histoire des Chevaliers de Malte, to the German translation of which by M. Niethammer he had written a preface. The Grand Master of the Order in whose reign the occurrence is said to have taken place in

the Island of Rhodes, was Helion de Villeneuve (1323-46), and the name of the valiant knight is given as Dieudonné de Gozan.

By representing the feat as accomplished, and putting the recital of it in the mouth of the hero, the varied elements of the story have been artistically interwoven into a compact whole. Through this trait the ballad partakes of an epic rather than a dramatic character.

P. 91, No.- St. 2. Dir ist, &c. These lines contain the gist of the heroic ballad which, according to the poet himself, was designed to depict the old Christian chivalry-half knightly, half monastic'; it represents the victory of humility over vain-glorious conceit.

P. 91, No. XXV. This heroic ballad represents the knightly element only of chivalry, and in so far it was designated both by Schiller and Goethe, who had a high opinion of it-a Nach- und Gegenstück zum Taucher. It deserves the same designation with reference to the preceding ballad. The Erzählung, as Schiller called the present poem, is based on an anecdote related in the Essais Historiques sur Paris (I. 226-27) by M. de Saintfois, who places the incident in the times of Francis I. cf France, and gives the name of the knight as De Lorges. The story, which seems to have been very popular, is also told of a Spanish knight in the reign of Ferdinand the Catholic. Leigh Hunt's poem on the same subject, entitled The Glove and the Lions,' and Browning's 'The Glove,' will be well known to English readers.

P. 93, No. - St. 5. Und er wirft, &c. The poet followed here his original source, where the words occur, le jette au nez de la Dame. The reading:

Und der Ritter, sich tief verbeugend, spricht:

temporarily adopted, in order to please his female surroundings, was finally rejected by the poet.

P. 94, No. XXVI. The beautiful legend of the escape of Arion (about 620 B.C.), the famous poet and player on the cithera, from the sailors, who coveted the prize he had won in Sicily, is well known. The subject has also been treated by A. W. von Schlegel. His poem is, however, spun out to too great a length, and is, besides, inferior to Tieck's ballad in point of musical rhythm.

St. 1.

Nach seiner, &c. Arion spent many years of his life at the court of Periander, tyrant of Corinth.

P. 96, No. XXVII. The subject of this historical ballad, written in 1814, is taken from the life of the famous Tyrolese patriot, Andreas Hofer, who led the insurrection against the French in 1809. Next to personal bravery, simple-mindedness and piety formed the principal traits of his character, and these have been effectively brought out in the present poem.

P. 98, No. XXVIII. The present Romanze, in which the mediaval spirit of chivalry is mingled with modern sentiments of patriotism, has become widely popular in Germany through Weber's exquisite music. The last stanza seems to contain a gloomy foreboding of the hero poet's own glorious death.

P. 99, No. XXIX. It was Clemens Brentano who invented the 'Lorelei legend,' which became in the course of time highly popular, and was treated by several poets, more especially by members of the

Romantic School. The modern legend attained the highest popularity through Heine's celebrated poem, Lorelei.*

"Bei

"" steht

Lore is the abbreviation of Eleonore, and Lay or Lei denotes 'rock.' P. 103, No. — St. 2. Und immer hat's geklungen, &c. Bacharach," says Brentano, in a note appended to the poem, dieser Felsen, Lore Lay genannt; alle vorbeifahrende Schiffer rufen ihn an, und freuen sich des vielfachen Echos.

P. 103, No. XXX. This anecdotal ballad was written in 1827. P. 105, No. XXXI. An old Volkslied, characterized by Goethe as 'trefflich gemacht,' and beginning with the line,

Es sah eine Linde ins tiefe Thal

forms the basis of this romantic ballad.

P. 108, No. XXXII. This historical ballad, written in 1831, is based on an incident which tradition relates of the Emperor Conrad III. (1138-52). In 1140 he besieged the town of Weinsberg (O.H.G. 'Winsperg'), and after having enforced its surrender, the Emperor, angry at the obstinate resistance which had been offered to him, is said to have condemned all the male inhabitants to death; but as he allowed the women to leave the town unhurt, and to take with them all they prized highest, they carried away their husbands pick-a-back. The pretty legend, which has also been treated pictorially, forms the subject of a well-known ballad by Bürger, which has, however, been utterly spoiled by the insertion of various vulgarisms.

SECOND PERIOD.

P. 111, No. XXXIII. Heine, who quotes in full in his essay on the Romantische Schule the present pastoral ballad (written in 1805), calls it das schönste aller Uhland'schen Lieder. Besides its intrinsic beauty, it is quite characteristic of Uhland's muse, which loved to give expression to spiritual manifestations, such as in his Vätergruft (p. 126); and in this sense the conclusion of the present poem must be understood. P. 112, No. XXXIV. The present heroic ballad, written in 1804, and considerably altered in 1810, is a free adaptation of a legendary incident related by Saxo Grammaticus Uffo, son of the blind King Wermund, fights for the Danish crown with the son of a Saxon king, who had challenged Wermund to cede to him the kingdom. Uffo carries off the victory. The incident of the capture of the king's daughter has been invented by the poet.

P. 114, No. St. 1. Sie ist, &c. The name of the sword 'which was the object of praise of the Scalds' is given by Saxo as 'Skrep.' P.- No. Mein Schwert, &c. This incident is related by the Danish chronicler. The belief that swords have their own peculiar sounds is often mentioned in Teutonic folk-lore.

St. 3.

*See p. 112 in this volume.

+ Liber iv., p. 113, &c. (Holder's edition). Uhland's Schriften, vii.,

213, &c.

P. 115, No. XXXV. The outlines of this legendary ballad, dating from 1812, are taken from the Volksbuch, entitled, Der gehörnte Siegfried (Horn-covered Siegfried'), the hero of the Nibelungenlied.

P. 116, No. XXXVI. The principal incidents of this legendary ballad, written in 1808, were found by the poet in M. D. von Papenbach's translation of Don Antonio de Esclava's Noches de Inuierno ('Winter Nights'). Uhland deviated in several instances from the legendary account, and thus rendered the subject far more poetical.

Tradition assigns to Charles the Great a sister of the name of Bertha, who married Milo of Aglant against her brother's will. Their son was Roland, or Orlando, the famous hero of mediæval romances. Milo is described as having been drowned in a brook.

P. 120, No. St. 1. Ich hab' bezwungen, &c. The legend, less poetically, relates that little Roland, having been shabbily dressed, the boys of the four quarters of the town brought him cloth of four different colours for a 'garment' (Wat., Mid. H.-G. for Kleid).

St. 2.

Sie ist wohl, &c. The beggars' guilds frequently had, like those of the gipsies, their own kings and queens.

P. 122, No. XXXVII. Freely invented by the poet and written in 1812. Charles the Great's sea-voyage to the Holy Land is mentioned in an old tradition, but the number and the names of his Paladins are variously given. Their characteristics are mostly Uhland's own invention. St. 5. Alteclere, or 'Hauteclere,' i.e., 'high brightness,' was the name of the legendary sword which Oliver obtained when his own sword had been broken in a single combat before Viane (Vienne-sur-Rhone). P. 123, No. - St. 1. Ganelon, who is described as having betrayed Charles the Great to the Saracens, is generally designated as the 'bad one.' His speech forms a striking contrast to that of Archbishop Turpin in the next stanza.

No. St. 6. The lines put in the mouth of the gallant knight, Gui, or Guy, of Burgundy, are based on the beginning of the well-known Volkslied, viz. :

Wenn ich ein Vöglein wär', &c. *

P. 124, No. St. 3. Sir Godfrey, who is merely described as the 'estimable,' declares in his simple-mindedness that he will submit to his fate.'

P. No. XXXVIII. Written in 1805. This ballad, which alone would suffice to show the musical capacity of the German language, is, like the preceding one, the poet's own invention. Longfellow's admirable translation of it will be well known to English readers.

P. 126 No. XXXIX. This ballad, composed in the same year as the preceding one, and like it, the poet's own invention, is also permeated by a spirit of mournfulness and equally distinguished by musical rhythm.

P. 127, No. XL. The principal outlines of this heroic ballad, written in 1812, have been taken by Uhland from several passages in Wace's epic, Le Roman de Rou (ll. 11711-20; 1349-74; 14008-17), in

* Sce Deutsche Lyrik, p. 41.