IDVLMC 1,ITKKATUUI0 IN (iHUMAXV liUFOUlO TIIH TIMK OF DE'ITZ. IT 



The humanistic iiiovement in Germany did nut prudufe any 

 idyllic literature of enduring value, or any that inspired later 

 writers. The BucoUcod of Eobanu.s He.ssus ap- 

 The Idyl in the peared at Erfurt 1509, containing twelve eclogues, 

 Humanistic the second edition of 1528 mcreasmg the number 



Movement in to seventeen. They were written in imitation of 

 Germany. Vergil's allegorical eclogues. The ease with which 



Hessus composed made his style vague and full of 

 rhetorical bombast. ^ He also made a translation of Theocritus 

 into Latin verse. 



In the year 1580 the gifted Nicodemus Frischlin- delivered at 

 Tiibingen a speech, De vita rustica, as introduction to his lectures 

 on Vergil's Bucolics, m which he bitterly attacks the inhumanity 

 and corruption of the nobility and the court, ^ and lauds the 

 honest simplicity and occupations of rural life. But the appeal 

 died away liiie an echo, unnoticed or soon forgotten. 



Humanism in Germany led to no real idyllic literature, and 

 what little there is entirely lacks originality in thought and form, 

 and left no trace of influence upon succeeding literature. Other 

 countries, especially Italy, were meanwhile producing the literary 

 models, which for a century and a half were to determine the form 

 and character of pastoral literature in Germany. 



1 See Allg Deut Bioff. In his Carmen or Song of praise of Niirnberg 1732 

 (Noriherga Illustrata, edited by J. Neff, Berlin 1896). are idyllic traits, 

 especially lines 387, ff., and 601, ff., which contain a description of a woodland 

 fountain. 



2 See Alg. Deut. Biog. Many of his plays contain idyllic elements, especially 

 one Der WeingartDer, 1.576, setting forth the conditions and feelings of the peo- 

 ple; but unfortunately this has been lost, 



3 This speech and his views on this matter lost him his position, his liberty, 

 and finally his life. 



