Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1874-04-11
For the Chronicle.
ITEMS FROM THE LIFE OF SCHIL-
LER.

ITEMS FROM THE LIFE OF SCHIL
A' LER.
TRANSLATED PROM THE GERMAN BY
FRANK JOHNSON.
The study of the Greeks was, in gen.
eral, very attractive to Schiller at that
time. From Rudolstadt he wrote:
81 read but little now except Homer;
the ancients are to me true source of
enjoyment. They are, at the same
time, of the greatest service to me in
purifying my own taste, which, from
artificial display and an affectation of
subtleness and witticism, begins to
deviate greatly from true simplicity" I"
He also translated, at this time, the
"Iphigenia in Aulis'' and a part of
"The Phoenicians" Of Euripides. The
'Agamemnon" of Eschylus was to
come next in order. His translations
from Virgil's "Eneid'' came forth
subsequently to this, and were, in a
great measure, caused by his then ex-
isting prediction in favor ofstanzas.
Buerger had come to Weimar in the
year 1889, and both wishing to trans
late the same selection from Virgil,
each in his own metre, contention
arose between them. -
The regard that Schiller showed, at
this period of his life, for lawful crit
icism, and the rigor to which he sub
jected himself are manifest from the
following passages in his letters:
my next piece" he writes, whose
completion can scarcely be eonsum-
mated in the next two years, must de-
termine my career as a atiramatist Il
is the drama, however, in which I
chiefly rely upon myself, nor am 1 ig-
norant upon what this confidence is
based. Heretofore, the plots that |
have chosen blind chance threw in
my way, and I have thus been embar-
rassed in the utmost degree because
the composition was too prolix and too
bold. Let me once treat simple plot
and brood over il"
Wieland had censured him for his
lack of facility.
II feel" he writes upon this subject,
whilst engaged in my labors, only too
deeply that he is right; but | am aware
wherein the fault lies, which induces
me to hope that can, to great ex-
tent, correct myself in this respect.
My ideas do not flow with sufficient
copiousness, however luxuriant may
prove the fruit of my lebors, nor are
they clear before l write. Fullness of
heart and soul from ones subject, a
luminous dawning of ideas before one
seats himself to transmit them to paper,
and an easy humor are necessary re-
quisites to this quality; and when /
once SO bring it about as that l shall
possess these three essentials, then
shall l possess facility Also
So earnest an endeavor to satisfy
every higher claim never degenerated,
however, into paltry anxiety. Con-
cerning the freedom of the poet in the
choice of his subject he wrote, at that
time as follows: .-. .;.
Il am assured that every work of art
need be accountable only toitself, that
is to say, to its own standard of beauty,
and is subject to no other claim On
the contrary, l firmly believe that,
just in this way, it must mediately sat
isfy every other claim, because every
beauty, finally. has itself resolved into
universal truth. The poet who has
for his object beauty only, and inviola-
bly, follows it, will, eventually, have
also attained, in addition as it were, all
other considerations, which he seemed
to neglect without wishing or knowing
it; while, on the other hand, he who
unsteadily wavers between beauty and
morality, or whatever else it may be,
or pays court to both, soon makes a
failure in the case Of EACH"
In another letter of that date, occur
the following expressions:
you critics, or whatever you style
yourselves, are influenced by shame or
fear in view Of the momentary, tran
sient frenzy that is found in all original
creators, and whose longer or shorter
continuance distinguishes the artist
from the dreamer. Hence your com
plants against unfruitfulness, because
you reject prematurely and dissect
with too great rigor.
The happy frame of mind shown
forth in Schiller's letters at that time,
was intensified during the first two
years of his residence in Jena, when
the occurrence of several favorable
circumstances rendered him free from
anxious care for the present and future,
and when the possession of beloved
wife proifered him that enjoyment of
life that he had long coveted. His
professorship began with great bril-
lance; more than four hundred audi
tors came pouring in to his lectures.
By undertaking the editing of some
memoirs, for which he wrote introduc-
tory treatises, and by the continuation
of 1.-THE Tbalia" he secured to himself
E a,anf for his xrauts IL