Ill K31 jui6=y3^j^ JfivliB 4., ','.te. Cornell University Library PT 119.R39 Influence of India and Persia on the poe 3 1924 026 130 579 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY GERMANIC STUDIES Vol. I. No. IV. The Influence OF INDIA AND PERSIA ON THE POETRY OF GERMANY BY ARTHUR F. J. REMY, A.M., Ph.D. SOMETIME FELLOW IN COMPARATIVE PHILOLOGY COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY THE COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS The MacmillanGompany, Agents 66 fifth avenue igoi Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924026130579 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY GERMANIC STUDIES Vol. I. No. IV. The Influence OF INDIA AND PERSIA ON THE POETRY OF GERMANY ARTHUR F. J. REMY, A.M., Ph.D. SOMETIME FELLOW IN COMPARATIVE PHILOLOGY COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY THE COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS The Macmillan Company, Agents 66 fifth avenue igoi ^^3.. J TO Prof. William H. Carpenter, Ph.D. Prof. Calvin Thomas, A.M. Prof. A. V. Williams Jackson, L.H.D., Ph.D. OF COLUMBIA UNIVF.RSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK IN gratitude |-5p O 2^lf PREFACE. The Oriental movement which manifested itself so strikingly in German literature during the nineteenth century is familiar to every student of that literature. Although the general nature of this movement is pretty clearly understood, no sys- tematic investigation of it, so far as I know, has ever been undertaken. In the following pages an attempt is made to trace the influence which the Indo-Iranian East — the Semitic part is not considered — exerted on German poetry. The work does not claim to be exhaustive in the sense that it gives a list of all the poets that ever came under that influence. Nor does it pretend to be anything like a complete catalogue of the sources whence the poets derived their material. The performance of such a task would have required far more time and space than were at my disposal. A selection was absolutely necessary. It is hoped that the material presented in the case of each poet is sufficient to give a clear idea of the extent to which he was subject to Oriental influence, as well as of the part that he took in the movement under discussion. It is my pleasant duty to acknowledge the obligations under which I am to various scholars. In the first place, my sincere thanks are due to Professor Jackson, at whose suggestion this investigation was undertaken and whose encouragement and advice have never been wanting. I am also indebted for help- ful suggestions to Professors Carpenter and Thomas of the Germanic department, who kindly volunteered to read the proof-sheets. Furthermore, I wish to thank Mr. Yohannan for assistance rendered in connection with the transliteration of some of the lithographic editions of Persian authors. And, finally, I am indebted to the kindness of Dr. Gray for the use of several rare volumes which otherwise would have been inaccessible to me. Arthur F. J. Remy. New York, May i, igor. List of Works most fr£quently consulted. Baharistan. The Beharistan by Jaml. Printed by the Kama Shastra Society for Private Subscribers only. Benares, 1887. Bhartrhari. Satakatrayam, 2d ed. Nirnaya Sagara Press. Bombay, 1891. Quotations are from this edition. Bodenstedt, Friedr. Martin. Gesammelte Schriften. 12 Bde. Berlin, 1865. Tausend und ein Tag im Orient in vols, i and ii. References to Mirza SchaiFy songs are based on this edition. Firdausi. See Shah Namah. Goethe's Werke. 36 Bde. Berlin (Hempel), 1879. Quotations are from this edition. Grundriss der iranischen Philologie. Hrsg. von W. Geiger und E. Kuhn. Strassburg, 1896 . Gulistan. The Gulistan of Shaikh Muslihu'd din Sa'di of Shiraz, ed. John Platts. 2d ed. London, 1874. Quotations are from this edition. or Rose garden. Printed by the Kama Shastra Society for Private Subscribers only. Benares, 1888. Hafid. Die Lieder des Hafis. Persisch mit dem Commentare des Sudi hrsg. von Herm. Brockhaus. Leipzig, 1863. Quotations are from this edition. Hammer, Jos. von. Geschichte der schonen Redekiinste Per- siens, mit einer Bliithenlese aus zweyhundert persischen Dichtern. Wien, 1818. Heine. Heinrich Heines samtliche Werke in 12 Bden. Stutt- gart (Cotta), s. a. Herder. Sammtliche Werke, ed. Bernhard Suphan. 32 Bde. Berlin, 1877. Hitopadesa. The Hitopades'a of Narayana Pandit, ed. Goda- bole and Parab. 3d ed. Nirn. Sag. Press. Bombay, 1890. Quotations are from this edition. vi Vll Jackson, A. V. Williams. Zoroaster, the Prophet of ancient Iran. New York, 1899. Mohl. See Shah Namah. Piper, Paul. Hofische Epik. 4 pts. KDNL. iv. Spielmannsdichtung. 2 pts. KDNL. ii. Platen. Platens samtliche Werke. Stuttgart (Cotta), s. a. References are based on this edition. Riickert. Friedrich Riickert's gesammelte poetische Werke. 12 Bde. Fkft. a. M., 1882. References are based on this edition. Schack, Ad. Friedr. Graf von. Gesammelte Werke. 3 Aufi. 10 Bde. Stuttgart, 1897. Shrdi Namah. Firdusii Liber Regium qui inscribitur Shah Name, ed. VuUers (et Landauer). Tom. 3. Lugd. 1877-1884. Le Livre des Rois par Abou'l Kasim Firdousi, traduit et commente par Jules Mohl. 7 vols. Paris, 1876- 1878. Abbreviatioisis. BLVS. . . . Bibliothek des Litterarischen Vereins in Stuttgart. Tubingen. Bohtl. . . Otto Bohtlingk, Indische Spriiche, St. Petersburg, 1870-1873. 2 Aufl. 3 Bde. Grdr. iran. Phil. Grundriss der iranischen Philologie. Qui Gulistan, ed. Platts. H Hafid, ed. Brockhaus. H. E Hofische Epik, ed. Piper in KDNL. JAOS. . • Journal American Oriental Society. KDNL. . . . Deutsche National-Litteratur, ed. Jo's. Kiirschner. (Berlin) u. Stuttgart. K. S Translations of the Gulistan and Baharistan, printed for the Kama Shastra Society. Red Geschichte der schonen Redekiinste Per- siens. Sh. N. . . . Shah Namah. ZDMG. . . . Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenlandischen Gesellschaft. Vlll CONTENTS. Chapter I. INTRODUCTION. Page Information of Mediasval Europe concerning India and Persia — Travellers — ^India and Persia in Mediaeval German Poetry, . . . . i Chapter II. FROM THE PORTUGUESE DISCOVERIES TO THE TIME OF SIR WILLIAM JONES. Travels to India and Persia — Olearius and his Work — Progress of Persian Studies — Roger — India's Lan- guage and Literature remain unknown — Oriental Influence in German Literature, . . . 9 Chapter III. HERDER. Herder's Interest in the Orient— Fourth Collection of his Zerstreute Blatter — His Didactic Tendency and Predilection for Sa'dl, . . 16 Chapter IV. GOETHE. Enthusiasm for Sakuntala — Der Gott und die Bajadere; der Paria — Goethe's Aversion for Hindu Mythol- ogy — Origin of the Divan — Oriental Character of the Work — Inaugurates the Oriental Movement, . 20 Chapter V. SCHILLER. Schiller's Interest in Sakuntala — Turandot, . 28 ix X Chapter VI. THE SCHLEGELS. Page Friedrich Schlegel's Weisheit der Indier — Foundation of Sanskrit Study in Germany, . . 3° Chapter VII. PLATEN. His Oriental Studies — Ghaselen — Their Persian Charac- ter — Imitation of Persian Form — Translations, 32 Chapter VIII. RUCKERT. His Oriental Studies — Introduces the Ghasele — Ostliche Rosen ; Imitations of Hafid — Erbauliches und Beschau- liches — Morgenlandische Sagen und Geschichten — Brahmanische Erzahlungen — Die Weisheit des Brah- manen — Other Oriental Poems, . . 38 Chapter IX. HEINE. Becomes Interested in India through Schlegel — Influence of India's Literature on his Poetry — Interest in the Persian Poets — Persian Influence on Heine — His Attitude toward the Oriental Movement, 57 Chapter X. BODENSTEDT. Lieder des Mirza Schaffy — Are Original Poems — Nach- lass — Aus Morgenland und Abendland — Sakuntala, a Narrative Poem, . 64 Chapter XI. THE MINOR orientalizing POETS. Some less known Poets who attempted the Oriental Manner, . . ...... 72 Chapter XII. VON SCHACK. Page His Fame as Translator of Firdausi — Stimmen vom Ganges — Sakuntala, compared with the Original in the Mahabharata — His Oriental Scholarship in his Original Poems — Attitude towards Hafizian Singers, 74 Chapter XIII. CONCLUSION. Summary of Results Attained — Persian Tendency predomi- nates over Indie — Reason for this — Estimate of the Value of the Oriental Movement in German Literature. 79 Transcription. For the transcription of Sanskrit words the system of the Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenlandischen Gesellschaft has been followed; for that of Persian words the system of the Grundriss der iranischen Philologie has been adopted, with some variations however, e. g. c is indicated by '. To be con- sistent, such familiar names as Hafiz and Nizami appear as Hafid and NidamI ; Omar Khayyam as 'Umar Xayyam ; and the word ghazal, the German Ghasele, is written yazal. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION. Information of Mediaeval Europe Concerning India and PERSIA' — Travellers — India and Persia in Medi/eval German Poetry. The knowledge which mediceval Europe had of India and Persia was mostly indirect, and, as might be expected, defi- cient both in correctness and extent, resting, as it did, on the statements of classical and patristic writers, on hearsay and on oral communication. In the accounts of the classic writers, especially in those of Pliny, Strabo, Ptolemy, truth and fiction were already strangely blended. Still more was this the case with such compilers and encyclopaedists as Solinus, Cassio- dorus and Isidorus of Sevilla, on whom the mediaeval scholar depended largely for information. All these writers, in so far as they speak of India, deal almost entirely with its physical description, its cities and rivers, its wealth of precious stones and metals, its spices and silks, and in particular its marvels and wonders. Of its religion we hear but little, and as to its literature we have only a few vague statements of Arrian,' Aelian" and Dio Chrysostomus.' When the last mentioned author tells us that the ancient Hindus sang in their own language the poems of Homer, it shows that he had no idea of the fact that the great Sanskrit epics, to which the passage undoubtedly alludes, were independent poems. To him they appeared to be nothing more than versions of Homer. Aelian makes a similar statement, but cautiously adds ei' rt Xpi] TTKTTtvav Tok vTrip TovTw l(TTopov(nv. Philostratus represents the Hindu sage larchas as well acquainted with the Homeric poems, but nowhere does his hero Apollonius of Tyana show the slightest knowledge of Sanskrit literature.'' Nor do the classic authors give us any more information about the literature of Persia, though the Iranian religion 1 Indica, ch. lo. ^ Var. Hist. xii. 48. 3 De Homero, Oratio liii., ed. Dindorf, Lips. 1857, vol. ii. p. 165. ' ApoUonii Vita, iii. 19 et passim. received some attention. Aristotle and Theopompus were more or less familiar with Zoroastrian tenets,' and allusions to the prophet of ancient Iran are not infrequent in classic writers. But their information concerning him is very scanty and inaccurate. To them Zoroaster is simply the great Magian, more renowned for his magic art than for his relig- ious system. Of the national Iranian legends, glimpses of which we catch in the Avesta (esp. Yt. 19), and which must have existed long before the Sassanian period and the time of Firdausi, the Greek and Roman authors have recorded nothing. But Europe was not limited to the classic and patristic writers for information about the Orient. The points of con- tact between the Eastern and Western world were numerous even before the Portuguese showed the way to India. Alex- andria was the seat of a lively commerce between the Roman Empire and India during the first six centuries of the Chris- tian era; the Byzantine Empire was always in close relations, hostile or friendly, with Persia; the Arabs had settled in Spain, Southern Italy and Sicily; and the Mongols ruled for almost two centuries in Russia. All these were factors in the trans- mission of Oriental influence." And, as far as Germany is concerned, we must remember that in the tenth century, owing to the marriage of the emperor Otto II to the Greek princess Theophano, the relations between the German and Byzantine Empires were especially close. Furthermore the Hohenstaufen emperor, Frederick II, it will be remembered, was a friend and patron of the Saracens in Italy and Sicily, who in turn supported him loyally in his struggle against the papacy. Above all, the crusades, which brought the civilization of the West face to face with that of the East, were a powerful factor in bringing Oriental influence into Europe. The effect they had on the European mind is shown by the great number of French and German poems which lay their scene of action in Eastern lands, or, as will be shown presently, introduce persons and things from India and Persia.^ ' See Jackson, Zoroaster, p. 8. ^ See Benfey, Pantschatantra, Vorrede, p. xxiv and note. 3 See Gaston Paris, La Litt^rature Fran9aise au Moyen Age, Paris, 1888, p. 49 seq. A striking illustration of oral transmission is the origin of tile tradition about Prester John, for which see Cathay and the Way thither, ed. Henry Yule, Lond. 1866, Hakluyt See. No. 36, 37, vol. i. p. 174 and n. i. Of course it is as a rule impossible to tell precisely how and when the Oriental influence came into Europe, but that it did come is absolutely certain. The transformation of the Bud- dha-legend into the Christian legend of Barlaam and Josaphat, the migration of fables and stories, and the introduction of the game of chess furnish the clearest proofs of this. But direct information about the East was also available. A number of merchants and missionaries penetrated even as far as China, and have left accounts of their travels. Such an account of India and Ceylon was given as early as the sixth century by Cosmas, surnamed Indicopleustes. The names of Benjamin of Tudela (about 1160 A.D.) and of Marco Polo (1271-1295) are familiar to every student of historical geography. The Mongol rulers during the period of their dominion over China were in active communication with the popes and allowed Western missionaries free access to their realm. A number of these missionaries also came to India or Persia, for instance Giovanni de Montecorvino (1289-1293),' Odorico da Pordenone (1316-1318)," Friar Jordanus (1321- 1323, and 1330)' and Giovanni de Marignolli (1347).* In the fifteenth century Henry III of Castile sent Ruy Gonzales de Clavijo as ambassador to Timur, and towards the end of that century several Venetian Ambassadors, Caterino Zeno (1472), Josaphat Barbaro (1473) and Ambrosio Contarini (1473), were at the Persian Court in order to bring about united action on the part of Venice and Persia against the Turks." These embassies attracted considerable attention in Europe, as is shown by numerous pamphlets concerning them, published in several European countries." In this same century Nicolo de Conti travelled in India and the account of his wanderings has been recorded by Poggio.' ' Yule, op. cit. vol. i. pp. 165-167 and p. 197 seq. ' lb. pp. 1-161 ; Latin text in appendix i of vol. ii. s Mirabilia Descripta, ed. Henry Yule, London, 1863. Hakluyt Society, No. 31. * Yule, Cathay, vol. ii. pp. 311-381. 6 For their accounts see the publications of the Hakluyt Society, 1859 and 1873. Nos, 26 and 49. ' See Paul Horn, Gesch. Irans in Islamitischer Zeit, in Grdr. iran. Phil. II. p. 578 and note 4; also p. 579. See also Bibl. Asiat. et Afric. par H. Ternaux-Compans, Paris, 1841, •under the years 1508, 1512, 1514, 1515, 1516, iS3S, i543> i579. 1583. etc. ' English tr. in R. H. Major, India in the Fifteenth Century, London, 1857. Hakluyt Society, No. 22, As we see, most of these travellers are Italians. We know of but one German, before the year 1500, who went further than the Holy Land, and that is Johann Schildberrger of Munich, whose book of travel was printed in 1473. Taken prisoner while fighting in Turkish service against Timur at Angora, he remained in the East from 1395 to 1417, and got as far as Persia. His description of that country is very meagre; India, as he expressly states,' he never visited, his statements about that land being mostly plagiarized from Mandeville.' These accounts, however, while they give valuable informa- tion concerning the physical geography, the wealth, size, and wonderful things of the countries they describe, have little or nothing to say about the languages or literatures. All that Conti for instance has to say on this important subject is con- tained in a single sentence: " Loquendi idiomata sunt apud Indos plurima, atque inter se varia. " '' In these accounts it was not so much truthfulness that appealed to the public, as strangeness and fancifulness. Thus Marco Polo's narrative, marvelous as it was, never became as popular as the spurious memoirs of Mandeville, who in serving up his monstrosities ransacked almost every author, classic or mediceval, on whom he could lay his hands." In fact a class of books arose which bore the significant name of Mirabilia Mundi and purported to treat of the whole world, and especially of India. Such are, for instance, Les Merveilles de rinde by Jean Vauquelin, Fenix de las maravillas del mondo by Raymundus Lullius, and similar works by Nicolaus Donis, Arnaldus de Badeto and others. ' But the great store-house of Oriental marvels on which the mediaeval poets drew for material was the Alexander-romance of pseudo-Callisthenes, of which there were a number of Latin versions, the most important being the epitome made by Julius Valerius and the Historia de Preliis written by the archpresbyter Leo in the ' Hans Schiltbergers Reisebuch ed. Val. Langmantel (BLVS. vol. 172) TUbingen, 1885, p. 79 : " In der grossen India pin ich nicht gewesen . . ." ^Hjid. p. 164. ' Friedr. Kunstmann, Die Kenntnis Indiens im i5"« Jahrhunderte, Miinchen, 1863, p. 59 ; Major, op. cit. p. 31. ••See Albert Bovenschen, Quellen fUr die Reisebeschreibung des Joh. v. Mandeville, Bed. 1888. , 5 See GrSsse, J. G. Th., Lehrbuch einer allgem. LiterMrgesch., 9 vols., Dresd. u. Leipz. 1837-59, Vol. II. pt. 2, pp. 783-785. tenth century. The charactei" of the Oriental lore offered in these writings is best shown by a cursory examination of the work last mentioned.' There we are introduced to a bewil- dering array of mirabilia, snakes, hippopotami, scorpions, giant-lobsters, forest-men, bats, elephants, bearded women, dog-headed people, griffins, white women with long hair and ^ canine teeth, fire-spouting birds, trees that grow and vanish in the course of a single day, mountains of adamant, and finally sacred sun-trees and moon-trees that possess the gift of prophecy. But beyond some vague reference to asceticism not a trace of knowledge of Brahmanic life can be found. While the Brahman King Didimus is well versed in Roman and Greek mythology, he neAcr mentions the name of any of his own gods. Of real information concerning India there is almost nothing. From what we have seen thus far we shall not expect in mediaeval literature conscious 'imitation or reproduction of works from Persian or Sanskrit literature. Whatever influ- ence these literatures exerted in Europe was indirect. If a subject was transmitted from East to West it was as a rule stripped of its Oriental names and characteristics, and even its Oriental origin was often forgotten. This is the case with the greater part of the fables and stories that can be traced to Eastern sources and have found their way into such works as the Gesta Romanorum, or the writings of Boccaccio, Straparola and Lafontaine. Sometimes, however, the history of the origin is still remembered, as for instance in the famous Buck der Beispiele, where the preface begins thus: " Es ist von den alten wysen der geschlacht der welt dis buoch des ersten jn yndischer sprauch gedicht und darnach in die buochstaben der Persen verwandelt, . . . ." Poems whose subjects are of Eastern origin are not fre- quent in the German literature of the middle ages. The most striking example of such a poem is the " Barlaam und Josaphat ■' of Rudolph von Ems (about 1225), the story of which, as has been conclusively proved, is nothing more or 1 Latin text publ. by Oswald Zingerle as an appendix to Die Quellen zum Alexander des Rudolf v. Ems in Weinhold Germ. Abhandl. Breslau, 1885, pt. iv. 2 Das Buch der Beispiele der alten Weisen, ed. Wilh. Ludw. Holland, Stuttg. i860, BLVS. vol. 56. 2 less than the legend of Buddha in Christian garb." The well known "Herzmaere" of the same author has likewise been shown to be of Indie origin.' Then there is a poem of the fourteeth or fifteenth century on the same subject as Riickert's parable of the man in the well, which undoubtedly goes back to Buddhistic sources.' Besides these we mention " Vrou- wenzuht" (also called "von dem Zornbraten") by a poet Sibote of the thirteenth century/ and Hans von Biihel's " Diocletianus Leben " (about 1412), the well known story of the seven wise masters. ' The great interest which the East aroused in Europe, espe- cially after the period of the first crusades, is shown by the great number of poems which have their scene of action in Oriental lands, especially in India or Persia, or which intro- duce persons and things from those countries. To indulge this fondness for Oriental scenery poets do not hesitate to violate historical truth. Thus Charlemagne and his paladins are sent to the Holy Land in the " Pelerinage de Charles- magne "° and in the poem called the " Karl Meinet, " a German compilation of various legends about the Prankish hero.' Purely Germanic legends like those of Ortnit-Wolfdietrich and King Rother were orientalized in much the same manner. ° As might be expected, it is in the court-epic and minstrel- poetry (Spielmaiinsdichtung) where this Oriental tendency mani- fests itself most markedly. A typical poem of this kind is " Herzog Ernst." The hero, a purely German character, is made to go through a series of marvelous adventures in the 1 Piper, H. E. iii. pp. 562-632. Joseph Langen, Johannes von Damaskus, Gotha 187Q, pp. 230-255, esp. p. 252, n. i. 2 Piper, H. E. iii. pp. 216-219. 3 Vetter, Lehrhafte Litteratur des 14. u. 15. Jalirhunderts (KDNL. vol. 12), I. pp. 496- 4Qg. For a bibliography of this poem see C. Beyer, Nachgelassene Ged. Frledr. Riickert's, Wien, 1877, pp. 311-320. For a translation of the version in the Mahabharata see Boxber- ger, Ruckert Studien, p. 94 seq. A translation of a Buddhist sutta on the same subject is given in Edm. Hardy, Indische Religionsgeschichte, Leipz. 1898, pp. 72, 73. Cf. also E. Kuhn, in Bijhtlingks Festgruss, Stuttg. 1888, pp. 74, 75. ■1 Piper, H. E. iii. pp. 531, 532. See also Hagen, Gesammtabenteuer, i. LXXXV and 11. 2, 5 Edited by Keller, Quedl. 1841. See art. by Goedeke in Orient und Occident, iii. 2. pp. 385 seq. » See edition by Koschwitz, in Altfranz. Bibl., vol. ii, p. 7 seq., and consult Gaston Paris, La Po^sie du Moyen Age, Paris, 1887. p. 119 seq. ' See ed. Adelb. von Keller, Stuttg. 1858 (BLVS. vol. 45), pp. 507 seq. Cf. also Uhland's KSnig Karls Meerfart. 8 Jiriczek, Die deutsche Heldensage, Leipz. 1897, pp. 144, 153. East some of which bear a striking resemblance to those of Sindbad.' The later strophic version (14th century) and the prose-version of the Volksbuch (probably 15th century) localize some of these adventures definitely in the ferren India.'' Pro- bably under the influence of this story the author of the incompleted " Reinfrit von Braunschweig" (about 1300) was induced to send his hero into Persia, to meet with some- what similar experiences." Heinrich von Neustadt likewise lays the scene of Apollonius' adventures in the golden valley Crysia bordering on India/ In the continuation of the Par- zifal-story entitled " Der Jiingere Titurel," which was written by Albrecht von Scharffenberg (about 1280), the Holy Grail is to be removed from a sinful world and to be carried to the East to be given to Feirefiz, half brother to Parzifal.^ The meeting of Feirefiz with the knights furnishes the poet an opportunity of bringing in a learned disquisition on Prester John and his dri India die wlten, and finally this mythical monarch offers his crown to Parzifal, who henceforth is called Priester Johanni. In the poem of " Lohengrin", of un- known authorship, the knight when about to depart declares he has come from India where there is a house fairer than that at Montsalvatsch.' Princes and princesses from India or Persia abound in the poems of the court-writers and minstrels. Thus in " Solomon und Morolf " Salme is the daughter of the King of Endianf in Wolfram's " Willehalm " King Alofel of Persia and King Gorhant from the Ganjes figure in the battle of Alischanz. " In Konrad von Wiirzburg's " Trojanischer Krieg " the kings Pan- filias of Persia and Achalmus of India are on the Trojan side." In the same poet's " Partenopier " the Sultan of Persia is the hero's chief rival." In " Der Jiingere Titurel " Gatschiloe, a princess from India, becomes bearer of the Grail ; similarly in 1 On this see Karl Bartsch, Herzog Ernst, Wjen, i86g, Einl. p. cliii. 2 Bartsch, op. cit. p. 204 seq. and p. 279 seq. 3 See ed. Bartsch, Tlib. 1871 (BLVS. vol. 108), 11, 16745 seq. ■■Piper, H. E. iii. p. 389. ' Piper, H. E. ii. p. 530 seq. "See ed. by Heinr. Riickert, Quedlinb. u. Leipz. 1858, 1. 7141 seq. p. i8g. 'Piper, Spielmannsdichtung, I. p. 215. See also ed. bj' Hagen u. Busching in Ged. d. Mittel., Berl. i8c8, i. 1. 6. 8 Piper, Wolfr. v. Eschenbach (KDNL, vol. s), I. p. 214. "See ed. v. Keller, Stuttg. 1858 (BLVS. vol. 44), 11. 24840, 24939, pp. 296, 298. 1" Piper, H. E. iii. pp. 299, 300, a poem by Der Pleiaere, Flordibel, who comes to the Knights of the Round Table to learn courtly manners, reveals herself as a princess from India.' According to a poem of the fourteenth century the father of St. Christopher is king of Arabia and Persia.'' Even the folk-epic " Kudrun " knovs^s of Hilde of India, Hagen's wife.' Again, wonderful things from India are abundant in this class of poetry. The magic lance- which Wigalois receives, when he is about to do battle with a fire-spitting dragon, is from, that land." So also is the magic ring given to Reinfrit when he sets out on his crusade. ° Wigamur's bride Dulceflur wears woven gold from the castle Gramrimort in India," and in the " Nibelungen " Hagen and Dancwart, when going to the Isenstein, wear precious stones from that land.' To some poets India and Persia are a sort of Ultima Thule to denote the furthest limits of the earth, as for instance, when in the " Rolandslied " Ganelun complains that for the ambi- tion of Roland even Persia is not too far," or, when in the " Willehalm " King Tybalt, whose daughter has been carried off, lets his complaint ring out as far as India." Examples might be multiplied. But they would all prove the same thing. India and Persia were magic names to con- jure with ; their languages and literatures were a book with seven seals to mediaeval Europe. ' Piper, H. E. ii. p. 325. ^ Piper, Die geistliche Dichtung des Mittelalters (KDNL. vol. 3), ii. pp. 71, 72. ' See ed. Bartsch (KDNL. vol. 6), pp. 26, 27. < Piper, H. E. ii. p. 222. *See ed. Bartsch, 1. 15067, p. 440. " See ed. by Hagen in Ged. d. Mittel. i. p. 46, 1. 4462 seq. ' Das Nibelungenlied, ed. Friedr. Zarncke, Leipz. 1894, p. 62, v. 3. ® Piper, Spielm., p. 30. ° Piper, Wolfr. v. Eschenbach, i. p. 208 ; of. Dante's Paradise, cant. 29, 11. 100-102. CHAPTER II. FROM THE PORTUGUESE DISCOVERIES TO THE TIME OF SIR WILLIAM JONES. Travels to India and Persia — Olearius and his Work — Progress of Persian Studies — Roger — India's Lan- guage and Literature remain unknown — Oriental Influence in German Literature. Little can be said of Oriental influence on German poetry during the next three centuries after the Great Age of Dis- covery, and in an investigation like the one in hand, which confines itself to poetry only, this chapter might perhaps be omitted. Nevertheless a brief consideration of this influence on German literature in general during this period forms an appropriate transition to the time when the Oriental move- ment in Germany really began. After the Portuguese had sailed around Africa, direct and uninterrupted communication with the far East was established. Portuguese, Dutch, French and English merchants appeared successively on the scene to get their share of the rich India commerce. German merchants also made a transitory effort. The firm of the Welsers in Augsburg sent two representatives who accompanied the expedition of Francisco d' Almeida in 1505 and that of Tristao da Cunha in the following year. But conditions were not favorable and the attempt was not renewed. ' Travels to India and Persia now multiplied rapidly, and accounts of such travels became very common ; so common, in fact, that already in the sixteenth century collections of them were made, the best known being the Noviis Orbis of Grynaeus, and the works of Ramusio and Hakluyt. Among the more famous travellers of the sixteenth centur)- we may mention Barthema, Federici, Barbosa, Fitch and van Linschoten for India, and the brothers Shirley for Persia. In the seventeenth ^ See Kunstmann, Die Fahrt der ersten Deutschen nach dem portugiesischen Xndien in Hist. pol. Blatter f. d, Kath. Deutschl,, Miinchen, 1861, vol. 48, pp. 277-309. 10 century we may cite the names of della Valle, Baldaeus, Tavernier, Bernier and the German Mandelslo for India, while those of Olearius and Chardin are most famous in connection with Persia. And that books of travel were much read in Germany is attested by the number of editions and translations which appeared there. Thus among the earliest books printed there we have a translation of Marco Polo (Nuremberg), i477)' reprinted repeatedly, e. g. at Augsburg, 1481, in the Novus Orbis, 1534 (Latin version), at Basle, 1534 (German translation of the preceding), while Mandeville's memoirs were so popular as to become finally a Volksbuch.''' The account of Olearius is of special interest to us. It gives an excellent description of Persia, and above all it gives us valuable information on the literature and language. Olearius is struck by the similarity of many Persian words to corresponding words in German and Latin, and hints at the kinship of these idioms, though, looking only at the vocabu- lary and not at the structure, he supposes Persian to be related to Arabic." He tells us of the high esteem in which poetry was held by the Persians, and notices that rhyme is an indis- pensable requisite of their poetic art. He also mentions some of their leading poets, among them Sa'di, Hafid, Firdausi and Nidaml." But what interests us most is the translation which he made of the Gulistdn, published in 1654, under the title of Persianischer Rosenthal. True, it was not the first in point of time. As early as 1634 du Ryer had published at Paris an incomplete French version, and shortly afterwards this version was trans- lated into German by Johann Friedrich Ochsenbach of Tubin- gen, but apparently without attracting much notice.^ In 1644, Levin Warner of Leyden had given the Persian text and Latin version of a number of Sa'di's maxims," while Gentius had 1 For title see Panzer, Annalen d. Slteren deutsch. Litt., Niirnb. 1788. 2 See Grasse, op. cit. ii. 2. pp. 773, 774. 3 Des Welt-beriihmten Adami Olearii colUgirte und viel vermehrte Reise-Beschreibun- gen etc., Hamb. i6g6, chap. xxv. * Ibid. chap, xxviii. p. 327 seq. « Olearius, op. cit.. Preface to the Rosenthal. Full title of Ochsenbach's boolc in Buch der Beispiele, ed. Holland, p. 258, 11. i. 5 Proverbiorum et Sententiarum Persicarum Centuria, Leyden, 1644. In the preface the author says that he undertakes his work, " cum e genuinis Persarum scriptis nihil hactenus in Latinam linguam sit translatum." 11 published tlie whole text with a Latin translation at Amster- dam in 165 1. But it was the version of Olearius that really- introduced the Gulistdn to Europe. The edition of Olearius, from which we have cited, contains also a translation of the Biistd/i, called £>er Persiauische Baum- garten, made, however, not directly from the Persian, but from a Dutch version. Besides this, the edition contains also the narratives of two other travellers, Jiirgen Andersen and Vol- quard Iversen, as well as an account of Persia by the French missionary Sanson. Iversen, in speaking of the Parsi relig- ion, gives an essentially correct account of the Zoroastrian hierarchy, of the supreme god and his seven servants, each presiding over some special element, evidently an allusion to Ahura Mazda and his six Amesha Spentas, with the possible addition of Sraosha. ' Sanson states that the Gavres have kept up the old Persian language and that it is entirely different from modern Persian, ° a distinct recognition of the existence of the Avestan language. The eighteenth century saw the discovery of the Avesta by Anquetil du Perron, and its close found men like Jones, Revizky, de Sacy and Hammer busily engaged in spreading a knowledge of Persian literature in Europe. India, as far as its literature was concerned, did not fare so well. The struggles of European nations for the mastery of that rich empire did little towai-ds promoting a knowledge of its religion or its language. Nor were the efforts of mission- aries very successful. Most of their attention was dcA'oted to the Dravidian idioms of Southern India, not to Sanskrit. We have the authority of Friedrich Schlegel for the statement that before his time there were but two Germans who were known to have gained a knowledge of the sacred language, the mis- sionary Heinrich Roth and the Jesuit Hanxleben.' Even their work was not published and was superseded by that of Jones, Colebrooke and others. Most valuable information on Hindu religion was given by the Dutch preacher Abraham Roger in his well known book De Open-Deure tot het Verborgen Heyden- ^ Iversen in op cit. chap. xi. p. 157 seq. Cf. Jackson, Die iranisciie Religion in Grdr. iran. Pli. iii. pp. 633, 634, 636. 2 Sanson in op, cit. pp. 48, 4g. 3 Fr. Schlegel, Weisheit der Indier, Heidelb. 1808, Vorrede, p. xi. 12 dom, published at Leyden in 165 1, two years after the author's death. This book also gave to the West the first specimen of Sanskrit literature in the shape of a Dutch version of two hundred maxims of Bhartrhari, not a direct translation from the Sanskrit, but based on oral communication imparted by a learned Brahman Padmanaba. ' As a rule the rendering is very faithful, sometimes even literal. The maxims were translated into German by C. Arnold and were published at Nuremberg in 1663. This, however, ended the progress of Sanskrit literature in Europe for the time being. Information came in very slowly. The Lettres Edifiantes of the Jesuits, and the accounts of travel- lers like Sonnerat began to shed additional light on the relig- ious customs of India, but its sacred language remained a secret. In 1785, Herder wrote that what Europe knew of Hindu literature was only late legends, that the Sanskrit language as well as the genuine Veda would probably for a long time remain unkijown.'' Sir William Jones, however, had founded the Asiatic Society a year before and the first step towards the discovery of Sanskrit had really thus been taken. But let us consider what bearing all this had on German poetry. In this field the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were desperately dreary. In the former century the leading thinkers of German}- were absorbed in theological controversy, while in the next the Thirty Years' War completely crushed the spirit of the nation. There is little poetry in this period that calls for even passing notice in this investigation. Paul Fleming, although he was with Olearius in Persia, has written nothing that would interest us here. Andreas Gryphius took the subject for his drama " Catharina von Georgien " (1657) from Persian histor.y. It is the story of the cruel execution of the Georgian queen by order of Shah 'Abbas in 1624.' Nor is Oriental influence in the eighteenth century more noticeable. Occasionally an Oriental touch is brought in. Pfeffel makes his " Bramine " read a lesson to bigots; Matthias Claudius in his well-known poem makes Herr Urian pay a visit to the Great Mogul; Burger, in his salacious story ^ See preface to op. cit. 2 Ideen zur Phil. d. Gesch der Menschheit, chap. iv. ed. Suphan, vol. 13, p. 415. s The story is given in Chardin's book, though this was not the source. See Andreas Gryphius Trauerspiele, ed. Herm. Palm, BLVS. vol. 162, pp. 138, 139. 13 of the queen of Golkonde, transports the lovers to India; Lessing, in "Minna von Barnhelm" (Act i. Sc. 12) represents Werner as intending to take service with Prince Heraklius of Persia, and he chooses an Oriental setting for his "Nathan der Weise. " In the prose writings of this period Oriental influence is much more discernible. In the literature dealing with magic Zoroaster always played a prominent part. The invention of the Cabala was commonly ascribed to him.' European writers on the black art, as for instance Bodinus, whose De Magorum Damonomania was translated by Fischart (Strassburg, 1591), repeat about Zoroaster all the fables found in classical or patristic writers. So the Iranian sage figures prominently also in the Faust-legend. He is the prince of magicians whose book Faust studies so diligently that he is called a second Zoroastris.' This book passes into the hands of Faust's pupil Christoph Wagner, who uses it as diligently as his master.' In all this folkbook-literature India is a mere name. ,Thus in the oldest Faust-book of 1587 the sorcerer makes a journey in the air through England, Spain, France, Sweden, Poland, Denmark, India, Africa and Persia, and finally comes to Of all the prose-writings, however, the novel, which began to flourish luxuriously in the seventeenth century, showed the most marked tendency to make use of Eastern scenery and episodes, and incidentally to exhibit the author's erudition on everything Oriental. Thus Grim- melshausen transports his hero Simplicissimus into Asia through the device of Tartar captivity. Lohenstein, in his ultra-Teutonic romance of Arminius, manages to introduce an Armenian princess and a prince from Pontus. The latter, as we learn from the autobiography with which he favors us in the fifth book, has been in India. He took with him a Brah- man sage, who burned himself on reaching Greece. Evi- ■ See Zoroasters Telescop oder Schliissel zur grossen divinatorischen Kabbala der Magier in Das Kloster ed. J. Scheible, Stuttg. 1846, vol. iii. p. 414 seq., esp. p. 43g. 2 Widmann's Faust in Das Kloster, vol. ii. p. 296 ; Der Christlich Meynende, ibid. ii. p. 8s. 3 Christoph. Wagners Leben, ibid. vol. iii. p. 78. ■> Ibid. ii. p. 1004. 14 dently Lohenstein had read Arrian's description of the burn- ing of Kalanos (Arrian vii. 2. 3). The Asiatische Banise of Heinrich Anselm von Ziegler-Kliphausen, perhaps the most popular German novel of the seventeenth century, was based directly on the accounts of travellers to Farther India, not on Greek or Latin writings." Other authors who indulged their predilection for Oriental scenery were Buchholtz in his Her- kules und Valisca (1659), Happel in Der Asiatische Onogambo (Hamb. 1673), Bohse (Talander) in Die dtirchlauchtigste Alcestis aus Persien (Leipz. 1689) and others. ° The most striking instance of the Oriental tendency is furnished by Grimmelshausen's Joseph, first published prob- ably in 1667.'' Here we meet the famous story of Yusuf and Zali^a as it is given in the Quran or in the poems of Firdausi and Jami. The well-known episode of the ladies cutting their hands instead of the lemons in consequence of their confusion at the sight of Joseph's beauty is here narrated at length.* In the preface the author states explicitly that he has drawn, not only from the Bible, but from Hebrew, Arabic and Persian writings as well.' That he should have made use of Arabic material is credible enough, for Dutch Orientalists like Golius and Erpenius had made this acces- sible.' That he had some idea of Persian poetry is shown by his allusions to the fondness of Orientals for handsome boys.' On the other hand, what he says of Zoroaster in the Musai can all be found in Latin and Greek writers." Here we get the biography of Joseph's chief servant in the form of an appendix to the novel, and the author displays all the learn- ing which fortunately his good taste had excluded from the story itself. Of the Iranian tradition concerning Zoroas- ter's death as given in the Pahlavi writings or the Shah Ndtnah" Grimmelshausen knew absolutely nothing; nor can we find the slightest evidence to substantiate his assertion 1 Ed. by Felix Bobertag, KDNL. vol. 37, Einl. p. 8. 2 On this see Felix Bobertag, Gesch. des Romans und der ihm rerwandten Dichtungs- gattungen in Deutschland, Bresl. 1876, vol. ii. 2. pp. no seq., 140, 160. 3 In Der abenteuerliche Simplicissimus ed. Adalb. Keller, Stuttg. 1862 (BLVS. vol. 66), vol. iv. pp. 707 seq. ' Op. cit. pp. 7sg, 760. ' Ibid, p. 710 ; again p. 841. ' The Story of Joseph from the QurSn was published in Arabic with a Latin version by Erpenius asearly as 1617. See Zenker, Bibl, Orient., Leipz. 1846, vol. i. p. 169, No. 1380. '■ Keller, op. cit. p. 742. » See Jackson, Zoroaster, Appendix V (by Gray). ^ See Jackson, Zoroaster, pp. 127-132. 15 that for the work in question he drew from Persian or Arabic sources. In the eighteenth century the Oriental tale was extremely popular in France, and thence it spread to other countries. The translation of the Thousand and One Nights by Galland (Paris, 1704-1712) and of the Persian Tales by Petis de La Croix called into being a host of similar French productions, which in turn found their way into German literature. The most fruitful writer in this genre was Simon Gueulette, the author of Soirees Bretoniies (1712) and Mil/e et uii quart d'heui-es (1715). The latter contains the stor}- of a prince who is punished for his presumption by having two snakes grow from his shoulders. To appease them they are fed on fresh human brain.' Of course, we recognize at once the story of the tyrant Zahhfik familiar from Firdausl. The material for the Soir'ees was- drawn largely from Armeno's Peregrinaggio, which purports to be a translation from the Persian, although no original is known to scholars." From these Soir'ees Vol- taire took the material for his Zadig.^ In most cases, how- ever, all that was Oriental about such stories was the name and the costume. So popular was the Oriental costume that Montesquieu used it for satirizing the Parisians in his Lettres Persanes (1721). Through French influence the Oriental story came to Germany, and so we get such works as August Gottlob Meissner's tales of Nushirvan, Massoud, Giaffar, Sadi and others," or Klinger's Derwisch. Wieland used the Eastern costume in his Schach Lolo (1778) and in his politico-didactic romance of the wise Danischmende. This fondness for an Oriental atmosphere continues even into the nineteenth cen- tury and may be seen in such works as Tieck's Abdullah and Hatifi's Karawane. But this brings us to the time when India and Persia were to give up their secrets, and when the influence of their literature begins to be a factor in the litera- ture of Europe. 1 Rud. Fiirst, Die Vorliiufer der Modernen Novelle im achtzehnten Jahrhundert, Halle a. S. 1897, p. 51. "^ Some of the stories are undoubtedly Oriental in origin. The worlc appeared at Venice, 1557, and was translated into German, in 1583, by Johann Wetzel under the title Die Reise der Sohne Giaffers. Ed. by Herm. Fischer and Joh. Bolte (BLVS, vol. 208), Tub. 1895. 3 Fiirst, op. cit. p. 52. The name is derived from the Arabic (&JtX-»fl " spealier of the truth," as pointed out by Hammer in Red. p. 326. See essay L'ange et Thermite by Gaston Paris in La Podsie du Moyen Age, Paris, 1887, p. 151. * Fiirst, op. cit. p. 154. CHAPTER III. HERDER. Herder's Interest in the Orient — Fourth Collection OF HIS Zerstreute Blatter — His Didactic Tendency AND Predilection for Sa'di. The epoch-making work of the English Orientalists, and above all, of the illustrious Sir William Jones, at the end of the eighteenth century not only laid the foundation of Sanskrit scholarship in Europe, but also gave the first direct impulse to the Oriental movement which in the first half of the nine- teenth century manifests itself so strikingly both in English as well as in German literature, especially in the work of the poets. In Germany this movement came just at the time when the idea of a universal literature had taken hold of the minds of the leading literary men, and so it was very natural that the pioneer and prophet of this great idea should also be the first to introduce into German poetry the new west-osttiche Richtimg. Herder's theological studies turned his attention to the East at an early age. As is well known, he always had a fervid admiration for the Hebrew poets, but we have evidence to show, that, even before the year 177 1, when Jones' Traiti sur la pohie orientale appeared, he had widened the sphere of his Oriental studies and had become interested in Sa'di.' Rhymed paraphrases made by him of some stories from the Gulistdn date from the period 1761-1764,' and, as occasional references prove, Sa'di continued to hold his attention until the appear- ance, in 1792, of the fourth Collection of the Zerstreute Blatter, which contains the bulk of Herder's translation from Persian and Sanskrit literature, and which therefore will have to occupy our attention. ° 1 See the edition by Meyer (KDNL. vol. 74) i. 1, pp. 164, 165. 2 Given by Redlich in tlie edition by Suphan, vol. 26, p 435 seq. ^ We may state here that the work in question has been thoroughly commented on by such scholars as Diintzer and Redlich, and their comments may be found in the editions of Suphan and Meyer. The same has been done for Goethe's Divan by Diintzer and Loeper. 16 17 Of this collection the following are of interest to us : 1°. Four books of translations, more or less free, of maxims from the Gulistan, entitled Blumen aus morgenldndischen Dichtern gesammlet. 2°. Translations from the Sanskrit consisting of maxims from the Hitdpade§a and from Bhartfhari and passages from the Bhagavadgltd under the name of Gedanken einiger Bramanen. 3°. A number of versions from Persian, Sanskrit, Hebrew and Arabic poets given in the Suphan edition as Vermischte Stikke. The first three books of the Blumen consist entirely of maxims from the Gulistan, the versions of Gentius, or some- times of Olearius, being the basis, while the fourth book con- tains also poems from RumI, Hafid and others (some not Persian), taken mostly from Jones' well known Poeseos.'' For the Gedanken our poet made use of Wilkins' translation of the Hitopadesa (1787) and of the Bhagavadgltd (1785), together with the German version of Bhartrhari by Arnold from Roger's Dutch rendering. As Herder did not know either Sanskrit or Persian, his versions are translations of translations, and it is not surpris- ing if the sense of the original is sometimes very much altered, especially when we consider that the translations on which he depended were not always accurate.' In most cases, however, the sense is fairly well preserved, sometimes even with admirable fidelity, as in "Lob der Gottheit " {Bl. i. i), which is a version of passages from the introduction to the Gulistan. No attention whatever is paid to the form of the originals. For the selections from Sa'dl the distich which had been used for the versions from the Greek anthology is the favorite form. Rhyme, which in Persian poetry is an indis- pensable requisite, is never employed. The moralizing tendency which characterizes all of Herder's work, and which grew stronger as he advanced in years. The former's notes are in his Goethe-edition in the Kiirschner-series, the tatter's in the edition of Hempel. In this investigation, therefore, the chapters on Herder and Goethe are somewhat briefer than they otherwise would be, as further details as to sources, etc., are easily accessible in the editions just mentioned. In all cases, however, the Sanskrit or Persian originals of the passages cited have been examined. 1 Poeseos Asiaticae commentariorum Ubri vi, publ. at London, 1774. Reprinted by Eichborn at Leipzig, 1777. 2 Compare, for instance. Hit. couplet 43 = BBhtl. 3121 with the rendermg of Wilkins in Fables and Proverbs from the Sanskrit, London, 1888 (Morley's Univ. Lib.), pp. 41, 42. And then compare with Herder's Zwecke des Lebens (Ged. 15). 18 rendered him indifferent to the purely artistic side of poetry. He makes no effort in his versions to bring out what is char- acteristically Oriental in the original ; on the contrary, he often destroys it. Thus his " Blume des Paradieses " (Bl. iv. 7 = H. 548) is addressed to a girl instead of a boy. The fourth couplet is accordingly altered to suit the sense, while the last couplet, which according to the law governing the construction of the Persian yazal contained the name of the poet, is omitted. So also in " Der heilige Wahnsinn " (Verm. 6 = Gul. V. 18, ed. Platts, p. 114) the characteristic Persian phrase (ji^jy JUulUavo ^aa»oLj ^^j^i JU.^ &JoI ^jLxil i^ " O, thou of whose beauty the sun is the mirror-holder!" In 86 the idea of the young men slain like game by the beauty of the beloved is evidently inspired by H. 358. 6 : "in every nook thine eye has a hundred slain ones fallen like me," and the following lines in the same poem 86 : O welche Pfeile strahlt zu mir dein Antlitz, Und es befreit kein Schild von deiner SchSnheit, remind us of H. 561. 7 : "thine eye causes the arrow (lit. poplar) to pass through the shield of life. " Again and again we meet with allusions to the famous image of the love of the nightingale for the rose (35, 75, etc.) so common in Persian poetry, especially in Hafid. We cite only 318. I : jijfe' \i> tXiS' SyM^ c>J^ ^ x*uJt\j| \i> (jS^ "the whole thought of the nightingale is that the rose may be his beloved ; the rose has in her thought how she may show grace in her actions." In 302. i the nightingale is called ^}S (jw^j-ft "the rose's bride." Besides this, the poems teem with characteristic Persian metaphors: the moth longing for the flame (37, H. 187. 7); the tulip-bed glowing like fire (67, H. 288. 1); the tulip- cheek ^\ iJy (whence Moore's Za/la RookK), vltX-cs-l^ (70, H. 155. 2); the musk-perfumed hair ^^yjSjitja t_ftjv (73^ H. 33. 4); the garden of the face (73, H. 33. 4); the pearl of Aden (jJ-fc ^t> (77, H. 197. 10 and 651); wine as a ruby in a golden cup (82, H. 204. 8 \^Ss A=>- SkJvS' JjiJ ^ Lsl "O thou, the golden cup is made full of ruby ") ; the eye-brows 35 like the crescent-moon (82, H. 470. 5 JiLs ij^sx^JO ^fjjj' "brow like the new moon ") ; the dust on his love's threshold (83, H. 497. 10 ^^. ^'^ ^^); the sky playing ball with the moon (14, inspired by some such couplet as H. 409. 7); and the verses like pearls (43). For this compare H. 499. 11 : "like a string of lustrous pearls is thy clear verse, O Hafid." We might multiply such parallels, but those given bear out our statement in regard to the imitation of Persian rhetorical figures on the part of Platen. In the eagerness to be genuinely Persian, the poet was not content, however, with imitating only what was striking or beautiful; he introduces even some features which, though very prominent in Eastern poetry, will never become con- genial to the West. Thus the utter abjectness of the Oriental lover, who puts his face in the path of his beloved and invites her (or him) to scatter dust on his head (H. 148. 3), is pre- sented to us with all possible extravagance in these lines of 87 : Sieh mich hier ira Staub und setze deine Ferse mir auf's Haupt, Mich, den letzten von den letzten deiner letzten Sklaven, sieh ! ' To the sd^t is assigned a part almost as prominent as that which is his in the Persian original. It was the introduction of this repulsive trait (e. g. 82) that gave to Heine the oppor- tunity for the savage, scathing onslaught on Platen in the well known passage of the Reisebilder^ Otherwise Platen, like Goethe, ignores the mystic side of Hafid, and infuses into his Ghaselen a thoroughly bacchanalian spirit, taking frequent occasion to declaim against hypocrisy, fanaticism and the precepts of the Quran. T^he credo of these poems is the opening yazal in Spiegel des Hafis (64), where the line "Wir schworen ew'gen Leichtsinn und ew'ge Trunken- heit" maybe taken to reflect the sentiment of the revelling Persian poet, who begs the sufi not to forbid wine, since from 1 Goethe protested against this Oriental feature. See Noten u. Abh. to his Divan, vol. iv. p. 273 seq. 2 Heines SSmtliche Werke, ed. Born (Cotta), vol. vi. pp. 130 seq. Goethe in his com- ments on his Saki Nameh (op. cit. p. 307) emphasizes the purely pedagogical side of this relation of saqi and master. 36 eternity it has been mingled with men's dust (H. 6i. 4); who claims to have been predestined to the tavern (H. 20. 4) ; who asks indulgence if he turns aside from the mosque to the wine- house (H. 213. 4); who drinks his wine to the sound of the harp, feeling sure that God will forgive him (H. 292. 5) ; who is above the reproach of the boasters of austerity (H. 106. 3) ; and who, finally, asks that the cup be placed in his coffin so that he may drink from it on the day of resurrection (H. 308. 8). But when Platen flings away the Quran he certainly is not in accord with his Persian model, for, while Hafid takes issue with the expounders of the sacred book, he discreetly refrains from assailing the book itself. But perhaps the chief significance of these Ghaselen, as well as those of Riickert, lies in the fact that they introduced a new poetic form into German literature. It is astonishing to see how completely Platen has mastered this difficult form. The radtf or refrain, so familiar to readers of Hafid, he repro- duces with complete success, as may be seen, for instance, in 8, where the words " du liebst mich nioht " are repeated at the end of each couplet, preceded successively by zerrissen, wissen, beflissen, gewissen, vermissen, Narzissen, exactly in the style of such an ode as H. 100. In those odes called Spiegel des Hafis the name Hafis is even regularly introduced into the last couplet, in accordance with the invariable rule of the Persian yazal that the author's name must appear in the final couplet. Besides the yazal Platen has also attempted the ruba% or quatrain, in which form he wrote twelve poems (IVerke, ii. pp. 62-64), and the qandah. Of this there is only one speci- men, a panegyric (for such in most cases is the Persian qasldaK) on Napoleon, and, as may therefore be imagined, of purely Occidental content. ' Of Platen's translations from Hafid we need not speak here. But we must call attention to the attempt which he made to translate from Nidami's Iskandar Namah in the original muta- tjan'b-metre. The first eight couplets of the invocation are thus rendered, and in spite of the great difficulty attending the use of this metre in a European language, the rendering must be pronounced fairly successful. It is also faithful, as a comparison with the original shows. We cite the first two couplets from the Persian : ' Kasside, dated February 3, 1823, ii. p. 60. 37 " O God, world-sovereignty is Thine ! From us comes service, Godhead is Thine. The Protection of high and low Thou art ! Everything is non- •existent; whatever is. Thou art."' Of Other Oriental poems, not translations, we notice "Par- senlied," dating from the year 1819, when Goethe's Divan appeared, and it is quite possible that the Parsi Nameh of that work suggested to Platen the composition of his poem.'' His best known ballad, "Harmosan," written in 1830, has a Persian warrior for its hero. The source for the poem is probably Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (chap. li.)= 1 Lith. ed., Shiraz, A.H. 1312. 2 The Divan appeared August, 1819. Platen's poem is dated Oct. 28, 1819. 3 See Studien zu Platen's Balladen, Herm. Stockhausen, Berl. (1898^, pp. 50, 51, 53, 54. CHAPTER VIII. RtJCKERT. His Oriental Studies — Introduces the Ghasele — Ostliche Rosen; Imitations of Hafid — Erbauliches und Be- SCHAULICHES MORGENLANDISCHE SaGEN UND GeSCHICH- ten — Brahmanische Erzahlungen — Die Weisheit des Brahmanen — Other Oriental Poems. When speaking of the introduction of the yazal-iorm into German literature mention was made of the name of the man who is unquestionably the central figure in the great Oriental movement which is occupying our attention. Combining the genius of the poet with the learning of the scholar, RUckert was preeminently fitted to be the literary mediator between the East and the West. And his East was not restricted, as Goethe's or Platen's, to Arabia and Persia, but included India and even China. He is not only a devotee to the mystic poetry of Ruml and the joyous strain of Hafid, but he is above all the Gerinan Brahman, who by masterly translations and imitations made the treasures of Sanskrit poetry a part of the literary wealth of his own country. To his productivity as poet and translator the long list of his works bears conclusive testimony. In this investigation, however, we shall confine ourselves to those of his original poems which are Oriental in origin or subject-matter. A discussion of the numerous translations cannot be undertaken in the limited space at our disposal. Like Goethe and Platen, RUckert also owed to Hammer the impulse to Oriental study. His meeting with the famous Orientalist at Vienna, in 1818,' decided his future career. He at once took up the study of Arabic, Persian and Sanskrit, and with such success that in a few years he became one of the foremost Orientalists in Europe. The first fruit of these studies were the Gaselen which appeared in the Taschenbuch fur Damen, 1821, the first poems 1 See Beyer, Friedricli Ruckert, Fkft. a.. M. 1868, pp. loi, 102. 38 39 of this form in German literature.' They have been generally- regarded as translations from the divan of Rumi, but this is true of only a limited number ; and even these were probably not taken directly from the Persian, but from the versions given by Hammer in his Redekiinste .'' As a matter of fact, only twenty-eight — less than one-half of the Gaselen, — can be iden- tified with originals in Hammer's book, and a comparison of these with their models shows with what freedom the latter were handled/ Furthei-more in the opening poem, (a version of Red. p. 187, "So lang die Sonne") the last couplet : Dschelaleddin nennt sich das Licht im Ost, Dess Wiederschein euch zeiget mein Gedicht, is original with Riickert, and clearly shows that he himself did not pretend to offer real translations. The majority of poems are simply original yazals in Rami's manner. Dschelaleddin, im Osten warst du der Salbenhandler, Ich habe nun die Bude im Westen aufgeschlagen.'' These lines, we believe, define very well the attitude which the poet of the West assumed toward his mystic brother in the East. The series of Ghaselen signed Freimund and dated 1822 (third series in our edition) are not characteristically Persian. Hence we proceed at once to a consideration of the fourth series (p. 253 seq.), which we shall discuss together with the poems collected under the title of Ostliche Rosen (p. 289 seq.) from which they differ in nothing but the form. They were, besides, a part of the Ostliche Rosen as published originally at Leipzig, 1822. These poems are free reproductions or variations of Hafizian themes and motives. The spirit of revelry and intoxication finds here a much wilder and more bacchanalian expression than in the Divan of Goethe or the Ghaselen of Platen. Carpe diem is the sum and substance of the philosophy of such poems 1 Vol. V. pp. 200-237. 3 So Hammer himself thought at the time. See Rob. Boxberger, Ruckert-Studien, Gotha, 1878, p. 224. Such also was the opinion of the scholarly von Schack, Strophen des Omar Chijam, Stuttg. 1878, Nachwort, p. 117, note. A copy of the original divS-n of Rnml has not been accessible to me. = Cf. for instance No. 8, in ii. with Red. p. 175, and No. 24 in ii. p. 235, with Red. p. 188. * Vol. i. ii. 25, p. 236. 40 as "Einladuhg" (p. 287) and " Lebensgniige " (p. 293); their note is in thorough accord with Hafid, when he exclaims (H. 525-7): "to me, who worship the beloved, do not mention anything else; for except for her and my cup of wine, I care for none." We are admonished to leave alone idle talk on how and why (" Im Friihlingsthau, " p. 261), for as Hafid says (H. 487. 11): " Our existence is an enigma, whereof the investigation is fraud and fable." The taver'n is celebrated with as much enthusiasm (e. g. "Das Weinhaus, " p. 290) as the vsjLal..^ to which Hafid was destined by God (H. 492. i). Monks and preachers are scored mercilessly (e. g. " Der Bussprediger, " p. 255; " Dem Prediger," p. 295) as in H. 430. 7: "The admonisher spoke tauntingly: Wine is forbidden, do not drink! I said: On my eye (be it); I do not lend my ear to every ass." The characteristic Persian images and rhetorical figures, familiar to us from Platen, are also found here in still greater variety and number. Thus to mention some new ones, the soul is likened to a bird (p. 270, No. 29, cf.,H. 427. 5: l*^y Pjjo) ; the cypress is invoked to come to the brook (p. 336, cf. H. 108. 3: i^iMJjyjs^ ,_*J -J AjLti L fc^ ^v* »^ "the place of the straight cypress is on the bank of the brook ") ; the rose-bush glows with the fire of Moses (" Gnosis," p. 350, cf. H. 517. 2: Jj ;>^ {S^y U*^' "the rose displays the fire of Musa"); Ifa^s is an idol-worshipper (p. 305, " Liebesan- dacht," cf. H. 439. 6, where cjliy=» tj-i^A '•^ "the idol of sweet motions" is addressed). We meet also the striking Oriental conception of the dust of the dead being converted into cups and pitchers. In "Von irdischer Herrlichkeit " (p. 257) the character "der alte Wirth " is the plr of H. 4. 10 41 et passim, and when speaking of the fate of JamSid, Sulaimaii and Ka'us Kal, he says: Von des Gluckrads hSchstem Gipfel warf der Tod in Staub sie, Und ein T6pfer nahm den Staub in Dienst des Topferrades. Diesen Becher formt' er draus, und gliiht' ihn aus im Feuer. Nimm! aus edlen Schadeln trink und deiner Lust nicht schad' as! This very striking thought, as is well known, is extremely common in Persian poetry. To cite from Hafid (H. 459. 4) : "The day when the wheel (of fate) from our dust will make jugs, take care! make our skull (lit. the cup of the head) full of wine."' Some of the poems are versions, more or less free, of Hafid — passages, e. g. "Die verloren gegangene Schone " (p. 290, H. 268), "An die Schone" (p. 308, H. 160, couplets 2 and 5 being omitted), " Beschwichtigter Zweifel " (p. 310, H. 430. 6), " Das harte Wort " (p. 350, H. 77. i and 2). Some- times a theme is taken from Hafid and then expanded, as in " Die Busse " (p. 346), where the first verse is a version of H. 384. I, the rest being original. Of course, reminiscences of Hafid are bound to be frequent. We shall point out only a few instances. " Nicht solltest du so, O Rose, versaumen die Nachtigall " ("Stimme der Sehn- sucht," p. 256) is inspired by a verse like H. 292. 2: v«v^ iv>-^'^ IlXami i^^coLc ^^^%jj^ U " O rose, in thanks for that thou art the queen of beauty, display no arrogance towards nightingales madly in love." In " Zum neuen Jahr " (p. 260) the last lines : Trag der Schonheit Koran im offenen Angesicht, Und ihm diene das Lied Hafises zum Kommentar are a parallel to H. 10. 6: 1 Cf. Hafid, Saqi Namah, couplets 77, 78 for the three names mentioned above. The figure is most familiar to the English reader from Fitzgerald's version, Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, Boston, 1899, p. 211, xxxvii. See also ' Umar Xayyam ed. Whinfield, London, 1883, No. 466. 42 Lo ^.AAuiiJ' j4> v;y»w*AJ (c^*^ S '- Bin ' j.^ v_aA^ ^jK "Thy beautiful face by its grace explained to us a verse of the Quran; for that reason there is nothing in our commentary but grace and beauty." The opening lines of " Schmuck der Welt " (p. 260) : Nicht bedarf der Schmink' ein schones Angesicht. So bedarf die Liebste meiner Liebe nicht are distinctly reminiscent of H. 8. 4: L L«.J\ ^^.s v:yj>.Li. ilia. ifl.&.« JLs«-^ 'iL3^ ^ \.yj> " Of our imperfect love the beauty of the beloved is independent. What need has a lovely face of lustre and dye and mole and line ? " Like Hafid (H. 358. 11; 518. 7 et passim) Riickert also boasts of his supremacy as a singer of love and wine (" Vom Lichte des Weines," p. 273). Finally in "Frag and Antwort " (p. 258) he employs the form of the dialogue, the lines beginning alternately Ic/i sprach, Sie sprach, just as Hafid does in Ode 136 or 194. The " Vierzeilen " (p. 361), while they have the rz/3fl'z"-rhyme, are not versions. Only a few of them have an Oriental character. Completely unoriental are the " Brief e des Brahmanen " (p. 359), dealing with literary matters of con- temporary interest.' The Oriental studies which Riickert continued to pursue with unabated ardor were to him a fruitful source of poetic inspiration. They furnished the material for the great mass of narrative, descriptive and didactic poems which were col- lected under the titles Erbauliches und Beschauliches aus dem Morgenlande, and again Morgenldndische Sagen und Geschichten, furthermore Brahmanische Erzahlungen ^ and lastly Weisheit des Brahmanen. We shall discuss these collections in the order here given. The first collection Erbauliches und Beschauliches (vol. vi.) consists of poems which were published between the years 1 They were published in Deutscher Musenalmanach, 1838, and do not belong properly to the collection here discussed. 43 i822 and 1837 in diffei^ent periodicals. They appeared in collected form as a separate work in 1837.' The material is drawn from Arabic and Persian sources, only one poem, "Die Schlange im Korbe, " p. 80, being from the Sanskrit of Bhartrhari {Nltis. 85)/ With the Arabic sources, the Quran, the chrestomathies of de Sacy and Kosegarten, and others, we are not here con- cerned. Among the Persian sources the one most frequently used is the Gulistdn, from which are taken, to give but a few instances, " Sadi an den Fiirstendiener, " p. 57 {Giil. i. distich 3), "MitgefUhl," p. 52 {Gul. i. 10, MaBnavi), " Kein Mensch zvi Haus, " p. 52 (Gul. vii. 19, dist. 6, Platts, p. 139), " Gewahrter Anstand," p. 55 (Gul. iv. MaQ. 5, Platts, p. 96), as well as many of the proverbs and maxims, pp. 102-108. The poem "Die Kerze und die Flasche," p. 82, is a result of the poet's studies in connection with his translation of the Haft Qulzum, a fragment of Amir Sahi' being combined with a passage cited from Asadl.* " Eine Kriegsregel aus Mirch- ond, " p. 73, is a paraphrase of a maQiiaiH from Mir;^vand's Ratidat-ussafd.'' In " Gottesdienst," p. 52, the first two lines are from Amir Xusrau (Red. p. 229); the remaining lines were added by Riickert. The fables given on pp. 87-96 as from Jami are taken from the eighth chapter or "garden " of that poet's Bahdristdn ; they keep rather closely to the origi- nals, only in "Die Rettung des Fuchses " the excessive natu- ralism of the Persian is toned down." One of these fables, however, " Falke und Nachtigall," p. 89, is not from Jami, but from the Maxscm-ul-asrdr of Nidami (vLs U J-«-o ».:y.jlx.^ ed. Nathan. Bland, London, 1844, p. 114; translated by Ham- mer in Red. p. 107). Some of the poems in this collection are actual translations from Persian literature. Thus " Ein Spruch des Hafis, " p. 1 See essay on this by Robert Boxberger in Riickert-Studien, pp. 210-278. Also Beyer, Neue Mittheil. vol. i. p. 213 ; vol. ii. pp. 201-204 for the date of many of these poems. 2 Also a few of the Vierzeilen-Spriiche, pp. 102-108, e. g. No. 30 = NIti§. 31. 3 Friedr. Riickert, Grammatik, Poetik u. Rhetorik der Perser, ed. W. Pertsch, Gotha, 1874, p. 187. * Ibid. p. 360. * Fr. Wilken, Hist. Gasnevld. Berol. 1832, p. 13, Latin p. 148. « Cf. transl. of Baharistan for Kama Shastra Society, Benares, 1887, p. 180. The Persian text of these fables appeared in 1805 in the chrestomathy appended to Fr. Wilken's Insti- tutiones ad Fundamenta Linguae Persicae, Lipsiae, 1805, pp. 172-181. 44 59, is a fine rendering of qit^ah 583 in the form of the original.' Then a part of the introduction to Nidaml's Iskandar Ndmah is given on p. 65. The translation begins at the fortieth couplet :" " Who has such boldness that from fear of Thee he open his mouth save in submission to Thee ? " This is well rendered: Wer hat die Kraft, in deiner Furcht Erbebung, Vor dir zu denken andres als Ergebung ? As will be noticed, Riickert here has not attempted to reproduce the mutaqdrib, as Platen has done in his version of the first eight couplets (see p. 36). Some of the translations in this collection were not made directly from the Persian, but from the versions of Hammer. Thus " Naturbetrachtung eines persischen Dichters," p. 62, is a free rendering of Hammer's version of the invocation prefixed to Attar's Mantiq-iit tair {Red. p. 141 seq.) and Riickert breaks off at the same point as Hammer. ° So also the extract from the lydr-i-Danii of Abu'l Fadl (p. 68) is a paraphrase of the version in Red. p. 397. A number of poems deal with legends concerning Riimi, or with sayings attributed to him. Thus the legend which tells how the poet, when a boy, was transported to heaven in a vision, as told by Afltiki in the Manaqibu'l'Arifin,*' forms the subject of a poem, p. 37. A saying of Rumi concerning music prompted the composition of the poem, p. 54 (on which see Boxberger, op. cit. p. 241), and on p. 62 the great mystic is made to give a short statement of his peculiar Sufistic doctrine of metempsychosis. ^ In " Alexanders Vermachtnis," 1 This poem was mistranslated by Hammer in his Divan des Hafis, Tiib. 1812, vol. ii. p. 553. Bodenstedt has given a version in rhymed couplets : Der Sanger von Schiras, Berl. 1877, p. ^2g. 2 For NidamI I have used a lithographed edition published at ShirSz, A. H. 1312. In Wilberforce Clarke's transl. of the Iskandarnamah, London, 1881, the couplet in question is the forty-third. ' Cf. for Persian text Garcin de Tassy, Mantic Uttalr, Paris, 1863. Also French transl. p. i seq. * See Jas. W. Redhouse, The MesnevI of Mevlana (our Lord) Jelalu-d-dln, Muhammed,. er-RamI, Lond. 1881, B. i. p. 19. For Rflckert's source see Boxberger, op. cit. p. 224. 5 See H. Ethe, Neupers. Litt. in Grdr. iran. Phil. vol. ii. p. 289. 45 p. 6 1, we have the well-known legend of how the dying hero gives orders to leave one of his hands hanging out of the coffin to show the world that of all his possessions nothing accompanies him to the grave. In Nidami's version, however, the hand is not left empty, but is filled with earth.' Finally there are a few poems dealing with Oriental history, of which we may mention "Hormusan," p. 25, the subject being the same as in Platen's more famous ballad. It may be that both poets drew from the same source (see p. 37). In the same year (1837) as the Erbaiiliches und Beschaidiches there appeared the Morgenldndische Sagen und Geschichten (vol. iv.) in seven books or divisions. In general, the contents of these divisions may be described as versified extracts from Oriental history of prevailingly legendarj' or anecdotal char- acter. Their arrangement is mainly chronological. Only the fourth, fifth and seventh books call for discussion as hav- ing Persian material. The most important source is the great historical work Raudat-nssafa of Mirxvand, portions of which had been edited and translated before 1837 by scholars like de Sacy,'' Wilken,' Vullers* and others. ° Other sources to be mentioned are d'Herbelot's Bibliothequc Orientale' A& Sacy's version of the Tarix-i-YainlnV and Ham- mer's Geschichte der schonen Redekunste Persieus. The first poem of the fourth book goes back to the legend- ary period of Iran. Its hero is Gustasp, the patron and pro- 1 Wilh. Bacher, Nizamls Leben u. Werke, Leipz. 1871, p. iig and n. 4. 2 M^moires sur divers Antiquites de la Perse, et sur les M^dailles des Rois de la dynas- tie des Sassanides, suivis de I'Histoire de cette Dynastie traduite du Persan de Mirkhond par A. I. Silv. de Sacj^, Paris, 1793. 3 Mohammedi Filii Chavendschahi vulgo Mirchondi Historia Samanidarum Pers. ed. Frid. Wilken, Goettingae, 1808. Mohammedi Filii Chondschahi vulgo Mirchondi Historia Gasnevidarum Persice ed. Frid. Wilken, Berol. 1832. Geschichte der Sultane aus dem Geschlechte Bujeh nach Mirchond, Wilken in Hist, philos. Abh. der k^l. Akad. d. Wissensch. zu Berlin, Berl. 1837. (This work from 1835.) 4 Mirchonds Geschichte der Seldschuken, aus d. Pers. zum ersten Mai tibers. etc., Joh. Aug. VuUers, Giessen, 1837. 5 A complete list of the portions of Mir^fvand's work edited and published by European scholars before 1837 may be found in Zenker's Bibl. Orient., Nos. 871-881. Nos 874, 875 and 879 have not been accessible to me. 6 A letter given by Boxberger in op. cit. p. 74 shows that RUckert asked for the loan of this book. ' Histoire de Yemineddoula Mahmoud, tr. par A. I. Silv. de Sacy in Notices et Extraits des Manuscrlts de la Bibl. Nat., torn. iv. 46 tector of Zoroaster. Riickert calls him Kischtasp. He does not give the story directly according to Firdausi (tr. Mohl, iv. 224, 278-281) but makes his hero go to Turan, whence he returns at the head of a hostile army. At the boundary he is met, not by his brother Zarir, but simply by messengers who offer him Iran's crown. This he accepts and thus becomes king and protector of the realm he was about to assail.' Most of the other poems in this book deal with legends of the Sassanian dynasty. Thus "Schapurs Ball," p. 114 {Mkm. pp. 282-285); "Die Wolfe und Schakale Nuschirwans," p. 115 {Mem. p. 381); "Die abgestellte Hungersnoth," p. 116 [MtfiH. pp. 345, 346); "Die Heerschau," p 117 [M^m. p. 373). The two stories about Bahram Cubin, pp. 1 19-122, are also in Me'jn. p. 395 and pp. 396, 397 respectively." " Der Mann mit einem Arme," p. 124, is in Mem. pp. 348, 349. In the last poem "Yesdegerd," p. 126, Riickert gives the story of the sad end of the last Sassanian apparently according to different accounts, and not simply according to Firdausi or Mlr;)(vand. The sixth book opens with the story of Muntasir, p. 198, (from d'Herb. vol. iii, pp. 694, 695) and then we enter the period of the Saffarid dynasty. Its founder Ya'qub is the sub- ject of a poem, p. 207 (d'Herb. iv. 459). " Zu str'eng und zu milde " and " Schutz und Undank," both p. 210, tell of the fortunes of Prince Qabus (Wilken, Sam. p. 181 and pp. 79-81, 91, 198-200, n. 47). " Die aufgehobene Belagerung, " p. 211, brings us to the Biiyids (d'Herb. ii. pp. 639, 640). The story of Saidah and Mahmud, p. 212, is from Wilken's Buj. c. xii. pp. 87-90, but the order of the events is changed. Then we come to the history of the Ghaznavid dynasty, in connection with which the storv of Alp Tagin is told in " Lokman's Wort," p. 214, according to the account of Haidar in Wilk. Gasnevid. p. 139, n. i, preceded by an anecdote told of Luq- man (d' Herb. ii. 488). "Die Schafschur," p. 215, gives a saying of Sabuktagln from the Tdri-)^^-i- Yaminl (on the authority of 'Utbl, de Sacy, Notices et Extr. iv. 365). In the story of Mahmud's famous expedition to Somanatha, p. 215, ' For a similar form of the story see Gobineau, Histoire des Perses, Paris, 1869, vol. ii. pp. 9, 10, where the story is given on the authority of a Parsi work, the "Tj^har-e-Tjemen" (i. e. Cahar-i-Caman, " the four lawns "). 2 For the romance about this man see Th. Noldeke, Tabari, pp. 474-478. 47 Riickert has combined the meagre account of Mirxvand with that of FiriSta for the story of the Brahman's offer and with that of Haidar for the sultan's reply (Wilk. Gasnevid. pp. 216, 217, n. 109). ■" Mahmud's Winterf eldzug, " p. 216, is also from Wilken's book (pp. 166-168, n. 38); in fact Dil^ak's reply is a rhymed translation of the passage in the note referred to. From the same source came also the poem on the two Dabsallms, p. 219 (Wilken, Gasnevid. pp. 220-225). The familiar anecdote of the vizier interpreting to Mahmud the conversation of the two owls is told in Nidami's Maxsan- ul-asrdr (ed. Bland, pp. 48-50), where, however, Anusirvan is the sultan. The title reads :^ >jV^ Lj JtX-fc ijl.j^.jl ^jLx*«-lt> Joui- •' "Abu Rihan' (i. e. Albiruni) is taken from d'Herb. I. 45 and iv. 697. Then follow stories from the period of the Saljuks: "Des Sultan's Schlaf, " p. 224 (Vullers, Gesch. der Seldsch. pp. 43, 44); "Nitham Elmulks Ehre," p. 228 (ibid. pp. 228-230); " Nitham Elmulks Fall," p. 229 (ib. pp. 123-125 and pp. 128- 132); "Die ungliickliche Stunde," p. 232 (ibid. pp. 153, 154). "Die unterthanigen Wiirfel," p. 227, is from the Haft Quhuin {Gram. 11. Poet, der Perser, pp. 366, 367). The stories of Alp Arslan and Romanus, p. 225, and of Malaksah's prayer, p. 228, are not given by Mir^^vand, but occur in the works of Deguignes, Gibbon, Malcolm and d'Herbelot.^ The story of the death of Sultan Muhammad (in 1159 A. D.), p. 232, is in Deguignes, ii. 260, 261. Then we get stories from the period of the Mongol invasion. "Die prophezeite Weltzerstorung, " p. 237, the legend of Jingis Chan's birth, is in the Tdrt^-i- Yamiiii (Notices et Extr. iv. pp. 408, 409). The material for the poems concerning Muhammad Xvarazm Sah, p. 237, and his brave son Jalal ud- din, pp. 240, 241, is found in the work of Deguignes (op. cit. ii. p. 274 and pp. 280-283). Finally we are carried even to India and listen to the story of the unhappy queen Raziyah, p. 255, who was murdered at Delhi by her own generals in 1239 A.D.= 1 Lithogr. ed., p. 23. See also Malcolm, op. cit. i. ig6 ; Red. p. 107. 2 Deguignes, Hist. G^n. des Huns, des I'urcs, des Mogols, et des autres Tartares occi- dentaux, etc. Paris, 1756-1758, vol. ii. pp. 209, 223; Malcolm, op. cit. i. pp. 211, 218. ' See Elphinstone's Hist, of India, Lond., 1841, vol. ii. pp. 10-12; also Elliot, The History of India as told by its own historians, Lond. 1867-1877, vol. ii. pp. 332-335, 337. where the story is not so romantic as in Rilckert's poem. 48 A few anecdotes about Persian poets are also given. " Thus " Dichterkampf, " p 233, gives the amusing story of the liter- ary contest between Anvari and Rasid, surnamed Vatvat "the swallow" (Hammer, Red. p. 121; David Price, Chronological Retrospect, London, 182 1, ii. 391, 392), and on p. 243 we are told how Kamal ud-din curses his native city Ispahan and how the curse was fulfilled. (Hammer, Red. p. 159.) The seventh book contains two of Riickert's best known parables, the famous " Es ging ein Mann im Syrerland," p. 303,' and "Der Sultan lasst den Mewlana rufen," p. 305 (Red. P- 338)- It will be noticed that the Oriental poems which we have thus far discussed were mainly derived from Arabic and Persian sources. We may now turn our attention to a collec- tion in which Riickert's studies on matters connected with India are also represented. This collection Brahmanische Erzahlungen, published in the year 1839 (vol. iii.), does not, however, as its title might lead us to suppose, consist exclusively of Indie material. Some of the poems are not even Oriental; "Annikas Freier, " p. 217, for example, is from the Finnic. Of others, again, the subject-matter, whether ori,ginally Oriental or not, has long ago become the common property of the world's fable- literature, as, for instance, " Weisheit aus Vogelmund, " p. 239, the story of which may be found in the Gesta Romanorum, and in French, English and German, as well as in Persian, fable-books.'' Some are from Arabic sources, as from the Thousand and One Nights, e. g. "Der schwanke Anker- grund," p. 357,^ "Elephant, Nashorn und Greif," p. 367," "Die Kokosniisse," p. 359.^ The poem " Rechtsanschauung in Afrika," p. 221, is a Hebrew parable from the Talmud and had been already used by Herder." A considerable number of the poems contain nothing but Persian material. Thus " Wettkampf , " p. 197, is from the Gulistan (i. 28; K. S. tr. p. 27); and from the same source we ^ Taken from Red. p. 183, where it is given as from Rumi. See above, p. 6. = Gesta Roman, ed. Herm. Oesrerly, Berl. 1872, c. 167. For bibliography of this fable see W. A. Clouston, A Group of Eastern Romances, 1889, pp. 563-566, pp. 448-452. 3 Book of the Thousand and One Nights, by John Payne, Lond. 1894, vol. v, p. 153. ■■Ibid. p. 168. "Ibid. p. 199. « In Judische Parabeln, vol. 26, p. 359 ; see also Bacher, Nizamls Leben u. Werke, p. 117, n. 4. 49 have " Rache fiir den Steinwurf," p. 219 (Gul. i. 22; K. S. 21), " Fluch und Segen, " p. 234 {Gul. i. i), and " Busurgi- mihr," p. 225 {Gul. i. 32; K. S. 31). "Die Bibliothek des Konigs," p. 405, is from the Baharistan (K. S., p. 31 ; Red. p. 338). Three episodes from the Iskandar Namah are narrated on pp. 214-217 : the story of the invention of the mirror {Isk. tr. Clark, xxiii. p. 247), the battle between the two cocks (ibid., xxii. p. 234 seq.), and the message of Dara to Alexan- der with the latter's reply (ibid. xxiv. p. 263).' On p. 329 Riickert offers a free, but faithful, even if abridged version of selected passages from the introductory chapters of Nidami's work {Isk. tr. Clarke, canto ii, p. 18 seq. and canto vii, p. 53 seq.). In " Kiess der Reue," p. 421, he paraphrases the episode of Alexander's search for the fountain of life from the Shah Namah (tr. Mohl, v. pp. 177, 178). The story of Bahramgur in the same work (tr. Mohl, v, pp. 488- 492) appears in " Allwo nicht Zugethan," p. 397. It is not taken from Firdausi, for it relates the story somewhat differ- ently, and introduces a love-episode of which the epic knows nothing." Again, "Der in die Stadt verschlagene Kurde," p. 229, is an anecdote which Riickert had already translated in the Haft Qulzuin (see his Foet. u. Rhet. der Perser, pp. 72-74), while " Gliicksgiiter," p. 233, may have been suggested by a story of Attar which he published afterwards (i860, ZDMG. vol. 14, p. 286). Some anecdotes of Persian princes or poets are also utilized, e. g. "Das Kiichenfeldgerathe des Ftirsten Amer," p. 226 (d' Herb. iv. 459; Malcolm i. p. 155), "Der Spiegel des Konigs," p. 223 (Deguignes, ii. 171), and the story of Jami and the mulla, p. 224 (M. Kuka, The Wit and Humour of the Persians, Bombay, 1894, pp. 165, 166). In one poem, " Ormuzd und Ahriman," p. 344, an Avestan subject is treated, the later Parsi doctrine of zrvan akarana.^ The great majority of the poems in this collection are con- cerned with India, its literature, mythology, religious customs, geography and history, and it will be convenient for our purpose to discuss them under these heads. ' These episodes are outlined in Hammer, Red. p. 118 ; see iVIalcolm, op. cit. i. 55, 56. 2 We call attention to tlie fact that the fourth division of this collection (pp. 392-439 in our edition) is made up of poems which really belong to the Weisheit des Brahmanen. s Jackson, Die iran. Religion in Grdr. iran. Phil. ii. pp. 629, 630. 50 In the first group, that which takes its material from Sanskrit literature, we meet with the story of the flood, p. 298, from the Mahabharata (Vana Parva, 187) and the story of Rama's exploits and Sita's love, p. 268, from the Ramayana. Also a number of fables from the Hitopadeia or Pahcatantra occur, e. g. that of the greedy jackal, p. 249, familiar from Lafontaine (^Hit. i. 6; Paiic. ii. 3), and that of the lion, the mouse and the cat, p. 250 {Hit. ii. 3). The story of the ungrateful man and the grateful animals, p. 252, is found in the Kathasaritsdgara (tr. Tawney, ii. pp. 103-108; cf. Pali version in Rasavahinl, Wollheim, Die National-Lit. sanitlicher Volker des Orients., Berl. 1873, vol. i. p. 370). " Katerstolz und Fuchses Rath," p. 243, has for its prototype the fable of the mouse changed into a girl in Pancatantra (iv. 9 ; cf . the story of the ambitious Candala maid in Kathas. tr. Tawney, ii. p. 56). King Raghu's generosity to Varatantu's pupil Kautsa, as narrated in the Raghuvamsa (ch. v.), is the subject of a poem on p. 402. Two famous pieces from the C^a«zsa(/-literature are also offered : the story of how Jajfiavalkya overcame nine contestants in debate at King Janaka's court and won the prize consisting of one thousand cows with gold-tipped horns, p. 247, from the Brhadaranyaka Up. iii (see Deussen, Sechzig Upan. ilbers. Leipz. 1897, p. 428 seq.), and the story of Naciketas' choice, p. 403, from the Kathaka Upanisad. To this group belong also versions of Bhartrhari, p. 337 {Nitii. 15) and p. 338 {Nitis. 67). In the mythological group we have two poems telling of the history of Krsna, as given in the great Bhagavata Purana. The first one, "Die Weltliebessonne im Palast des Gottes Krischna, " p. 246, gives the legend of the god's interview with the Sage Narada (Bhagav. Nirnaya Sag. Press, Bombay 1898, Lib. X. c. 69; tr. Dutt, Calcutta, 1895, pp. 298-302) with a close somewhat different from that of the Sanskrit original. The second one narrates the romance of the poor Brahman Sudaman, who pays a visit to the god and is enriched by the latter's generosity {Bhagav. x. c. 80, 81; tr. Dutt, pp. 346-355. For the Hindostanee version in the Premsagar, see Wollheim, op. cit. i. p. 421). In the Sanskrit the story is not so ideal as in Riickert's poem. The poor Brahman is urged 51 on to the visit, not by affection for the playmate of his youth, but rather by the prosaic appeals of his wife ; yet, though the motive be different, the result is the same. Besides these, we find the legend of Kama, the Hindu Cupid, burned to ashes by Siva's third eye for attempting to interrupt the god's penance, p. 266 (jRdmay. i. c. 23, Ktiinaras. iii. v. 70 seq.), and Riickert manages to introduce and to explain all the epithets, Kamadeva, kandarpa, smara, manmatha^ hrcckava, ananga, which Sanskrit authors bestow upon their Cupid. We also have legends of the cause of the eclipses of sun and moon, p. 365, of the origin of caste, p. 347 (Manu i. 87), of the fabulous mountain Meru in Jambudvipa, p. 285, of the quarrelsome mountains Innekonda and Bugglekonda, p. 321 (Ritter Et-d- kunde, iv. 2, pp. 472, 473). The winding course of the Indus is explained by a typical Hindu saint-story, p. 335, similar to that told of the Yamunfi and Rama in the Visnu Purana (tr. Wilson, ed. Dutt, Calc. 1894, p. 386). Many of the poems describe religious customs practised in India. Of such customs the practice of asceticism in its different forms is one of the most striking and could not fail • to engage the poet's attention. Thus the peculiar fast known as Cdndrdyana, "moon-penance," is the subject of a poem, p. 278; so also " Titanische Bussandacht," p. 283, has for its theme the belief of the Hindus in the supernatural power con- ferred by excessive penance, as exemplified by the legend of Sakuntala's birth. The practice of paiicatapas., "the five fires " i^Manu, vi. 23. See Monier Williams, Indian Wisdom, Lond. 1876, p. 105) is the subject of the poerti "Des Biissers Lauterungswahn," p. 285. The selfish greed of the Brah mans (cf. Manu, vii. 133, 144; xi. 40) is referred to in two poems on p. 287. The supposed powers of cintdmani, the Hindu wishing-stone, suggested the poem on p. 275 (cf. Bhartrhari, Vdir. 33). Of other poems of this sort we may mention "Die Gottverehrung des Stammes Karian," p. 322 (Ritter, Erdk. iv. i. p. 187), " Vom Genuss der Friichte nach Dschainas Lehre," p. 307 (ibid. iv. p. 749), and "Die Schuhe im Tempel Madhuras," p. 301 (ibid. iv. 2. p. 4). Again, many poems belong to the realm of physical and descriptive geography. Their source, in most cases, was 52 undoubtedly the great geographical work of Ritter. To it may be referred the majority of the purely descriptive poems, e. g., "Das ewige Friihlingsland der Tudas," p. 301 (op. cit. iv. I. 951), "Das Fruhlingsland Kaschmir," p. 315 (ibid. ii. 1 142 and 630), "Die Kokospalme, " p. 304 (ibid. iv. i. 834 seq., 838, 851, 852). The sun and moon lotuses, so famous through Heine's beautiful songs (see p. 58), are described on p. 343. Animal-life also comes in for its share, e. g. the ichneumon in "Instinctive Heilkunde der Tiere," p. 336. Lastly, we come to the historical group, poems relating to the history of India. The poem on the burning of Keteus' wife, p. 382, is evidently inspired by the reading of Diodorus Siculus (xix. 33). On page 311 we have a poem celebrating the valor of the Raja Pratap" Sinh, who held out so bravely against Akbar in the mountain fastnesses of Citor, 1567.' The heroic queen-i"egent of Ahmadnagar, Chand Bibi, and the romantic story of her struggle against Akbar, in 1596, is the subject of the poem on p. 353. Only the bright side is, however, presented ; the tragic fate which overtook the unfortunate princess three years later is not referred to.'' The famous battle of Samugarh, 1658, by which Aurangzib gained the Mogul Empire, is narrated on p. 310, according to the account of Bernier. " In this connection we may also mention "Das Mikroskop," p. 370, the familiar anecdote of the Brahman who refused to drink water, after the microscope had revealed to him the existence therein of countless animal- cules (Ritter, Erdk. iv. i. p. 749). Besides the poems falling under the groups discussed above there are many of purely didactic or moralizing tendency, embodying general reflections. It would take us too far, were we to attempt to discuss them, even if their interest were sufficiently great to repay the trouble. We must, however, point out that even the Sanskrit vocabulary is impressed into service to fvirnish material for such poems. Thus the fact 1 Elliot, Hist, of India, vol. v. pp. 165-175 ; 324-328. 2 Elphinstone, Hist, of India, vol. ii. pp. 229-301 and note, where the legend of the queen firing silver balls is given on the authority of XafI Xan. Elliot, op. cit. vi. gg-ioi. ' The History of the Late Revolution of the Empire of the Great Mogul, Lond. 1671, pp. 106-131. See also' Elliot, op. cit. vol. vii. pp. 220-224, ^"d Elphinstone, op. cit. vol. ii. p, 425 seq. ^ where a slightly different account of the battle is given. 53 that the word pada may mean either " foot," " step," or " ray of the moon or sun," is utilized for the last lines of " Vom Monde," p. 368. The meaning of the term bakravratin, "acting like a crane," applied to a hypocrite, is used for a poem on p. 363. Similarly the threefold signification of ■dri/>a a.s "brahman," "bird," and "tooth" suggests " Zweige- boren," p. 423, and more instances might be adduced. It is not to be wondered at that such poetizing should often degenerate into the most inane trifling, so that we get such rhyming efforts as that on p. 326 with its pun on the simi- larity of /lima "winter" with /lema "gold," Himalaya and himavat with Himniel and Heimat, or that on p. 385 with its ■childish juxtaposition of the Vedantic term inaya, the Greek name Mata, and the German word Magie. If the poems discussed in the preceding pages were found to be largely didactic and gnomic in character, the great collection called Die Weisheit des Bi-ahmanen is entirely so. The poems composing this bulky work appeared in install- ments during the period 1836-1839, and, while many of them, as will be shown below, are the outcome of Riickert's Oriental studies, the majority simply embody general reflections on anything and everything that happened to engage the poet's attention. " Es muss alles hinein, was ich eben lese: vor acht Wochen Spinoza, vor vierzehn Tagen Astronomic, jetzt Grimms iiberschwenglich gehaltreiche Deutsche Mythologie, alles unter der nachlassig vorgehaltenen Brahmanenmaske "' These are the author's own words and render further detailed characterization of the work superfluous. It is well known that the sources for the great didactic collec- tion, even for that part of it which is not composed of reflec- tions on matters of contemporary history, politics and litera- ture, or relating to questions of family and friendship, are more Occidental than Oriental.'' In fact, the Brahmanic character of the wisdom here expounded consists mainly in the contemplative spirit of reposeful didacticism which per- vades the entire collection. Nor is there anything Oriental 1 Letter to Melchior Meyr, Dec. 25, 1836, cited by C. Beyer in Nachgelassene Ged. Fr. Ruckerts, Wien, 1877, pp. zio, 211. 2 Koch, Der Deutsche Brahmane, Breslau (Deutsche Bucherei, Serie iv. Heft 23), p. 22. 5 54 about the form of the poems, — the rhymed Alexandrine reign- ing supreme with wearisome monotony. A detailed discussion of the Weisheit, therefore, even if it were possible within the limits of this dissertation, will not be attempted; the less so, as such a discussion, so far as the Oriental side, at least, is concerned, would be very much of the same nature as that given of the Brahmanische Erzdhlungen. A general Oriental influence, especially of the BhagavadgUd- philosophy or of Rumi's pantheism, is noticeable enough in many places,' but particular instances of such influence are not hard to find. We shall adduce only a few, taken from the fifth division or Stttfe, called Leben. Of these there are taken from the Hitopadeia Nos. 25 {Hit. i. couplet 179; \x. Hertel, 141), 26 (ib. i. 178 ;tr. Hertel, 140), in (ib. i. couplet 80; Wilkins' tr. p. 56). From the GuUstan are taken Nos. 290 {Gul. i. 13; K. S. dist. p. 42), 326 (ibid. vii. 20; K. S. dist. p. 230), 366 (ibid. vii. 20; K. S. p. 232). No. 60 was probably suggested by the fable of the ass and the camel in Jami's Baharistan (tr. K. S. p. 179). No. 476 draws a moral from the fact that the Persian title wfrzfl means either "scribe" or "prince, '' accord- ing to its position before or behind the person's name. In No. 201 we recognize a Persian proverb: ^— « \-^ «5' -k^ (Jv? ^■.y^^ xsa.j^. cXjI "little goat, do not die; spring is com- ing, you will eat clover." No. 364: "Herr Strauss, wenn ein Kameel du bist, so trage mir!" Ich bin ein Vogel. " Flieg!" Ich bin ein Trampeltier is also a Persian proverb and is absolutely unintelligible, unless one happens to know that the Persian word for "ostrich" is tyfJ^Mi, literally "camel-bird." Again, to cite from other Stufen, Firdausi's lines, already used by Goethe in his Divan (see p. 25 above), furnish the text for a moral poem, p. 487 (18). The Persian notion of the pea- cock being ashamed of his ugly feet (cf. Gul. ii. 8, qit'ah) is put to a similar use on p. 463 (162). Some poems are moral- izingly descriptive of Indie customs, e. g., p. 157 (n), where reverence for the guru or "teacher "is inculcated (cf. Manu 1 Ibid. pp. 18-22. For ROml's influence see esp. in vol. viii of tlie edition cited, pp. 544. 7, 566. 74 et al. 55 ii, 71, 228) and pp. 10, 11 (18, 19), where the conditions are set forth under which the Vedas may be read (cf. Mann iv. 101-126, or Yajn. i. 142-15 1). A comparison is instituted between the famous court of Vikramaditya and liis seven gems, of which Kalidasa was one, and that of Karl August of Weimar and his poetic circle, p. 148 (39). Trivial and empty rhyming is of course abundant in such an uncritical mass of verse, and we also meet with insipid puns, like that on the Arabic word din^ "religion," and the German word dienen, p. 498 (48). These examples, we believe, will suffice for our purpose. With the philosophical part of the Weisheit we are not here concerned. A great many Oriental poems are scattered throughout the collection which bears the title of Pantheon (vol. vii.). We may mention "Die gefallenen Engel," p 286, the legend of Harut and Marut, " Wischnu auf der Schlange, " p. 286, "Die nackten Weisen," p. 287, and others. Some poems in this collection are in spirit akin to the Ostliche Rosen, e.g. " Becher und Wein," p. 291, "Der Traum," p. 283, and the " Vier- zeilen," pp. 481, 482. Besides this, the yazal-iorva occurs repeatedly, e. g. " Friihlingshymne, " p. 273. So fond does Riickert seem to have been of this form, that he employs it even for a poem on such an unoriental subject as Easter, p. 189 (2). This collection is furthermore of interest from the biographi- cal side, as often giving us Riickert's opinions. Thus we find evidence that he was by no means onesidedly prejudiced in favor of things Oriental. Referring to the myth of fifty- three million Apsarases having sprung from the sea,' he states (p. 24), that if he were to be the judge, these fifty-three mil- lion nymphs bedecked with jewels would have to bow before the one Aphrodite in her naked glory. And again in "Riickkehr," p. 51, the poet confesses that having wandered to the East to forget his misery and finding thorns in the rose- gardens of Persia, and demons, misshapen gods and monkeys acting the parts of heroes in India, he is glad to return to the 1 In Ramay. i. 45, where the story of their origin is briefly given, we read that sixty kotis, i. e. 600,000,000 (a kati being 10,000,000), came forth from the sea, not reclconing their numberless female attendants. 66 Iliad and Odyssey (cf. also "Zu den ostlichen Rosen," P- 153)- Riickert was evidently aware of his tendency to overpro- duction. He offers an explanation in " Spruchartiges, " ?• 157: Mir ist Verse zu machen und kCnstliche Vers' ein Bedurfnis, Fehlt mir ein eigenes Lied, so iibersetz' ich mir eins. And again to his own question, Musst du denn immer dich- ten?, p 159, he answers: Icli denke nie ohne zu dichten, Und dichte nie ohne zu denken. Graf von Schack has aptly applied to Riickert's poems the famous sentence which a Spaniard pronounced about Lope de Vega, that no poet wrote so many good plays, but none also so many poor ones." Whatever defects it may have, Riickert's Oriental work is nevertheless indisputably of the greatest importance to Ger- man literature. More than any one else he brought over into it a new spirit and new forms ; and it is due primarily to his unsurpassed technical skill that the German language is to-day the best medium for an acquaintance, not only with the literature of the West, but also with that of the East. * Schack, Ein halbes Jahrhundert, Stuttg. Berl. Wlen, 1894, vol. ii. p. 41. See also Koch, op. cit. pp. 11-13; Rud. Gottschall, Fried. Riickert in Portraits u. Studien, Leipz. 1870, vol, i. pp. 163-166; Rich. Meyer, Gesch. der Lilt, des 19 Jahrh. Berl. 1890, p. 56. CHAPTER IX. HEINE. Becomes Interested in India through Schlegel — Influ- ence OF India's Literature on his Poetry — Interest in the Persian Poets — Persian Influence on Heine • — His Attitude toward the Oriental Movement. "Was das Sanskrit- Studiym selbst betrifft, so wird iiber den Nutzen desselben die Zeit entscheiden. Portugiesen, Hollander und Englander haben lange Zeit jahraus, jahrein auf ihren grossen Schiffen die Schatze Indiens nach Hause geschleppt; wir Deutsche batten immer das Zusehen. Aber die geistigen Schatze Indiens soUen uns nicht entgehen. Schlegel, Bopp, Humboldt, Frank u. s. w. sind unsere jet- zigen Ostindienfahrer ; Bonn und MUnchen werden gute Faktoreien sein." With these words Heine sent forth his " Sonettenkranz " to A. W. von Schlegel in 182 1.' These sonnets show what a deep impression the personality and lectures of the famous romanticist made on him while he was a student at Bonn, in 1819 and 1820. Schlegel had just then been appointed to the professorship of Literature at the newly created university, and to his lectures Heine owed the interest for India which manifests itself in many of his poems, and which continued even in later years when his relations to his former teacher had undergone a complete change. He never undertook the study of Sanskrit. His interest in India was purely poetic. "Aber ich stamme aus Hindostan, und daher fiihle ich mich so wohl in den breiten Sangeswal- dern Valmikis, die Heldenlieder des gottlichen Ramo bewe- gen mein Herz wie ein bekanntes Weh, aus den Blumenlie- dern Kalidasas bliihen mir hervor die siissesten Erinnerungen " [Ideen, vol. v. p. 115) — these words, with some allowance perhaps for the manner of the satirist, may well be taken to ^ Printed as Nachwort in tlie Bemerlcer, No. lo, Suppl. to Gesellscliafter, No. 77. See also H. Heines Leben u. Werlce, Ad. Strodtmann, Hamb. 1883, vol. i. p. 78. 57 58 characterize the poet's attitude towards India. Instinctively he appropriated to himself the most beautiful characteristics of Sanskrit poetry, its tender love for the objects of nature, for flowers and animals and the similes and metaphors inspired thereby, and he invests them with all the grace and charm peculiar to his muse. Some of his finest verses owe their inspiration to the lotus; and in that famous poem "Die Lotosblume angstigt," — so beautifully set to music by Schumann — the favorite flower of India's poets may be said to have found its aesthetic apotheosis. As is well known, there ai-e two kinds of lotuses, the one opening its leaves to the 'sun {S^t. padma, pahkaja),th.Q other to the moon (Skt. kinnuda, kairavd). Both kinds are mentioned in Sakuntala (Act. V. Sc. 4, ed. Kale, Bombay, 1898, p. 141): kumudanyeva iaiankdh savita bhodhayatt pankajanyeva ' ' the moon wakes only the night lotuses, the sun only the day lotuses.'" It is the former kind, the nymphaea esculenta, of which Heine sings, and his conception of the moon as its lover is distinc- tively Indie and constantly recurring in Sanskrit literature. Thus at the beginning of the first book of the Hitopadeia the moon is called the lordly bridegroom of the lotuses." The splendor of an Indie landscape haunts the imagination of the poet. On the wings of song he will carry his love to the banks of the Ganges (vol. i. p. 98), to that moonlit garden where the lotus-flowers await their sister, where the violets peep at the stars, the roses whisper their perfumed tales into each other's ears and the gazelles listen, while the waves of the sacred river make sweet music. And again in a series of sonnets addressed to Friederike {Neue Ged. vol. ii. p. 65) he invites her to come with him to India, to its palm-trees, its ambra-blossoms and lotus-flowers, to see the gazelles leaping on the banks of the Ganges, and the peacocks displaying their gaudy plumage, to hear Kokila singing his impassioned lay. He sees Kama in the features of his beloved, and 1 Similarly Bhartrhan, NitlS. 74. '^ Atha kad&cid avasa-nn&ydm ratrdv astdcalacUddvalamhini hhagavati kumudiniKd- yake candramasi .... {ed. Bomb. i8gi, p. 7). " Once upon a time when the night was spent and the moon, the lordly lover of the lotuses, was reclining on the crest of the western mountain ... "Of other allusions to this lotus we may cite VikramOrva^I, Act 3. ed. Parab and Telang, Bomb. 1888, p. 79 ; ^ak. Act iii. ed. Kale, p. 81, and Act iv. ib. p. 96. 59 Viisanta hovering on her lips; her smile moves the Gandharvas in their golden, sunny halls to song. Allusions to episodes from Sanskrit literature are not infre- quent in Heine's writings. The famous struggle between King Vi^viimitra with the sage Vasistha for example is mock- ingly referred to in two stanzas (vol. i. p. 146).' His own efforts to win the favor of a certain Emma {Neue Ged. ii. 54) the poet likens to the great act of penance by which King Bhagiratha brought down the Ganges from heaven." Heine's prose-writings also furnish abundant proofs of his interest in and acquaintance with Sanskrit literature. In the opening chapters of Xhs Buck Le Gi-and [c. 4, vol. v. p. 114) he brings before us another vision of tropical Indie splendor. In his sketches from Italy {Heiseb. ii. vol. vi. p. 137) he draws a parallel between the priesthood of Italy and that of India, which is anything but flattering to either. It is also not cor- rect; he notices, to be sure, that in the Sanskrit drama (of which he knows only Bakuntala and Mrcchakatika) the rdle of buffoon is assigned invariably to a Brahman, but he is igno- rant of the origin of this singular custom.' In his essay on the Romantic School, when speaking of Goethe's godlike repose, he introduces by way of illustration the well-known episode from the Nala-story where Damayanti distinguishes her lover from the gods who had assumed his form by the blinking of his eyes (vol. ix. p. 52). In the same essay (ibid, pp. 49, 50), he bestows enthusiastic praise on Goethe's Divan, and this brings us to the question of Persian influence upon Heine. Starting as he did on his literary career at the time when Goethe's Divan and Riickert's Ostliche Rosen had inaugurated the Hafizian movement in German literature, it would have been strange if he had remained entirely outside of the sphere of its influence. As a matter of fact, he took some interest in » The episode occurs in Ramay. i. 51-56. It liad been translated as early as i8i£ by Bopp in his Conjugationssystem der Sanskritsprache. 2 Mahabh. iii. 108, log; Ramay, i. 42,43; MarkandSya Pur. and other works. Heine's acquaintance was due undoubtedly to Schlegel's translation in Indische Bibliothek, 1820. j ^lj-uu» o"^^- 5 <^'-*'^-*^ 15:'.''-^''^ Lf" . ' ' ^^ ^or& the garment of prudence and put on the rags of disgrace. " ' The description of a countess in words like those which Heine puts into the mouth of a Berlin chamber-musician: " Cypressenwuchs, Hyacinthenlocken, der Mund ist Ros' und Nachtigall zu gleicher Zeit," . . {Brief e aus Berlin. No. 3, vol. V. p. 205) furnishes another instance in point. And lastly, we must mention one of the best known of Heine's poems, the trilogy "Der Dichter Firdusi," the sub- ject of which is the famous legend of Mahmud's ingratitude to Persia's greatest singer and his tardy repentance. We may add that scholars are not inclined to accept this legend as historical in all its parts ; certainly not in its artistic and effective ending. This, of course, has nothing to do with the literary merit of the poem, which is deservedly ranked as one of Heine's happiest efforts.'' After all, however, it is clear that Heine is in no sense an orientalizing poet or a follower of the Hafizian tendency which became the vogue under the influence of Goethe, Riickert and Platen. With him the Oriental element never was more than an incidental feature, strictly subordinated to his own poetic individuality, and never dominating or effacing it, as is the case with most of the professedly "Per- sian" singers, — those "Perser von dem Main, der Elbe, von der Isar, von derPleisse" — who thought, as has justly been remarked, that they had penetrated into the Persian spirit by merely mentioning giUs and bulbuls. Heine had no use for such trivial superficiality. The singer of the "Loreley" sang as he felt, and in spite of so many apparently un- German sen- 1 O. M. V. Schlechta-Wssehrd. Der Fruhlingsgarten von Mewlana Abdurrahman Dschami, Wien, 1846. Persian text, p. 38. 2 For a discussion of the legend see Noldeke in Grdr. iran. Phil. vol. ii. pp. 154, 155, 158. 63 timents in his writings he had a right to say (Die Heimkehr, vol. i. p. 131): Ich bin ein deutscher Dichter, Bekannt im deutschen Land ; Nennt man die besten Namen, So wird auch der meine genannt. CHAPTER X. BODENSTEDT. LlEDER DES MiRZA SCHAFFY ArE ORIGINAL POEMS NaCH- LASs — Aus Morgenland und Abendland — Sakuntala, A Narrative Poem. The Hafid tendency was carried to the height of popularity by Friedrich Martin Bodenstedt, whose Lieder des Mirza Schaffy met with a phenomenal success, running through one hundred and forty editions in Germany alone during the life- time of the author, besides being translated into many foreign languages.' These songs have had a remarkable career, which the author himself relates in an essay appended to the Nachlass. '^ According to the prevailing opinion, Mirza Schaffy was a great Persian poet, a rival of Sa'di and Hafid, and Bodenstedt was the translator of his songs. Great, therefore, was the astonishment of the European, and particularly the German public, when it was discovered that the name of this famous poet was utterly unknown in the East, even in his own native land. As early as i860. Professor Brugsch, when in Tiflis, had searched for the singer's grave, but in vain ; nobody could tell him where a certain Mirza Schaffy lay buried. At last, in 1870, the Russian counsellor Adolph Berge gave an authentic account of the real man and his literary activity.^ Two things were clearly established: first, that such a person as Mirza Safi' had really existed ; second, that this person was no poet. On this second point the few scraps of verse which Berg6 had been able to collect, and which he submitted in the essay cited above, leave absolutely no doubt. So, in 1874, when Boden- stedt published another poetic collection of Mirza Schaffy, he 1 Hebrew by Jos. Ghoczner, Breslau, 1868 ; Dutch by van Krieken, Amst. 1875 ; Eng- lish by E. d'Esterre, Hamb. i88o; Italian by Giuseppe Rossi, 1884 ; Polish by Dzialoszye, Warsaw, 1888. See list in G. Schenk, Friedr. Bodenstedt, Ein Dichterleben in seinen Briefen, Berl. 1893, pp. 246-248. "^ Aus dem Nachlasse Mirza Schaffys, Berl. 1874, pp. 191-223. 3 In ZDMG. vol. xxiv. pp. 425-432. 64 65 appended an essay wherein he explained clearly the origin and the nature of the original collection bearing that name. According to his own statements, these poems are not trans- lations. They are entirely his own,' and were originally not an independent collection, but part of the biographical romance Tausend und ein Tag im Orient.^ This should be kept in mind if we wish to estimate them at their true value. Nevertheless the poems are genuinely Oriental and owe their existence to the author's stay in the East, particularly in Tiflis, during the winter 1843-44. But for this residence in the Orient, so Bodenstedt tells us,' a large part of them would never have seen the light. In form, however, they are Occidental — the yazal being used only a few times (e. g. ii. 135, or in the translations from Hafid in chap. 21: ii. 70 = H. 8; ii. 72 = H. 155, etc.) In spirit they are like Hafid. " Mein Lehrer ist Hafis, mein Bethaus ist die Schenke," so Mirza Schaffy himself proclaims (i. p. 96), and images and ideas from Hafid, familiar to us from preceding chapters, meet us everywhere. The stature like a cypress, the nightingale and the rose, the verses like pearls on a string, and others could be cited as instances. Other authors are also laid under contribution ; thus the comparison of Mirza Schaffy to a bee seems to have been suggested by a maxim of Sa'di ( 38)) the incident of the bee and Priyamvada's playful remark (pp. 38-40) are closely modelled after the fourth scene of Act I. Many passages of the poem are in fact nothing but translations. Thus the words which the king on leaving writes to Sakuntala (p. 78) : Doch mein Herz wird stets zurilckbewegt, Wie die wehende Fahne an der Stange, Die man vollem Wind entgegentragt — ' C£. the story of Charlemagne and the magic stone given to him by a grateful serpent. Grimm, Deutsche Sagen, i. 130. 2 We cite from an edition publ. at Leipzig, no date. n are a pretty close rendering of the final words of the king's soliloquy at the end of Act i : gacckati pural), sarlram dhavati pascad asamstutam citah clndmBukam iva ketoh prativdiam niyamdnasya " my body goes forward; the mind not agreeing with it flies backward like the silken streamer of a banner borne against the wind." A large part of the whole poem is pure invention, designed to make the story more exciting by means of a greater variety of incident. Such invented episodes, for instance, are the gory battle-scenes that take up the first part of the fourth canto, the omen of the fishes in the fifth, and the episodes in which Bharata plays the chief role in that canto. Some of the things told of this boy, how he knocks down the gate-keeper who refuses to admit his mother, how he strikes the queen Vasumati who had insulted her, and how he slays the assassin whom this jealous queen had sent against him, are truly remarkable in view of the fact that the hero of all these exploits cannot be more than six years of age (see pp. 112, 113). The account in the Mahabharata, to be sure, tells of equally fabulous exploits performed by the youth, but there we move in an atmosphere of the marvelous. In Bodenstedt's poem, however, the supernatural has been almost completely banished, and we cannot help noticing the improbability of these deeds. CHAPTER XI. THE MINOR ORIENTALIZING POETS. SOME LESS KNOWN POETS WHO ATTEMPTED THE ORIENTAL MANNER. To enumerate the names of all the German poets who affected the Oriental manner would be to give a list of the illustrious obscure. Most of them have only served to fur- nish another illustration of Horace's famous mediocribus esse poetis. A bare mention of such names as Loschke, Levitsch- nigg, Wihl, Stieglitz and von Hermannsthal will suffice.' The last mentioned poet gives a striking illustration of the inanity of most of this kind of work. He uses the ■■/azal form for stories about such persons as the Gracchi and Bliicher,'' and, what is still more curious, for tirades against the Oriental tendency.^ A poet of different calibre is Daumer, whose Hafis (Hamb. 1846) for a long time was regarded as a trans- lation, whereas the poems of the collection are in reality original productions in Hafid's manner, just like Riickert's Ostliche Rosen.'' Their sensuous, passionate eroticism, how- ever, is not a genuine Hafid quality, as we before have seen. The same criticism applies even much more forcibly to Sche- fer's Hafis in Hellas (Hamburg, 1853).'' Special mention is due to the gifted, but unfortunate, Heinrich Leuthold, whose Ghaselen deserve to be placed by the side of Platen's. Like Platen and Riickert, he too proclaims himself a reveller : Zur Gottheit ward die SchSnheit mir Und mein Gebet wird zum Gliasel. — But these Ghaselen do not attempt to be so intensely Persian as to reproduce the objectionable features of Persian poetry. Thus Leuthold sings: 1 On these see Paul Horn, Was verdanken Wir Persien, in Nord u. SUd, Hefi 282, p. 386 seq. 2 Ghaselen, Leipz. Reel. Univ. Bibl, No. 371, pp. 96, gg. ^ Ibid. pp. 49-54. An einen Freund. * 4 See von Schack, Strophen des Omar Chijam, p. 117. ' Horn in article cited, p. 389 ; Emil Brenning, Leopold Schefer, Bremen, 1884, p. 135. T2 73 Vor allem ein Lebehoch dem Hafis. dem Patriarchen der Zunft ! — D'rum bringe die liebliche Schenkin das Gold gefiillter Becher hinein !' Evidently the poet sees no necessity for retaining the sagt, but makes the poem more acceptable to Western taste by sub- stituting a " Schenkin " for Platen's " Schenke." The Oriental story was cultivated by J. F. Castelli. Many of the subjects of his Orientalische Granaten (Dresden, 1852) had already been used by Riickert. Another Oriental story- teller in verse is Ludwig Bowitsch, whose Sindibad (Leipzig, i860) contains mostly Arabic material. Friedrich von Sallet has written a poem on Zerduscht'' which gives the Iranian legend of the attempt made by the sorcerers to burn the new- born child/ It would, however, lead us too far were we to mention single poems on Oriental subjects or of Oriental tendency. Head and shoulders above all these less known poets tow- ers the figure of Count von Schack, who, like Riickert, com- bined the poetic gift with the learning of the scholar, and who thus stands out a worthy successor of the German Brah- man as a representative of the idea of the Weltlitteratur. A discussion of his work is a fitting close for this investigation. 1 Gedichte, Frauenfeld, 1879, p. 144 (xvi). 2 Gesammelte Gedichte, Leipz. Reclam, Nos. 551-3, p. 128. 3 See Jackson, Zoroaster, p. 29. CHAPTER XII. VON SCHACK. His Fame as Translator of Firdausi — Stimmen vom Ganges — ^Sakuntala compared with the Original IN THE MaHABHARATA HiS ORIENTAL SCHOLARSHIP IN HIS Original Poems — Attitude towards Hafizian Singers. As an Orientalist, von Schack's scholarship is amply attested by his numerous and excellent translations from Arabic, Per- sian and Sanskrit. His Heldensageii des Firdusi, as is well known, has become a standard work of German literature. In fact, we may say that his reputation rests more upon his translations than upon his poems. Though we have consistently refrained from discussing translations, it is felt that the Stimmen vom Ganges, which is a collection of Indie legends from various sources, especially from the Purdnas, cannot be left entirely out of consideration.' In many respects these poems have the charm of original work. The models moreover are hsed with great freedom. To cite von Schack's own words: " Fiir eigentliche Ubertra- gungen konnen diese Dichtungen in der Gestalt, wie sie hier vorliegen, nicht gelten, da bei der Bearbeitung bald grossere bald geringere Freiheit gewaltet hat, auch manches Storende und Weitschweifige ausgeschieden wurde ; doch hielt ich es fiir unstatthaft, am Wesentlichen des Stoffes und der Motive Anderungen vorzunehmen. In Gedanken und Ausdruck haben, wenn nicht der jedesmal vorliegende Text, so doch stets Indische Werke zu Vorbildern gedient.'"' A brief comparison of any one of these poems with the Sanskrit original will show the correctness of this statement. 1 Stimmen vom Ganges. Eine Sammlung Indischer Sagen, 2 Auflage, Stuttgart, 1877. The first edition appeared in 1857. Tiiere the eleventh story was Yadu's Meeriahrt (from Harivamfia). In the second edition this was omitted and an imitation of the Nalodaya sub- stituted as an appendix. The sources for each poem are given by the author himself in Nachwort, p. 215, note. '^ Op. cit. p. 216. 74 ■75 Let us take, as an illustration, the second, which gives the famous legend of Sakuntala from the Mahabharata (i. 69-74 ; Bombay ed. i. 92-100). Schack leaves out unnecessary details and wearisome repe- titions. Thus the elaborate account of the Brahmans whom the king sees on entering the hermitage of Kanva and their diilerent occupations {Mbh. 70, 37-47) is condensed into fourteen lines, p. 36. Again, in the original, when Sakun- tala tells the story of her birth, the speech by which Indra urges Menaka to undertake the temptation of Visvamitra is given at some length (Mbh. 71, 20-26); so also the reply of the timid nymph (ibid. 71, 27-42); the story of the tempta- tion itself is narrated with realistic detail in true Hindu fashion (ibid. 72, 1-9). All this takes up thirty-three ilokas. Schack devotes to it barely five lines, p. 38 ; the speeches of Indra and Menaka he omits altogether. Again, when the king proposes to the fair maid, he enters into a learned dis- quisition on the eight kinds of marriage, explaining which ones are proper for each caste, which ones are never proper, and so forth; finally he proposes the Gandharva form (Mbh. 73, 6-14). It is needless to say that in Schack's poem the king's proposal is much less didactic and much more direct, pp. 40, 41. On the other hand, to see how closely the poet sometimes follows his model we need but compare all that follows the words " Kaum war er gegangen," p. 42, to " Dem sind nim- merdar die Gotter gnadig, " p. 47, with the Sanskrit original {Mbh. 73, 24-74, 33). Minor changes in phrases or words, advisable on aesthetic grounds, are of course frequent. Similes, for instance, appeal- ing too exclusively to Hindu taste, were made more general. Thus in Sakuntalfi's reply to the king, p. 51, the faults of others are likened in size to sand grains, and those of him- self to glebes. In Sanskrit, however, the comparison is to mustard-grains and bilva-fruits respectively. A few lines further on the maid declares : " So iiberragt mein Stamm denn Weit den deinen, wisse das, Duschmanta !" which passage in the original reads: avayor antaram paiya mem 76 sariapor iva, "behold! the difference between us is like that between a mustard-seed and Mount Meru." In the same speech of Sakuntala the Sanskrit introduces a striking simile which Schack omits as too specifically Indie: murkho hi jalpatam ptimsdm Srutvd vdcdh subhdsubhdh aSubkam vdkyam ddatte purlSam iva sUkarah frdjnas tu jalpatam pumsdm srutvd vdcah subhdsubhah gunavad vdkyam ddatte hamsah knlrani ivdmbhasal}, {Mbh. 74. 90, 91.) " The fool having heard men's speeches containing good and evil chooses the evil just as a hog dirt; but the vsrise man having heard men's speeches containing good and evil chooses the worthy, just as a swan (separates) milk from water."' We believe that these illustrations will suffice to give an idea of the relation which Schack's poems bear to the orig- inals. His fondness for things Oriental finds also frequent expres- sion in his own poems. In Ndchte des Orients (vol. i. p. 7 seq.)," like Goethe before him, he undertakes a poetic Hegira to the East : Entfliehen lasst mich, fliehn aus den Gewirren Des Occidents zum heitern Morgenland! So he visits the native towns of Firdausi and Hafid and pays his respect to their memory, and then penetrates also into India, where he hears from the lips of a Buddhist monk an exposition of Nirvana philosophy, which, however, is unac- ceptable to him (p. III). The Oriental scenes that are brought before our mind, both in this poem as well as in " Memnon " (vol. vii. p. 5 seq.), are of course portrayed with poetic feel- ing as well as scholarly accuracy. The hdj'i who owns the wonderful elixir, — which, by the way, is said to come from India (p. 33), — and who interprets each vision that the poet lives through from the standpoint of the pessimistic sceptic, shows the influence of 'Umar Xayyam. In fact he indulges sometimes in unmistakable reminiscences of the quatrains of the famous astronomer-poet, as when he says: 1 See Lanman, The Milk-drinking Kansas of Sanskrit Poetry, JAOS, vol. 19. 2, pp. 151- 158. Goose would be a better translation of the word hamsa than swan. 'J We cite from the edition mentioned on p. vii. 77 Wie Schattenbilder, die an der Laterne, Wenn sie der Gaukler schiebt, voriibergleiten, So zieht die blSde, willenlose Herde, Die Menschheit mein' ich, ilber diese Erde. (p. 55.) This is very much the same thought as in the following quatrain of 'Umar (Whinf. 310; Bodl. 108): which stands first in Schack's own translation of the Persian poet and is thus rendered : Fiir eine raagische Laterne ist diese ganze Welt zu halten, In welcher wir voll Schwindel leben; Die Sonne hangt darin als Lampe; die Bilder aber und Gestalten Sind wir, die d'ran vortiberschweben.^ In his Weihgesdnge (vol. ii. p. 149) Schack sends a greeting to the Orient; in another one of these songs he sings the praises of India (ibid. p. 232), and in still another he apos- trophizes Zoroaster (ibid. p. 133). A division of this volume (ii.) bears the title Lotosbldtter. The sight of the scholar's chamber with its Sanskrit manuscripts makes him dream of India's gorgeous scenery and inspires a poem "Das indische Gemach'' (vol. x. p. 26). Oriental stories and legends are also offered, though not frequently. " Mahmud der Gasnevide'' (vol. i. p. 299) relates the story of the great sultan's stern justice. ° " Anahid" (vol. vii. p. 209) gives the famous legend of the angels Harut and Marut, who were punished for their temptation of the beauti- ful Zuhra, the Arabic Venus.' Schack has substituted the old 1 Strophep des Omar Chijam, Stuttg. 1878. The translation itself dates from an earlier period than the year of publication. The author, speaking of the delay in bringing it before the public, states that Horace's nonumque prematur in annum could be applied in three- fold measure to this work (p. 118). Hence the translation was made about 1850, or a little later. 2 Herder, Briefe zur Beforderung der Humanitat, jt, ed. Suphan, vol. 18, p. 259 ; De- guignes, op. cit. vol. ii. p. 172 ; Francis Gladwin, The Persian Moonshee, Calcutta, 1801, Pers. and Engl. pt. ii. p. 3. s See Hammer, Fundgruben, vol. i. pp. 7, 8. 78 Persian name of Anahita (mod. Pers. ndhld) for the Arabic name, and has otherwise also altered the legend considerably. Schack never attempted to write original poems in Oriental form. The Hafizian movement did not excite his enthusiasm, and for the trifling of the average Hafizian singer he had no use whatever. In a poem by which he conveys his thanks to the sultan for a distinction which the latter had conferred on him he says: War ich, so wie Firdusi, paradiesisch, Ich bohrte dir die Perlen der Kaside Und schlange dir das Halsband der Ghasele; Allein wir Deutschen singen kaum hafisisch, Und wenn wir orientalisch sind im Liede, Durchtraben wir die Wiisten als Kamele. (Vol. x. p. io6.) Even for Bodenstedt's Mirza Schaffy songs he has no great admiration : Gar viel bedeutet's nicht, mich dunkt ! Dem nur, was Ruckert langst schon besser machte Und Platen, bist du keuchend nachgehinkt. (Vol. x. p. 47.) CHAPTER XIII. CONCLUSION. Now that we have come to the end of our investigation, it may be well to survey briefly the whole field and to summarize the results we have reached. We have seen that to mediaeval Europe India and Persia were lands of miagic and enchantment; their languages and literatures were utterly unknown. Whatever influence these literatures exerted on that of Europe was indirect and not recognized. Nor did the Portuguese discoveries effect an immediate change. It was only by slow degrees that the West obtained any knowledge of Eastern thought. The Gulistan and Bustan of Sa'di, some maxims of Bhartrhari and a few scattered fragments were all that was known in Europe of Indie or Persian literature before the end of the eighteenth century. Then the epoch-making discoveries of Sir William Jones aroused the attention of the Western world and laid the foundations of a new science. New ideas of world-wide significance presented themselves to the European mind. Nowhere were these ideas welcomed with more enthusi- asm than in Germany, the home of philological scholarship. Herder pointed the way, and by means of translations and imitations tried to introduce the treasures of Oriental thought into German literature. That he did not meet with unquali- fied success was due, as we have seen, to his one-sided didactic tendency. To him, however, belongs the credit of the first impulse. Then Friedrich Schlegel founded the study of Sanskrit in Germany, while at the same time Hammer was busily at work spreading a knowledge of the Persian poets in Europe. The effect of the latter's work was instantaneous, for, as has been pointed out, it was his translation of Hafid that inspired the composition of Goethe's Divan and thus started the Oriental movement in Germany. We have examined the share which Riickert, Platen, 79 80 Bodenstedt and Schack had in this movement and have touched briefly on the work of some of the minor lights. It will be noticed that the Persian tendency found a far greater number of followers than the Indie. And this is but natural. It was far more easy to sing of wine, woman and roses in the manner of Hafid, such as most of these poets conceived this manner to be, than to assimilate and reproduce the philosophic and often involved poetry of India. Add to this the charming form and the rich rhyme of Persian poetry and we can readily understand why it won favor. But we can also understand readily enough why most of the so-called Hafizian singing is of very inferior quality. Those men who did the most serious work for the West-Eastern movement in Germany, men like Riickert and Schack, were not one-sided in their studies. It was their earnest intention to offer to their countrymen what was best in the literatures of both India and Persia, and that theyhave carried out this inten- tion nobly no one who has followed this investigation will be disposed to deny. It only remains to say a few words on the question of the value of this Oriental movement to German literature. We are not inclined to put too high an estimate on the poetry that arose under its influence. In fact, we do not think that it has produced what may be called really great poetry. It is significant that the fame of most of the poets considered in this investigation does not rest on that part of their work which was inspired by Oriental influence. We cannot possi- bly agree with the view that would place Goethe's Divan side by side with the master's best productions. We do not believe that he ever would have become famous through that. Platen's Ghaselen have neither the merit nor the reputation of his son- nets or his ballads. Even among the Ghaselen and Ostliche Rosen of Riickert, the finest poems, such as " Sei mir gegriisst " and " Du bist die Ruh, " both immortalized by the genius of Schubert, are precisely those that are least Oriental, and we think it is safe to say that the Liebesfriihling exceeds in fame any one of Riickert's Oriental collections, including the IVeis- heit des Brahmanen. The exception to the rule is Bodenstedt. His reputation rests almost solely on the Mirza Schaffy songs; but it will scarcely be pretended that this is great poetry. 81 From what has been said it may be inferred that the chief value of the Oriental movement does not consist in its original contributions to German literature, but rather in the repro- ductions and translations it inspired. For it was through these that the treasures of Eastern thought were made the literary heritage, not of Germany alone, but of Europe. As far as the literature of Germany itself is concerned, this movement was of the greatest significance, in that it introduced the Oriental element and thereby helped powerfully to impart to German letters the spirit of cosmopolitanism for which men like Herder and Goethe had so earnestly striven. The great writers of ancient Greece and Rome had long since been familiar to the German people; Shakespere, Dante and Cal- deron had likewise won a place by the side of the German classics through the masterly work of the Romanticists ; and now the spirit and form of a new literature — light from the East — was brought in by the movement which has been the subject of this investigation and assumed its place as a recog- nized element in the literature of Germany. The fond dream of a Weltlitteratur thus became a reality, and the German language became the medium of acquaintance with all that is best in the literature of the world. The Oriental movement is the clearest proof of that spirit of universality, which is at once the noblest trait and the proudest boast of German genius.