PASTORAL I,ITP;RATI;HE rUOM (IIMTZ TO (ilO.SSXKU. :51 



Haller was greatly influenced by Brockes, ' and like him consid- 

 ered the didactic and descriptive element to be the main purpose 

 of poetry. But he made an improvement upon Brockes, both in his 

 descriptions of nature, and especially by peopling it with real 

 characters. By combining these two elements, human characters 

 and a natural background, he produced literature that was idyl- 

 lic in its nature. 



These first notes of a realistic idyl in Germany were heard in 

 Haller's yl7pe22. In 1728 Haller,- who ardently loved his native 

 country, Switzerland, made a journey through the Alps, the im- 

 pressions of which he describes in Die Alpen (published 1732). 

 Other poets (as Brockes) had sung the beauty of the plain, the 

 forest, the meadow, and the quiet river. But never before had the 

 grand scenery of the mountains been described. Haller first 

 grasped them poetically, and in his vigorous and rhetorical verse 

 called the attention of his contemporaries to the beauty which 

 before had aroused more awe than admiration. 



In accordance with the taste of the times and following Brockes, 

 Haller enters into a doubtful contest with the flower and the land- 

 scape painter. 3 But instead of bringing in the ever-recurring 

 reflections of Brockes on the goodness and wisdom of God and 

 the purpose of creation, Haller combined with his descriptions 

 pictures of human life standing m the very closest relation to the 

 nature he depicts. Haller sketches before our eyes the natural 

 beauties of the Alps, the seasons, the pursuits and festivals of the 

 people, in general: simple, contented and happy life in the moun- 

 tains. Here are the beginnings of the genuine idyl.* Yet this 

 best and most characteristic part of the poem failed to attract 

 the attention of his contemporaries. Even his countryman Gess- 



1 See Julian Sclimidt; Gescb d. deut. Lit. 1 176. 



2 See Albrecbt von Hallers Gedicbte, edited by Dr. Ludwig Hirzel, Frauen. 

 feld 1882. 



3 Leasing- in his Laokoon X'S'II. deals the death blo-n- to merely descriptive 

 poetry. He quotes Die Alpen, verses 381-400, which minutely describes theflora 

 of the Alps, and shows its unsatisfactory character. 



i See Koberstein, Deu. Nat. Lit. V; 53. 1. 



