The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1889-11-10
THE THREE GREATEST POETS.
BIT PHILIP sCHAFr, d. d.

Dante, Shakespeare and Goethe are
the greatest poets of the Christian era,
as Job, Homer and Virgil are the great
est OF the era before Christ. They rise
like pyramids in the history Of lltera.
ture. Their works have a universal
and perennial interest. Their theme is
man as man. and they sympathise with
all that Is human. They describe with
the intuition Of genius and in classical
style. our common nature in all its
phases from the lowest to the highest,
from the worst to the best.
But with this common characteristic
they differ as. widely as the nations and
ages to which they belong, aud az the
languages in which they wrote. They
are intensely human and yet intensely
national. Dante could only have arisen
in I'aly and in the thirteenth century,
Shakespeare only in England and in the
sixteenth century, Goethe only in Ger
many and in the eighteenth century.
Dante is the poet OF the Middle Ages
and Of Catholicism; Shakespeare is the
poet of the transition period Of the
Renaissance and Reformation: Goethe
is the poet of modern cosmopolitan
culture.
1t is difficult to say who 10 the great
est and most universal of the three.
Shakespeare is an unexplained literary
miracle as to creative fertility of genius
and lntuitive knowledge OF human ma
ture. English. old Roman, Italian,
E.ench. scandinavian, Christian, Jew
i.h. heather. noble and wicked, angelic
and Satanic. Goethe presents greater
variety of poetic and literary compo-
sition. and excels equally in drama,
epos, and song, in narrative prose and
critical judgment. Dante in one
respect is the most exalted and sublime
of the three. as he follows men into the
eternal world of bliss and woe. Goethe
does the same-in his " Faust who in
the First Part goes down to perdition
for his sins, but in the Second Part we
find him in Heaven without passing
through the purgatory Of repentance.
and without faith IN Christ. The angels
who carry the immortal part Faust
greet him as one who Is saved by pro-
cess Of self-purificatioD.
"Gsrenef Isl dds ,dle Glued,
Der Geisferusu rom Bossn.
Yer INNER srebcnd stch benuh,
Den konnen mir erIosen.'
This is the moral defect in that grea.
tragedy Dante was Catholic believer,
and peoples his Paradise with spotless
saints. Shakespeare processes no reli'
gion. and is hid behind his characters;
but he reyerently bowed before him
"Whose blessed feet were naird
For our advantage on the bitter cross
There is no finer aud more truly |
Christian description OF mercy than that
given by Shakespeare in the Merchant
OF Venice Act ", scene Il
"rhe quality Of mercy IS not strand:
II droppeth ne the gentle rain from Heaven
Upon the place beneath. II istwice blessed
II biesseth him that gives and him that
takes.
4.
The throned monarch better Than his crown
His spector shows the fore OF temporal
power;
The attribute TO awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the fear add dread ofkings. |
But mercy is above this sceptered sway
II is enthroned in the heart OF kings,
It's an attribute TO God himself;
And earthly power doth then show likest
Gods.
When mercy seasons Justice
OF Dante and Shakespeare we know |
very little, and that little is uncertain |
and disputed. Goethe left a charming |
record of his early life. and his later
years are equally well known. Dante
and Shakespeare died in the vigor OF
manhood. Goethe in serene old age,
praying for more light, and leaving as
one OF his last wise utterances this ties
.imony that however the human race
may advance in science. literature and
art and every branch Of civilization, 1t
will never pass in morality and religion
beyond Christ, who is the most perfect
of the Divine IN human
form ever seen on earth.
Neic York city.