New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1896-10-07

I
Dante, who died in 1872, presents IN
his Inferno the heightsof the artistic
|epopee; Petrarca, who died IN 1874, IS
greatest ii his sonnets Boccaccis, who.
died il Is s, with bis Decamerone is re-
garded as tile first classic novelist Il
pass by the numerous smaller forms Of
lyric poetry that sprung up in the 18th
century. Neither Italy nor france has
produced q NATIONAL ropes, as opposed to.
the artistic, these nations being mainly
the offspring Of the old Romans, llowev-
5er much Teutonic tribes may have mixed
with them. Therefore in France also.
we find at first lyric aud artistic epic po-
etry, the south favoring the former, the
north the latter; think Of the trouyires
of the north, where Chretien de TroYes
is the greatest epic poet, and of the fam
Gus troubadours Of Provence, the cradle.
of knighthood.
Now while Italy had another era Of
great ,poefical activity in the 16tl, cen
tlry through Ariosto (1533) and Tasso.
$3.50 in consequence Of the revival
Of classic poetry, France saw such an e
pooh only in the middle of the 18th cen
tury, when the effects Of the renaissance
and the national glory gave 1T the three
dramatists mentioned before, and many
ether poets and writers besides.
OF the Iberian peninsular little could
be said in q short sketch like this; yet
Camoens in Portugal ranks soshigh as
an epic poet, and Calderon and Lope, the
dlamatists of Spain a little later, deserve
so much credit, that 1 should at least
call attention to these men. @
German poetry has always suffered
much under the political disunion of its,
parts and particles: political misery is.
always felt most By the best of nation,
to which we are readnly inclined to count
the poets. Yet it is from this nation as
q whole that the poetlcaF genius must.
get his inspiration, his enthusiasm; it is
not enough that a minority OF we'll
ing persons shculd be able,. and willing,
to- appreciate his: works. We find then
that of all the centuries from the migra-
bon Of peoples to'the middle Of the 18th
century, when the flourishing epoch
there are only two of more
thar. euaannon Interest as regard real po-
etry. The first of these isSth tiRe. FROM
1I50 to 1850, indeed a. great and most
attractive epoch; for not only were the
rpie sonsss of the Germans, collected and
written avwn in the Nibelurgenlied ana
the &audrssny two of the greatest national
epopees, in the world, but The race also
produced its greatest lyric poet next to
Goethe anal Hesne, namely, Walther WOW.
der Vogelwcide $780,: There is
depth Of feeling, a patr,otism, a power
of cyaressisla,. and a sweetness of ker-
guageein several Of his poems, that only
Goethe anas Heine coald excel by the
closess study Of the natienal lyric songs,
the folk lore, and by superior genius for
this class Of poetry. Great is the nnna-
Der Of lyric and epic poets. at this, tinae,
but above all towers Wolfram: Won Eseb-
who created in his. Pawifal the
finest artistic epopce Of the age. It has
been revived In the memory Of the pres
ent generation by Richard Wagaer's ep-
era which bears the same name:
The other century Z, had in view is
that: faom 1850 to 1861. because it is the
most important era for the formation If
national lyric songs Ga quite a variety
Of subjects A national lyric song springs
forth, from the uned Eeated classes of a
nation; gives the original poetic feelings
and instincts that sleep in it,; is q model
neither in rhyme nor in logic imperfect
in expression, and yet you are perfectly
sure what it wants is. say to- you. The
author IS hardly ever known by name,
though sometimes by his profession or
trade, since the poems often end by tell
ing what the man was who first made
and sang it. Often such a poem is en-
larged by several stanzas in the course
Of time, and one or the other may have
three or four contributors. understand
there is similar poetry among the lower
classes in this country.
Itmay seem strange, but it is nevertkAe-
less sure that to such poetry we must al
ways 60 back, as it is rooted IN tile very
heart of nation, whenever poetl must
be revived, having gradually petrifcd, as
it were, in the hands of the learned and
this is what 6. g. Goethe and Heine did,
OF the poetry Of the last so years
do not wish to say anything in particular