493 



GOETHE. 



who, of course, treated him like a child. Her name 

 was Margaret, the name which Goethe afterwards 

 gave to the mistress of Faust. Though he was then 

 a mere boy, his passion was so violent as to deprive 

 him of sleep and appetite, so that he fell seriously 

 sick. With returning health, he acquired a firmer 

 character, and applied himself with more zeal to his 

 preparation for the university. He went to Leipsic, 

 where Gottsched still lived ; but Ernesti and Gellert 

 chiefly attracted his attention. The young poet did 

 not follow any regular course of studies. His mind 

 was always active, but the subjects of his study were 

 regulated by his feelings. German poetry was then 

 in a critical state. It was generally felt, that the 

 old bombastic manner must be shaken off, before 

 poetry could make any important progress. Preci- 

 sion and conciseness were then the great desiderata, 

 and Goethe soon Jearned to feel their importance. 

 The English poets were now imitated, instead of the 

 French, who had previously been servilely copied. 

 He began at this period, what he practised through- 

 out his life, to inibody in a poem, or in a poetical 

 form, whatever delighted or grieved, pleased or dis- 

 pleased him ; in a word, whatever occupied his mind 

 intensely ; and no one, perhaps, was ever more in 

 need of sucli an exercise, as his nature continually 

 hurried him from one extreme to another. Several 

 dramatic pieces were projected by him at this period, 

 when he first realized the immense difference between 

 the form and the substance of religion, law, morals, 

 in short, of all the great subjects which most deeply 

 affect the wellbeing of man. The fine arts were not 

 neglected, and he zealously studied the first authors 

 on this subject. He always had a taste for drawing, 

 and, while at Leipsic, also attempted engraving. 

 Improper diet and other causes now brought on a 

 disease, from which he had hardly recovered, when 

 he left Leipsic, in 1768. His health was much im- 

 paired, and, on his return home, he was affectionately 

 nursed by a lady named von Klettenberg, and his 

 conversations and correspondence with her were the 

 origin of Bekenntnisse einer schbnen Seele in his 

 Meister. At the same time, this connexion led him 

 to the study of mystico-alchemical books (the traces 

 of which are so apparent in Faust), and also to chem- 

 istry. He was also led, by the reading of several 

 religious works, to construct for himself a strange 

 theological system, of which New Platonism was the 

 groundwork. He subsequently went to the univer- 

 sity of Strasburg, to pursue the study of law, accord- 

 ing to the wish of his father, but gave, in fact, more 

 attention to the study of chemistry and anatomy than 

 to that of law. At Strasburg, he became acquainted 

 with Herder a decisive circumstance in his life. 

 Herder made him more acquainted with the Italian 

 school of the fine arts, and inspired his mind with 

 views of poetry more congenial to his character than 

 any which he had hitherto conceived. While here, 

 in the immediate presence of the renowned minister of 

 Strasburg, Goethe wrote a short treatise on Gothic 

 architecture. The treatise contains some views 

 which he afterwards abandoned. Here, on French 

 ground, and so near to the confines of the French 

 language, he shook off all his predisposition for the 

 French character. In 1771, he took the degree of 

 doctor of jurisprudence, and wrote a dissertation on 

 a legal subject. He then went to Wetzhir, where he 

 found, in his own love for a betrothed lady, and in 

 the fate of a young man named Jerusalem, the sub- 

 jects for his /farther. The attention of the public 

 was first attracted to him by his G'dtz (published 

 1773). fVerther appeared in 1774. November 7, 

 1775, he went to Weimar, on the invitation of the 

 duke of Saxe Weimar, who had just begun his reign. 

 In 1776, he was made privy councillor of legation., 



with a seat nnd vote in the privy-council. He made 

 a journey to Switzerland in the same year, with th 

 prince. In 1782, he was made president of the cham- 

 ber, and ennobled. In 1786, he made a journey to 

 Italy, where he remained two years, visited Sicily, 

 and remained a long time in Rome. In 1792, he 

 followed his prince during the campaign in Cham- 

 pagne. He was afterwards created minister ; re- 

 ceived, in 1807, the order of Alexander-Newsky 

 from Alexander of Russia, and the grand cross of the 

 legion of honour from Napoleon. He died at Wei- 

 mar on the 22d march, 1832. 



If we survey the variety of the productions of this 

 great roan, not only in all branches of poetry, but 

 also in natural science, we cannot help admiring 

 the activity and the versatility of his genius his 

 Vielseitigkeit , as the German phrase is. His genius 

 appears most wonderful, if we throw a glance at what 

 German literature was when he found it, and what it is 

 now that he has left it, and how it has been affected 

 by him. Goethe was born at a period when the 

 modern German literature was far from having 

 acquired independence and consistency ; and, in the 

 different periods of his life, it is easy to discover the 

 influence at one time of French literature, at another 

 of classic literature, &c. ; but these influences, though 

 sufficient to destroy the vigour and energy of many a 

 genius, rather served to uevelope his powers more 

 fully. It cannot be denied, however, that even he 

 sometimes was led astray, as, for instance, in his 

 polished and cold Eugenie. But in what branch has 

 Goethe most excelled ? Is it the epic ? He enriclu d 

 German literature with some of the most popular 

 epic productions ; but his epic descriptions cannot 

 rival the best descriptive compositions of English 

 literature (which may be partly accounted for from 

 the character of the two languages); nor are the con- 

 ceptions of his epics of the highest character. Is it 

 the drama ? He produced some beautiful dramas, 

 and his Iphigenia will always be considered as a mas- 

 terpiece ; but, generally speaking, his dramas do not 

 give us sketches of great, important, or interesting 

 characters, nor the picture of a great action the 

 two chief points of dramatic poetry ; and he stands, 

 in this respect, very far below Shakspeare. Nay, 

 he does not even do justice to historical charac- 

 ters, as his Egmont shows. Is it didactic poetry ? 

 He wrote several didactic poems, but he cannot 

 be said to have excelled in this branch. Is it the 

 novel ? He presented German literature with some 

 novels, which will always rank among the best; 

 but their excellence, of which we shall presently 

 speak, is not in the plot, nor particularly in the 

 characters described. In short, what is the promi- 

 nent feature ofGoethe's excellence ? We thinkGoethe 

 must be called, pre-eminently, the poet of philoso- 

 phy. It is the philosophy of life and of individual 

 character, pervading his works, which places them 

 among the first ever produced. Hence he has been 

 able to devote his powers to all forms of poetry ; for 

 the drama was not to him what it was to Shakspeare, 

 nor the epic what it was to Ariosto. We do not say 

 that his conceptions are in no degree affected by the 

 dress in which they are clothed, but that the form of 

 poetic composition, which he at any time adopts, re- 

 mains with him more a matter of form than with those 

 who are pre-eminent in any particular branch. 

 Hence his greatest production is his Faust, emphati- 

 cally a philosophical poem, which will long remain 

 unrivalled ; for it is the best ofGoethe's productions 

 in a department for which he see/ns to have been 

 born. His beautiful songs and shorter poems, elegies, 

 distichs, &c., have the same peculiar character ; for 

 though many or most of them cannot be called pre- 

 eminently philosophical, yet they are all tinged with 



