BY THE GEEMAJsS OF THE MIDDLE AGES. 8S 



feeling for nature were not wanting in these old German 

 masters ; but the only expressions thereof which they have 

 left us are such as flowed forth in lyrical strains, in connec- 

 tion with the occurrences or the feelings belonging to the 

 narrative. To begin with the best and oldest monuments of 

 the popular epos, we do not find any description of scenery 

 either in the Niebelungen or in Gudrun ( 53 ), even where the 

 occasion might lead us to look for it. In the otherwise 

 circumstantial description of the chase during which Sieg- 

 fried is murdered, the only natural features mentioned are 

 the blooming heather and the cool fountain under the 

 linden tree. In Gudrun, which shews something of a 

 higher polish, a finer eye for nature seems also discernible, 

 When the king's daughter, with her companions, reduced 

 to slavery, and compelled to perform menial offices, carry 

 the garments of their cruel lord to the sea-shore, the time is 

 indicated as being the season ' when winter is just dissolv- 

 ing, and the birds begin to be heard, vying with each other 

 in their songs ; snow and rain still fall, and the hair of the 

 captive maidens is blown by the rude winds of March. 

 When Gudrun, hoping for the approach of her deliverer, 

 leaves her couch, the morning star rises over the sea, which 

 begins to glisten in the early dawn, and she distinguishes 

 the dark helmets and the shields of her friends/ The words 

 are few, but they convey to the fancy a visible picture, suited 

 to heighten the feeling of expectation and suspense previous 

 to the occurrence of an important event in the narrative. 

 In like manner, when Homer paints the island of the 

 Cyclops and the gardens of Alcinous, his purpose is to 

 bring before our eyes the luxuriant fertility and abundance 

 of the wild dwelling-place of the giant monsters, and the 



