Dryden's Relation to Germany 1 1 



" Railing and praising were his usual themes, 

 And both, to show his judgment in extremes." 



Hans Sachs, 238-239 : 



" Fleuch wenn du tadeln wilt, bey Leib die Mittel-Straass, 

 Und wenn dti jemand riihmst, so halt' auch keine Maass.'" 



The other motive not found in Mac Flecknoe is from The Sec- 

 ond Part of Ahsolom and Achitophel (457-458), and is the pro- 

 phetic blessing to be dull, pronounced upon the heir at birth by the 

 nurse. 



" The midwife laid her hand on his thick skull, 

 With this prophetic blessing — Be thou dull." 



Hans Sachs, 17-18. 



" Selbst seine Amme fasst' nach der Gebuhrt ihn um, 

 Weissagt' und segnet' ihn mit diesem Wunsch : sey dumm." 



This is again repeated, hne 90. 



" Bestetigend den Wunsch der Ammen : Sey du dumm."^^ 



This comparison of motives is striking, because the same mo- 

 tives which Dryden appHed to Shadwell in the satire, lend them- 

 selves admirably to satirizing Postel, thereby substantiating the 

 claim of Wernicke made in the preface, " welcher (Shadwell) 

 meinem Widersacher (Postel) in alien Stiicken gleichet." Dry- 

 den's motive of choosing the dead poet, Flecknoe,^^ as the sire 

 king, finds a happy parallel in Wernicke's choice of Hans Sachs, 

 so far as the force of the satire is concerned, as it holds Postel up 

 to genuine ridicule. 



Other parallel motives that were equally applicable to the 

 German situation are: The imitation of renowned poets (Shad- 

 es See Eichler, Loco citato, p. 218; and Pechel, Loco citato, p. 34. 

 33 Richard Flecknoe, a dull but prolific Irish poet, who died in 1678, 

 was chosen as the father of Shadwell and furnished the name and back- 

 ground for the satire. He seems to have been a stock character for 

 satirizing and Dryden speaks of him with contempt in his dedication of 

 Limherham (1678). 



299 



