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vered proceeded by the fide of the hearfe, 
holding the crape taffels that hung from 
the coffin. | Thus the venerable proceffion 
paffed through the main-ftreet of Altona. 
Before the parade and guard-noufe the 
funeral mufic of muffled horns added a 
melting folemnity to ihe tender melancho. 
ly fcene,  Atthe burying-{pot near Ot- 
tenfen a iimilar mufic received the mourn- 
ers. Here the bier with the neare{t atrend- 
ants refted a fhort time. The train en- 
tered the church at one o'clock, and pro- 
ceeded to the altar. Borne by the officers 
of the Hamburg Senate, and encircled by 
the maidens and other attendant», the 
coffin vow pafied flowly on intothe church. 
From the jotty choir the gently {welling 
Hotes re echced through the aifle the pfaim 
of the holy bard intitled « Our Father 
who art in Heaven.”? More than a bun- 
dred muficians, together with female fing- 
ers, in white, from different families in 
Hamburg, attuned under Schwenke’s 
guidance levera! ftrephes of this hymn as 
the coffin was fet down be!ore the aliar, and 
the three maidens depofited upon it their 
garlands. The poet's maiter-piece, which 
was carried before, was now laid on the 
lid of the cofin. A youth covered the 
pall, that was turned up, with Jaurel-, 
wreaths. Alter the plalm, the choir fung 
the dying hymnof Klopitock. Chortfes 
from his facred poem, fet to mufic by 
Romberg, ard others from Mozart’s 
Dirge, lucceeded the {peech over the cof- 
fin. It was Kiopftock’s words which 
were on this cccafion tehearfed. Mr. 
Meyer, the canon, read, after an introduc- 
tion of a few words, from the twelfth can- 
to of the Mefiiah, the reprefentation of 
Mary’s.death, that fublime picture of a 
éying faint. Then the choir of young 
girls, accompanied by tia ple melody, tung 
The Refurreétion. In the mean time the 
coffin was lifted up and carried to the 
grave under che lime-tree, followed by the 
whole train. Covered with the. frefh 
firftlings of the {pring and laurel-brauches, 
it funk down to reit. 
Amidit the many fingular perfections 
which Klopftock’s Mute combines within 
itfeif, it is difficult to fketch their p:rti- 
cular characteriftics. His flyle of wri- 
ting is fo original, that it ca, not with 
jutt:ce be regarded in comparifon with the 
grea! poets of Germany, or apy other na- 
tion. What Klopttock fung is all grand, 
fubiime, linking, and animated with a 
creative genius; there is every where an 
exuberance of imagination and an over- 
fiw of teeling: his ftretch of thought ts 
upattainable, whether in penning a seli- 
Memoirs of Klopftock, the German Poet. 
[June 1, 
gious hymn in the fpirit of the Pfalmift, or 
afong after the manner of the ancient 
Cherufcan bards, or a ballad to friendfhip 
and patriotifm; whether in retracing the 
language of the cherubim, or painting 
the human paffions im his tragic poems 
with the ftrength of 2fchylus. His world 
is an immenfe realm of imagination : his 
{pirit hovers in it ; and his tongue ftrives 
to utter what his fpiritual eye has there 
defcried.- For that purpofe a peculiar 
language was requifite: one that was 
HrOnBer more comprehenfive, manifold, 
and figurative, than the uiual language af 
men who exprefs objets from the real 
world, The fame remark applies to the 
characters that Klopfiock delineates. 
His eye fceks in the regions of fancy 
greater virtues, -and alfo blacker crimes, 
than what here exift. His good, as well 
as his bad perfonages, have no model in 
this lower world. ‘The vittaous man de- 
{pvirs of attaining the goodness of heart 
which he attributes to the good in his 
ideal world ; and the wicked man regards 
hunielf but an infant in iniquity when 
placed by the fide of of defcrived in the 
poem, in whom he dilcovers icarcely any 
likenefs of himfelf. 
Kiopitock’s Meffich will ever remain 
the firft an! grandeft poetic monuments for 
the German nation. It confifis of twenty 
cantos, and comprehends the Redemption 
of fallen Man, effected by the Mefiias in his 
humanity, from the commencement of his 
fufferings to his afcenfion. To this work 
Germany is indebted for the honour of 
not y-elding, to any modern nation at 
Ieaity in the higher department of epic po- 
etry, and of maintaining a fuperiority 
over mot. The religious epopee is car- 
tied in the Meffiah to higher perfeétion 
than in Milton’s Paradile Loft. The 
grand fubjeét fo beautifully related in the 
Ko:y Scriptures has received ‘rom the 
pen of the poet a more exzlted farm, both 
by means of his difpofition, — by the 
ingenious fiction of his pious fancy. It 
has been rendered intercfting by the diver. 
fity of narrative, delineation, dislogue, 
and lyric p’efy ; by the choice and rich 
allemblage of figures and comparifons ; 
and by the perfect beauty of expreffion 
and verfification. No German pcet has 
ever reached the variety, fullnefs, and 
harmony, of K lopftock’s hexameters. 
On the value of his odes all cultivated 
Germans have but one voice. ‘They are 
elleemed with juftice as the plain and ap- 
propriate effufions of a wife, upright, and 
patriotic man. He has indeed poured out 
his tentiments and feelings ou what imme- 
diately 
