VERSIFICATION, 



tlieir vaflal Gauls ; and one of tlieir national foiigs, which 

 has been fnifjularly prcferved, is written in the pure Franco- 

 Thcotifc dialcft, and coiifequcntly belongs to the hiftory of 

 German poetry. From thefe ftanty remains we pafs on to 

 the period 'from 1 1 36 to 1254) during which the imperial 

 dignity was held by the houfe of Hohen-StaufFen. Upon 

 the acceffion of Conrad III., the founder of the Swabian 

 line, the banquet-hall fuddenly unfolds its portals, and we 

 behold the fathers of romantic verfe, in the pcrfons of 

 " kings and dukes, mailed knights and trufty fquires," 

 each of whom 



" took the harp in glee and game. 



And made a lay, and gave it name." 



Under this new race of rulers, the dialefts of the fouth 

 and weft of Germany obtained a decided preponderance. 

 The Swabian or Allemannic became blended with the 

 Franco-Theotifc, and thus formed the bafis of the language 

 of the prefent day ; which, as in the parallel inftance of the 

 " Volgare illuftre" of Italy, has fuperfeded its filler idioms, 

 and become the fole vehicle of information. 



Whatever literary impulfe may have been given by the 

 firft crufade, it appears that the fecond produced a more 

 decided effed, by generally diffiifing the cultivation which 

 had been maturing in the more propitious regions of the 

 fouth. The population of the empire was brought into 

 clofer conneftion with the fongilers of Provence and Cata- 

 lonia, and their poliflied ttrains were foon re-echoed in the 

 harHier tones of the " Minne Singers," or bards of love, as 

 they were pleafed to call themfelves, of the Swabian era. 

 A noble author is now confidered as a rare occurrence. 

 But in the age of the " Minne Singers," hardly any one 

 dared to cultivate the art of verfification, unlefs he could 

 prove his fixteen quarters. The fovcreigns of Germany 

 themfelves, emulating perhaps the example of our captive 

 Richard, fliared in the fame fervour. The coUeftion in the 

 volume of Rudiger Manifs is headed by the poems of the 

 emperor Henry ; the next place is held by Wenceflaus, 

 king of Bohemia. A ballad, diftinguilhed for its tender- 

 ncfs, is given as the produftion of the duke of Breflau. 

 The verfe of Henry, duke of Anholt, is by no means de- 

 void of tafte and elegance ; and a fingle lay bears witnefs to 

 the talents of the unfortunate Conradinc. The " Gefte" of 

 king Rother connects itfclf both with the Helden-buch and 

 the Cycle of CharlemagiKV This poem, and a fragment of 

 the hiilory of the expeditious of the French monarchs agauill 

 the Saracens, are the earlieft fpecimens now extant of the 

 German metrical romance. 



The Swabian era produced upwards of two hundred 

 poets, many of whom are deferving of attention. Under 

 Rodolph of Hapfl)urg (1273) and his fuccclTors, they 

 began to lofe ground ; and the brilliancy which had diftin- 

 guifhcd the preceding era gradually died away. 



It is difficult to eitablifli a definite boundary for the dif- 

 ferent periods of literary hiftory ; they melt into each other, 

 like the colours of the rainbow. In Conrad of Wiirz- 

 burgh, who flouriftied towards the conclufion of the 13th 

 century, we find the glow of better days united to fome of 

 the peculiarities of the later " Mafter-Singtrs" of Augf- 

 burg and Nurcmburg. At this time a few princes and 

 highborn lords, amongft whom Otto the marquis of Bran- 

 denburg, and the count of Leiningen, may be named 

 as the moft diftinguiftied, ftill continued to imitate the ftyle 

 of the Swabian poets. But they had no fucceftbrs. The 

 art expired amongft the nobility, and the fccue was fud- 

 denly changed. Poetry certainly never had fo fingular a 

 iorlunc ill any other country as in Germany. It adually 



became one of the incorporated trades in the German cities • 

 and the burghers obtained the freedom of it, as of any other 

 corporation. By M. Grimm the " Minne-Singers" and the 

 " Mafter-Singers" are fuppofed to have originally formed 

 but one clafs of poets. At all events, thefe focieties offer a 

 moft fingular phenomenon. Compofed entirely of the lower 

 ranks of fociety, they obtained a monopoly of verfe-craft, 

 and extended their tuneful fraternity over the greater part 

 of the empire. The candidate for admiffiou into thefe fo- 

 cieties was introduced with prefcribed formahties. The 

 four " merkers," or examiners, fat behind a filken curtain, 

 to pafs judgment on his qualifications. One of thefe had 

 Martin Luther's trandation of the bible before him, it being 

 confidered as the ftandard of the language. His province 

 was to decide whether the diftion of the novice was pure, 

 and his grammar accurate. The others attended to the 

 rhyme and metre of the compofition, and the melody to 

 which it was fung. And if they united in declaring that 

 the candidate had comphed with the ftatutes and regulations, 

 he was decorated with a filver chain and badge, and admitted 

 into the fociety. 



Bouterwick remarks, that the rude inferiority of the 

 German poetry, during the i6t!i century, foiTns an un- 

 pleafing contrail to its ftate in Italy and Spain. In the age 

 of Ariofto and Cervantes, Hans Sach continued to rank as 

 the firft German poet ; and the only dignified epic which 

 Germany poffeffed was the ftiff allegory of Melchior Pfuit- 

 zing. 



Having traced the rife and progrefs of the art of verfifica- 

 tion in Germany, we fiiall now ftill purfue the fame fyftcm, 

 in noticing, firft, thofe places where its early dawn was un- 

 mixed with the rays of neighbouring conftellations. She- 

 ringham and Bartholine inform us, that the fcaldi or bards 

 were highly honoured among the Danifli tribes ; that their 

 verfe was of the legiflative call ; and that they fung the great 

 aftions of their anceftors, and kindled the flame of war by 

 the influence of poetic recitation. The " Welkina" and 

 " Niflunga Saga" were compiled in the 13th century from 

 the fongs of the D.anes and Swedes. We alfo meet with 

 the poetical and mufical office united in almoft every northern 

 clime. The union of the logiflator's and bard's charafter 

 is exemplified in the perfon of Snorro Sturlefon, who, about 

 fix hundred years fince, was at once the chief legiflator and 

 moft eminent bard in the ide of Iceland. Odin, the 

 Scythian legiflator, boafted that the Runic fongs had been 

 handed to him by the gods. Slrabo tells us, that through- 

 out the wliole diftridl of Gaul, there were three kinds of men 

 held in high eftimation, the Bards, the Vates, and the Druids. 

 Diodorus Sicnlus adds, that " the bards fung to inftruments, 

 praifing fome and fatyrizing others." The Britifli bards, about 

 the fame time, were of the fame charadler ; and their genius 

 is fufficiently evinced by their verfe yet extant under the name 

 of Offian, if Offian's work be genuine. In Ireland they were 

 endowed with eftates, and lived by public patronage, inde- 

 pendent and free from temporal care. Ollainh Fodlah, one 

 of their kings, fummoned them to a trieimial feftival, for 

 the pnrpofe of traufmitting to pofterity the authentic re- 

 cords contained in their verfe ; which were from them 

 felefted and prcferved in the cuftody of the king's antiquary. 

 In the year 558, the Irifli bards, being extremely numerous, 

 and infolently powerful, had attained the fummit of their 

 influence. Even in the time of Spenfcr, they were the 

 fubjtct of fcrious complaint. ( Ke;itiiig's Hiftory, and 

 Spenfer's View of the State of Ireland. ) Nor are we with- 

 out inftanccs of the native and ungrafled ftate of verfe in 

 the tranfatlantic world. In the ancient empire of Peru, 

 GarcilafTo dc la Vega informs us, that their fongs wore iii- 



nuuierable { 



