Year: 1874

GUS company serene and communiea


tive, especially upon the subject of hi


travels in Italy, from which he ha


just returned; but this tranquility an


unrestrainedness was somewhat un


pleasant to Schiller, who sat opposit


him, conscious of restless and dis


contented struggle within himself


"On the whole" he wrote with regar,


to this meeting, my truly exalted con


ception of Goethe has not suffere,


diminution since this personal ac


quaintance, but / doubt whether W,


shall be closely drawn together. Mucl


that is now still of interest to me, tha


| have yet to wish and to hope, hi


epoch has passed over. His Who'll,


being is, even from the first disposed
differently from mine; his world il


not mine, our conceptions seem to b


essentially different. However, "a conclu


sion formed from such meeting is mo-


safe or we'll grounded. Time will show


the rest" And time dad show, and in


but few months, that Goethe, at least


neglected no opportunity of actively


interesting himself in Schiller's be-


half, whom he knew how to appreciate


When Professor Eichhom about that


time left Jena, Schiller's work con-
cerning the revolt of the Netherlands


had just appeared, giving from him
much promise for the exposition of
history. Goethe and the Privy Coun-
selor, Won Voight accordingly secured
his appointment as Professor in Jena.
This was, of all things, what Schiller
desired, but was at the same time sur
prising to him, since he had regarded
previous preparation of some years
necessary for filling such an Office.
From the time of his departure from
Dresden till the spring of 1789-the
time at which he entered upon his pro-
fessorship in Jena-he was mainly oc-
cupied with his historical work. Con-
cerning this he wrote thus to a
friend:


You can scarcely believe how well
eontented | am in my new sphere. So
attractive to me is the prospect of
great uncultivated fields. At every
step my stock of ideas is enlarged, and
my soul expands with the world in
which it moves"


The following is a later expression
of his views regarding the historic
style:


1t should be the aim toinvest every
more recent history, written for the
moderns, with the interest inspired in
the Greeks by the history of the Pei
oponnesian war. The problem for So
luton is just this. the choosing and
arranging of ones materials in such a
manner as to render them interesting
without the aid of establishment. We
moderns have feeling of interest in
our power that no Greek or Roman
entertained, to which the interest in
ones country is far inferior. The
latter has special weight with imma-
ture nations, with the world in its in
fancy. 1t is quite different interest
that manifests itself in powerfully rep
resenting to men every remarkable oc-
currence happening in their midst. He
has poor, paltry ideal who is prompt
ed to write for one nation; to a phil
osophic spirit this limit is utterly in
tolerable. Such a one cannot stand
still at pattern of mankind so muta-
BILE, so occasional, SO arbitrary, as
fragment (and what else is the might
lest nation?) His sympathies can
become enlisted therein no further
than in so far as this nation or national
occurrence is eficacious as q condi-
ton for the progress of the species"


So enthusiastic an opinion of history
did not, however, render Schiller un-
faithful to the poetic art. His pro-
ductions in that line were not numer-
GUS, but considerable. and an improve
ment, as well in respect of form as of
manifested itself very plain
ly in The Gods of Greece" and 1.-THE |
Artists" He was also engaged upon
plans for future poetical productions.
His idea of discussing some passages
from Wieland's OJeron ais Oper was
left unexecuted. He dwelt longer upon
the thought of choosing the subject
matter for an epic poem from the life
of King Frederick the Second. With |
regard to this the following passages
are found in Schiller's letters


''The idea Of composing an epic
poem from a remarkable action Of
Frederick the Second is by no means
only it comes too early for
me by six or eight years. All the
difficulties arising from the fact that
this subject embraces a period so near
our own time and the apparent incom-
patibility of the epic strain with a
cotemporaneous theme would not ap-
pear SO formidable. An epic poem in
the eighteenth century is, of necessity,
quite different thing from one in the
infancy of the world. And that which
renders the idea so alluring to me is
Just. Our customs, the finest illusions
of our philosophers, our frugality, our
composition and arts, in short all must
be unreservodly portrayed therein and
live in a beautiful and harmonious
freedom, as intuitively as live all the
branches of Grecian cultivation ETC.,
in THE Had" Nor am | withheld
from devising means of accomplishing
this purpose, for l should like to sat
isfy, to a nicely, every demand that is
made of the epic poet on the point Of
form. But these means, that appear
to encounter the greatest obstacles in
a subject SO modern, in an age so
prosaic, can heighten the interest in
high degree, if they are adapted to
this modern spirit. Ideas with refer