306 CALLOGRAPHY. 



Der Goes, elegant and correct. Of Dutch epic poems, we may 

 mention the Mam and Eve, of Van Der Vondel ; who also wrote 

 satires, eulogies, and tragedies. The William III., is an epic poem 

 by Rotgans ; and another entitled Germanicus, is by an unknown 

 authoress. Van Der Vleit wrote a poem entitled The Spaniards in 

 Rotterdam, chiefly historical. The odes of Van Brceckhuyzen, and 

 Moonen, and the idyls of Wellekens, are much esteemed ; as are also 

 the poems of Foot and of Nieuwland. 



German Callography, is chiefly the growth of recent times ; 

 during which, sound criticism has secured to it a confirmed national 

 character. The heroic songs of the ancient Germans, mentioned by 

 Tacitus, and sung in the days of Attila, are lost. Of the biblical 

 poems, which originated with the introduction of Christianity, 

 Oitfried's Harmony of the Gospels, written in verse, in the time 

 of Lewis the German, is the most important. To these poems 

 succeeded those of the Minnesingers, or amatory poets, the first of 

 whom was Henry of Veldeck, already mentioned under Biography. 

 They are also called Suabian poets ; because they flourished under 

 the Suabian or Hohenstaufen dynasty, and wrote in the Suabian 

 dialect. They were mostly knights or nobles, and sang chiefly of 

 virtuous love, in connection with chivalric and pastoral themes. 



The oldest epic poem, of the Germans, is the Nibelungenlied, 

 or song of the Nibelungs ; narrating the tragic fate of Giinther, an 

 ancient chief of the Nibelungs, (a tribe of Burgundians), with the 

 destruction of that tribe, about A. D. 440. Next to this, is the 

 ffeldenbuch, or book of heroes, also arranged and compiled by the 

 Minnesingers, and relating to the times of Attila and the irruption 

 of the Germans into the Roman empire. The Teuerdank, by Pfin- 

 zing, is a romantic epic, of whicli the emperor Maximilian I. is the 

 hero. The Oberon of Wieland, is a romantic epic, founded on a 

 tale of chivalry, in which fairies and elves are introduced as the 

 machinery. Burger's Leonora, is a similar composition, in which 

 ghosts and sorcerers perform a part. Goethe's Hermann and Doro- 

 thea, is rather a tale, than an epic poem ; but of deep interest. 

 Schulze wrote The Enchanted Rose, and Cecilia, classed as romantic 

 poems approaching the epic character. Gessner's Death of Mel, 

 is a beautiful epic or rather descriptive composition, though written 

 in prose : and the Messiad, by Klopstock, relating to the life of our 

 Saviour, is said to be full of sublime inspiration. 



Of German lyric and pastoral poetry, the hymns and sacred 

 poems of Martin Luther and his successors, animated and vigorous, 

 fluent and original, served as a model of the German language. 

 There are said to be more than thirty thousand hymns in this 

 language, by more than five hundred authors. The sacred odes, or 

 psalms, of Klopstock, are of a high order; the hymns of Gerhard 

 are full of deep piety, and those of Novalis, have much feeling and 

 spirit. The lyrical poems of Opitz, are said to want originality, 

 but are well written. The idyls of the Swiss Gessner, are character- 

 ized by purity and truth; and those of Voss are beautiful, particularly 

 that entitled Louisa. The elegies of Holty, are said to be in a 

 romantic vein ; but the war songs of Korner, breathe the loftiest 



