102 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters. 
by Hans Sachs’s Schusterlied, and Walter and Eva are hiding 
behind the bushes in Pogner’s garden, are here found together. 
Wagner certainly was acquainted with Kotzebue’s play, which 
was a great stage favorite when he was young, and the make-up 
of the scene in question must have made its way into his comedy 
unconsciously. 
The last work that we have to consider is Ferdinand Raimund’s 
drama Die gefesselte Phantasie. Raimund (1790-1836) is known 
to German literature as the master of the Vienna magic- and fairy- 
play in the early decades of the last century. His <( Phantasy En¬ 
chained” was written in 1826 and represents his first attempt at 
a serious drama that tries to attain its effects without resorting to 
parody and travesty. It was not performed before 1828, January 
28, a couple of weeks before the first performance of Deinhard- 
stein’s Hans Sachs. 21 
Phantasy, the goddess to whom all poets owe their inspiration, is 
captured by two direful sorceresses, the sisters Vipria and Arro- 
gantia, at a time when her assistance to her protegees is most urg¬ 
ently needed; for Hermione, the youthful queen of the island of 
Flora, has promised her hand and heart to the successful competi¬ 
tor in a poetic contest, confident that her beloved Amphio will be 
the victor. This Amphio is a young prince, the son of the king 
of Athunt, but in true fairy tale fashion has hitherto concealed his 
identity and nevertheless won Hermione’s love, tending her fa¬ 
vorite flock as a shepherd and writing enamored verses in praise 
of his mistress. The contest is to take place in the evening of the 
day on which the play opens. When the two magic sisters learn 
that it is Phantasy on whom the poets depend for their inspiration, 
they waylay her and then secure a most repugnant Vienna ale¬ 
house harpist by the name of Nachtigall, whom they plan to make 
the husband of Hermione, on the terms proposed and sworn to by 
the young queen when she announced the contest. Nachtigall is 
introduced to the enchained goddess, and tries first by fair words 
and finally by brute force to get her to dictate to him the neces- 
21 1 believe that Raimund knew Deinhardstein’s drama when he wrote his 
play. There seems to be an allusion to Hans Sachs in Act I, scene 2, where 
Distichon, the court poet, says: Wir haben keinen Schnee, als wenn uns 
Zephyr weisse Bliiten streut; darum begeistert uns der ewige Blumenduft und 
weihet uns zu Priestern des Apoll, so dass der Schuster selbst mit einer Hand 
nur seinen Stiefel schafft, in der andern halt er hoch die goldne Leier: 
“Sein kiihner Geist ist mit Apoll verwandt, 
1st seine Leier gleich mit Schustergaim bespannt. >> 
The quotation marks here, which are Raimund’s own, seem significant. In 
another place Distichon says, “Ich werfe sie mit Knittelreimen tot.” The 
doggerel verse is characteristic of Hans Sachs’s tales and farces. 
