1806. ] 
ever long undecided in the choice of his fub- 
ject 5 he fought out fome here in the Ger- 
man hiftory ; and fixed firft on th’s, then 
on that, and among others on the Emperor 
Henry ; but after choofing and rejecting 
for fome time, he at length gave the pre- 
fcrence to the Meflias. ‘This preference 
was given even before his acquaintance 
wih Milton, whofe Paradife Loft was but 
lately become an important fubject of his 
ftudy. 
In the autumn of the year 1745 he left 
the college, and repzired to the univerfity 
at Jena. He now applied to the ftudy ot 
divinity, but principally by himfelf. His 
main concern, however, in the ftillnefs of 
his clofet, was the realizing fome part of 
his propofed fcheme, by drawing out the 
three firft castos. As the Alexandrine 
meafure appesred to him tco uniform and 
fatiguing, the trochatc too prolix, and the 
pure ten-foot iambics totally unfitted for 
the conftruction. of the German language, 
he compofed thefe three cantos in profe. 
lis performance greatly difpleafed him: 
he was fired with a laudable indignation 
at fecling himfelf fo inferior in harmony 
to his grand models Homer and Virgil. 
Loft in his own Geep reflections, he would 
frequently wander up and down the foli- 
tary walks round the town; and in one 
of thefe perambulatiors be came to a de- 
termination of emulating the pigantic 
matters of antiquity in the fracture of 
their verfe. Ina ‘few hours he complet- 
ed a page of hexameters; and trom 
that time decided on cioathing his whole 
poem in this garb. Thus wa» he now the 
firft who introduced a metre into German 
poetry that was conceived unattainable in 
that languzge. He afterwards triumph- 
antly detended this mode of verfification 
both by example and argument. 
In the Eafter of 1746 he lett Jena, and 
went to Leipzig in company with his cou- 
fin Schmidt, from Langenfalza, afterwards 
privy-counfellor at the Court of Vienna, 
Here he foon became acquainted with the 
young favourites of the Mufes, who had 
formed themfelves into a fort of literary 
fociety, in order to purify their tafte by 
mutual criticifms on their various eflays, 
the beft of which were publithed in the 
p2per intitled ‘* Bremen Contributions” 
Their names were Gaertner, Cratner, Schle- 
gel, Gifeke, Rabener, Zacharia, and others. 
Our poet was admitted into their fmal! fo- 
ciety, attended their meetings, and fub- 
mitted to their laws. About this time 
Klopftock began to difplay his genius in 
the lyric, and alfo in the fublimer epic 
Style, and produced in thefe years many 
Memsirs of Klopftock, the German Poet. 
423 
excellent odes of this defcription. Thefe, 
together with the three cantos of the Mef- 
fiah, appeared at firft in the Bremen Con- 
tributions. However, at this period the 
tafte of the Germans was not fufficiently 
formed for them to relifh with a true zeft 
the lofty flight of. Klopftock’s poetic ge- 
nius, nor to penetrate fully the compafs 
of his dignified and compact ftyle; and it 
may with juftice be obferved, that Germa- 
ny was now totally unprepared for the re- 
ception of a poet of fo fuperior a caft. 
Yet his cantos were read with the higheft 
warmth of admiration by all men pofleffed 
of a genuine love for German poetry and 
fine ftyle ; and this applaufe was fully 
fufficient to animate the poet inthe profecu- 
ting his fublime lyric ttrains. 
Klspftock’s ftay in Leipzig became at 
length unpleafant to him, from the conti- 
nual lofs of his familiar friends, who gra- 
dually one after the other Jeft the univer- 
fity. The warm and tender attachment 
that bound him to this eftimable circle in 
Leipzig formed the fweeteft remembrance 
of his pa‘ Ife, on which he dwelt with pe- 
culiar pleafure even in his old age. While 
he contemplated in penfive melancholy 
each of his beloved friends finking fuc- 
ceffively into the grave, his on'y comfort 
was the recollestion of what he was once 
to them, and what he would be in future, 
He regarded each of their deaths as an 
approach for himfelf to that ultimate alli- 
ance with them that would know no term. 
From Leipzie, Klopfock repaired, in the 
year 1748, to LangenfaJza, and there refided 
in the houfe of a relation named Weifs, 
whofe children he undertook toinfruc&t. This 
circumitance brought him into a searer 
acquaintance with Schmidt's fifer, with 
whom he had for fome time been in the 
habits of correfpondence. This young 
lady, well known by the name of Fanny 
in his Odes, was pofleffed of great beauty, 
combined with much goal fesle, that was 
well fitted to awaken the tendereft fenti- 
ment in the breat of a man as {u‘ceptible 
as Klopftock. Many of his odes and ele- 
gies are filled with thar melting fenbbility 
that befpeaks the purity and ardour of 
his affection to this young lady, who ap- 
peared however much more flattered by 
his paffion than ahle to return it in a (e- 
rious manner. The pain of not feeing 
himf-lf beloved by the object he adored ; 
perhaps alfo the prejudicial influence of 
fevere application on his health, — particu- 
larly in treating a fubjeét of fo facred and 
awful a nature, all confpired to throw him 
into a melancholy fate, that lated for 
fome time, and threw a dark ¢olouring 
over 
Se 
