44 GE8SXEH AXD THE CULMIXATIOX OF THE PASTORAL IDYL. 



admiring young shepherd one of the severe battles fought for the 

 independence of Switzerland. But even this idyl Gessner over 

 loads by bringing in an account of the shepherd's subsequent visit 

 to the soldier's home, and his marriage with the soldier's daughter. 

 Of the first part of this idyl Goethe says: "Wie ich anfing, sie zu 

 lesen, rief ich aus: 0, hatfer nichts, als Schweizer-idyllengemacht! 

 Dieser treuherzige Ton, diese muntre Wendung des Gesprachs, das 

 National-interesse! Das holzerne Bein ist mir lieber als einDutzend 

 elfenbeinerne Njnnphenfiisschen!"^ 



The hexameter would have been the most natural form for 

 Gessner to adopt in his idyls after the example set by lOopstock 

 and Kleist, and by Bodmer in his Patriarchaden, especially as 

 that is also the meter of the classic idyls. But at the advice of 

 Eamler he began to write in a rhythmical prose, ^ which together 

 with a poetic and elevated style he adopted in nearly all his works. 

 Everywhere occur fragments of iambic^ or dactylic verse, occasion- 

 ally even a whole hexameter line.* This rhythmical prose appears 

 in the works of many of the immediate imitators of Gessner, 

 especially writers of idyls, some of whom tried to hide then' inability 

 to put their weak products into a strict poetical form, and hence 

 chose this easier rhythmical form. 



The idyl or Genre-bild suited Gessner's peculiar talent. But 

 with success came the ambition to produce some gTeater work. 

 Under the influence of Klopstock and the Patriarchal epics of 

 the Swiss, he wrote Der Tod Abels which was considered by his 



1 In Frankf. Gel. Anz., 1772. 



2 Later Ramler became possessed with the mania to ''improve" the works of 

 his friends. Among other '■improvements'' he turned Gessner's prose idyls into 

 verse and published them under the title: Gessner's auserleseae Idylleu in Verse 

 gebracht (Berlin 1787). 



3 So in idyl I there are long iambic passages; e. g, "Die. Daphne! dies allein, 

 belohne meine Lieder, dies sei mein Ruhm, dass mir an deiner Seite, aus deinem 

 holden Auge Beifall lachle."' 



■i E. g., in Gessner's wellknown idyl Mirtil (Xo. .5), we meet the following 

 dactylic prose, the latter part of it constituting an hexameter line: 

 '■Itzt schwieg er und sah mit thranendem Aug' anf den Greisen; 

 Wie er lachelnd da liegt und schlummert! sprach er itzt schluchzend." 



