»bv* ^, 9 MO 1 .^ O *<# »\V * Ji\ «» /n. *^ ^o« O > » U ^ ^^ .Jell: W 4M fl , ^ R-' .** V • C«d < *C^G&- -c Printed by Cox and Baylia. Great Queen Street, Lmcoln's-lnu-Fields* INTRODUCTION TO THE CORRESPONDENCE. JL H E original volumes from which these letters are translated, appeared about four years ago in Ger- many, under the attractive and appropriate title of " Klopstock and his Friends ;" and seldom has any correspondence been ushered into the world with such faif pretensions to respect, or so safe a passport to popularity. It contains an outline of the poet's life, from 1750 to 1802, and was edited by Klamer Schmidt, a writer of some reputation, who had long been intimately acquainted with Klopstock, and by whose care the original letters were collated from the papers in the possession of his widow (Johanna von Wendthem), and the post- humous MSS. of his oldest correspondents. Of his ability for the task, the work affords ample testimony, and the feeling manner in which he presents it to his country, as an offering of b friendship 11 INTRODUCTION. friendship and patriotism, might alone hatfe excited interest and secured approbation -> certain it is, this appeal to the sensibility and enthusiasm of his compatriots, was not made in vain; and the success of " Klopstock and his Friends " on the Continent, has been such, as to satisfy the editor's most san- guine expectations. In England, these letters must obviously be introduced under a different aspect : our national sympathies are not interested in their favour, nor is either our pride or our gratitude to be engaged for their protection. More than half a century has elapsed, since the genius of Klopstock was recognized in this country, by the few German scholars, sufficiently familiar with the higher flights of poetry, to relish the pe- culiar cast of his style and composition ; from that period, his claims to celebrity were indisputably es- tablished j but The Messiah could not be appreciated by a prose version, and of his other poems, what translation could be attempted ? His real admirers were, therefore, confined to select literary circles, whose decisions are uncontroverted, because un- examined, and whose praise confers a sort of ho- norary title to distinction, without the privilege or power, annexed to the possession of popular fame. 11 was not till within a few years that this distant respect was converted into a warmer sentiment. Mrs. INTRODUCTION. Ill Mrs. Barbauld first contributed to the change, by selecting from Richardson's correspondence those charming letters of Margaret Klopstock, which are now familiar to the public. Under those auspices of genius, of taste, of virtue, Klopstock became an object of general attention, and the poet was che- rished for the sake of the man. The interesting memoirs of Miss Smith,* have since secured him the affections of all her readers ; and at present, so popular is the name prefixed to this collection, that though it may be no protection from censure, it is at least a security from neglect. Of the partiality that prevails in this country, for epistolary compositions, we have the most de- cided evidence, in the numerous volumes of cor- respondence, successively presented to the public. The neglected bard, who had wasted life in ob- scurity, is often raised by the violators of his con- fidence, to a degree of posthumous reputation : even eminent poets have sometimes derived from their casual correspondence, more distinction than they could obtain, by their most meritorious produc- tions. The letters of Cowper, are well known to have been more lucrative than all his poems and b 2 translations; * It is impossible to advert to this publication without ob- serving, that Miss Smith, with all her personal graces and extra- ordinary attainments- — her simplicity, modesty, and magnani- mity, was precisely such a being as Klopstock would have be«* proud to celebrate. IV INTRODUCTION. translations ; and those of Burns, possess attractions, even for such minds as are wholly insensible to his most exquisite strains of pathos and description. So general is this epistolary taste, that without the authority of popular names, and with no excitement of curiosity, we have lately witnessed the brilliant success that has attended the publication of a se- ries of private letters, of which it was the simple but universal charm, that they spoke the language of truth and nature.* It cannot, however, be doubted, that the pleasure we receive from private letters, is greatly enhanced, when they elucidate public events, in which we had a previous interest j or develope the character of a celebrated man, by filling up those chasms in his story, which ru> other channel of communication can supply. That the perusal of literary memoirs, is commonly attended with weariness and disap- pointment, is a truth attested by familiar expe- rience. It is so natural to imagine, that genius must be elevated above a vulgar destiny and petty occupations, that, till the history closes, not all the dry details, and desultory anecdote, with which curiosity is tantalized and impatience irritated, can destroy the illusion. We know not how to re- concile with the rapid evolutions of a master mind, the * " Letters from the Mountains/' of which an edition has als« v been published in America, INTRODUCTION. V the monotonous rotation of ordinary events. We turn with disgust from the cold biographic outline, of which the incidents might be comprized in an epitaph, and repine that the poet was not his own historian : it was for him alone to unfold those se- cret workings of the soul, which created in the apparent void, such strong and vivid interest : he only could describe the passions that broke the stillness of solitude and seclusion, that agitated his heart with the wildness of the storm, or cast on his lonely visions, some passing gleams of hope and glory. But were a poet to become his own biographer, we might equally be disappointed at the insipidity and coldness of his narrations ; how could he recall impressions in their very nature, fleeting and evanescent, and describe feelings too strong to be expressed in the past tense ? The history of the heart must be conveyed in the living language of the moment ; — it is, therefore, only by gaining access to his confidential letters, that we can truly know T , as he deserves to be known, the man of sensibility and genius. In reading these, we are always carried back w T ith more than chronological exactness, to the precise instant marked by the writer : we sym- pathize in all his sorrows and privations ; we par- ticipate in his pleasures, and have even an interest in his transient hopes and momentary delusions ; — b 3 the VI INTRODUCTION. the now runs on through months and years, and we are pleased to note the nothings that fill up the space. The correspondence of Klopstock, will be found to possess, in a supreme degree, that charm of con- fidence, which, from the shyness of the English character, is commonly wanting in our most fa- miliar letters. We find in these a negative merit of almost equal rarity, that of not having been written for publication, and have even an involuntary be- lief that they were dismissed without revision, by the writer. In the first and longest part of the collection, there is a regular series of letters from different in- dividuals, whose style is sufficiently characteristic to lead the reader to divine the correspondent's name, without referring to the signature. The respective writers are not so numerous as to occasion too much division of interest ; there is both unity in the design, and variety in the style ; and we can easily imagine all these epis- tolary personages, forming a circle, which has the frank simplicity of a family party, without its deprecated dulness. It seems necessary to premise some particulars of those, with whom we are soon to become ac- quainted. Unfortunately, Klamer Schmidt has been extremely sparing of his biographical infor- mation $ INTRODUCTION. Vll mation ; there is, however, consolation in the con- viction, that whatever he has thought proper to communicate, is of indisputable authority ; and it is perhaps better to rest satisfied with his few facts, t han to supply the deficiency from any less authentic source. The first figure in this group is the poet's fa- ther — the elder Klopstock. Without pretensions to birth or fortune, he had spent the greater part of his life in humble mediocrity at Quedlinburg, where he performed the functions of a magistrate, and by his upright conduct, secured the esteem of his fellow citizens. Unfitted by habits of abstrac- tion for the business of the world, and little dis- posed to direct his thoughts to mercenary specu- lations, he found it difficult, even aided by the economy of an excellent wife, to maintain his numerous family, and during the latter part of his life was in a state of comparative indigence ; he had, however, faithfully discharged the duties of a parent, in educating his children, and was not depressed with vain apprehensions for their future destiny. He was himself little indebted to cultivation, and his prominent merits and defects were such as belong to the self-formed character. His piety was fervent, but in some degree tinged with superstition ; with the spirit of an old Lutheran, he thirsted for polemical controversy, b 4 and Vlll INTRODUCTION. and once challenged the poet Gleim to a day's debate on some abstruse points of doctrine, ex- pressly stipulating, that no profane subject should be admitted into their discourse. " Whatever he " wrote," says Klamer Schmidt, " was like him- " self, frank, manly, and independent. He in- " dulged in the arbitrary use of French or Latin " words, which, mingled with German, formed " altogether a sort of mosaic style, of whimsical " singularity, His letters were truly characterise " tic ; but as most of these referred to family af- " fairs, or obscure books on obsolete subjects, and " as they had frequently too controversial an as- " pect, they were generally found unfit for pub- " lication, and are therefore unavoidably sup- " pressed." *. The elder Klopstock was proud of his son, and still prouder of The Messiah, the value of which was in his eyes considerably enhanced by its relation to theology. He interfered in the plan with the zeal of a disputant ; nor is it im- probable that the poet was secretly influenced by opinions to which he had always submitted with * This judicious remark of Mr. Klamer Schmidt applied al- most equally to the few he has retained, of which only two or three, and these merely as specimens, arc submitted to the Eng- lish reader. INTRODUCTION. IX with filial deference, when he resisted his own im- pulses to restore Abbadona to the regions of light.t During the last years of his life, which were embittered with care and sickness, the elder Klop- stock displayed the firmness of the philosopher with the fortitude of a christian, and finally expired with patriarchal piety and saintly resignation. His virtues are attested by the veneration they inspired in his children ; and Klopstock* s let- ter on his death, so touching from the artless man- ner in which it exhibits genuine grief, is a better tribute to his name than encomiastic monody or monumental inscription. Of an opposite cast to this patriarchal corres- pondent, is his nephew, the volatile, fantastic Schmidt, the votary of Anacreon and Horace, and yet the professed panegyrist of Klopstock. In one of his letters, the reader will find a descrip- tion of his character, drawn by himself, which, as Klamer Schmidt intimates, is a correct resem- blance. From childhood he had associated with Klop- stock as his dearest friend, and was the first to recognize, and to proclaim, his cousin's superior genius. Yet in the following correspondence it will appear that he avows for Gleim a preference he had never felt for Klopstock. Though born to affluence, t See Miss Smith's Memoirs. X INTRODUCTION. affluence, he spent some years at.Langasalze, in a retirement unsuited to his taste, which gave no scope to his talents, and where his chief solace appears to have been the society of his sister, the beautiful Fanny, so passionately beloved — so fondly celebrated by the author of The Messiah. Like his two correspondents, Schmidt was a poet, but distinguished from both by a playful tone of raillery, which was sometimes indulged at their expence ; he often smiles at the fine poetical phrenzy of Klopstock, nor does even Gleim, for whom he professes a degree of regard little short of adoration, always escape his archness. But his sprightly vein affords such an agreeable relief to the sentimental pensiveness of Klopstock, that we are disposed to allow for the indulgence of his favourite propensity — and it is not without dis- satisfaction that we so soon lose sight of him in the correspondence. Of the circumstances which led to this estrangement, no particulars are commu- nicated ; but we accidentally learn, that Schmidt finally fixed his residence at Weimar, and died there in 1807, three years after his early friends Klopstock and Gleim had paid the debt of nature. The sister of Schmidt, the accomplished Fanny, next claims attention; and though we find but two of her letters in the collection, and those are too short to enable us to form any opinion of her character, INTRODUCTION. XI character, yet having heard of her so often, we are gratified with even so trifling a specimen of her style and sentiments. From these two billets it is easy to discover that she was cultivated, and accustomed to literary conversation ; but though the enamoured Klop- stock is pleased to call her a Sevigne, it is surely rather by contrast than comparison, that she ex- cites any recollection of that charming writer. Fanny became acquainted with the poet at Lan- gasalze in 1748, during his residence in the Weiss family. From that period she was the object of his idolatry ; and to use- the words of Klamer Schmidt, inspired him with a passion which tinged with gloom four brilliant years of his life. Fanny gave her hand in 1753 to a merchant in Eisenach, of whom her brother observed with his usual point, that he had not only sense and good humour, but a handsome person, and was consequently in pos- session of every requisite to make a reasonable dis- creet woman happy. Margaret Muller, the delightful Meta, is already perfectly known, and it only remains to add, that of her too few letters, not one has been suppressed, since even in writing on the most trifling occasion, she has a native charm that is all her own, and irresistibly inspires sympathy and affection. The most interesting correspondent after Meta is Gleim Xll INTRODUCTION. Gleini the poet, the scholar, the man of taste, the honorable confident and bosom counsellor of all his friends. He was born in 1715, at a place near Halberstadt, on the banks of the Selke, and but two miles distant from Quedlinburg, the native place of Klopstock. In their boyish days, how- ever, they had no intercourse. Gleim, who was some years the elder, was sent for education to Wernigrade, and probably never heard of his fu- ture friend till he had entered the lists of fame. His parents were eminent for worth and wisdom, and Gleim, like every other poet of that age in Germany, was equally distinguished for filial piety. He soon became conscious of his talents for poetry, and composed songs and odes in imitation of Anacreon and Horace. Destitute, however, of patrimony, he had to seek his fortune, and in 1740, accepted the post of secretary to Prince William of Sweden. The only benefit he reaped from this situation, was his introduction to the poet Kleist, with whom he formed a lasting friendship. In 1749, he received an invitation from the Chapter of Halberstadt to assume the functions of their se- cretary, and was thus fixed for life in his native province. The salary annexed to his office was adequate to his moderate wishes, and although it imposed many irksome duties, he still found leisure for the Muses. He was never married, and his affections INTRODUCTION. Xlll affections seemed to center in a few chosen friends. As he advanced in life, he was apt to impute in- difference or anticipate neglect ; but at the first overture of kindness, was ready to present the calumet of peace, and renew the covenant of fidelity and affection. Of his intimate friend Kleist there is such frequent mention, that, like an ab- sent personage of the drama, we are always ex- pecting him to enter on the scene. Ewald Christian Kleist was born in 1718, near Coslin in Pomerania, and received his elementary education under the superintendance of his father, who was descended from an ancient family, and lived in retirement at the seat of his ancestor*. When the young Kleist quitted the paternal roof, he was placed in a public school at Dantziek : and having completed his academical course, was at length admitted as a student of jurisprudence in the university of Konigsberg. He pursued alternately the mathematics, medicine and phi- losophy, without losing his relish for polite litera- ture ; but, too active, or too ambitious, to be satisfied with scholastic seclusion, he visited Co- penhagen, where he had near relations, and was by their persuasion induced to accept a commis- sion in the Danish service : shortly after he re- turned on military duty to Pomerania, and there became attached to the lady he has celebrated under XIV INTRODUCTION. under the name of Doris. Circumstances op* posed their union, and the great Frederick having invited him to the Prussian service, he consoled himself for his unsuccessful passion, with the love of glory, and acquired considerable reputation during the campaigns of 1744 and 1745. On the suspension of hostilities, he repaired to Potsdam, and amused his vacant hours by writing The Spring, that celebrated poem, from the perusal of which, Klopstock conceived for him such enthusiastic af- fection. The success of this little work was bril- liant beyond example ; it was translated into Italian, and went through several editions in the same year. It is worthy of remark, that Kleist wrote no other poem in the same measure, and that in general his compositions were of a totally different cast. He was distinguished from the poets of the English school, by a vein of satire, and occasional allusions to men and manners. In the region of a court, he retained his own austere principles and simple habits, and perhaps caught a tincture of misanthropy, by being forced into a world with which he could not assimilate, and from which his heart recoiled with disgust. He remained unmar- ried, and this circumstance, with his imputed constancy to Doris, excited in Klopstock a peculiar interest in his destiny. Kleist appears to have corresponded with Gleim to whom he was sincerely attached. INTRODUCTION. XV attached, and who on his part repaid the affection with a fervor of enthusiasm which bordered on idolatry. This excellent man who lost his life in 1759, at the battle of Cunersdorf, is, forty years after his death, mentioned by Gleim, with mingled tenderness and veneration. Sulzer and Schuldhess are not regular correspon- dents, and are besides sufficiently known, by the part they take in the Swiss Journal. Of Klopstock himself it is scarcely necessary to speak, since his character is so fully developed in the following pages. At the commencement of the correspondence he had recently left the Weiss family, with whom he lived in the capacity of a domestic tutor, and was proceeding to Switzer- land where he attracted universal homage ; but not all the caresses he received could estrange him from the recollection of his former com- panions, or atone to his susceptible heart for their reproofs or their neglect. With all the enthusiasm of native genius, its unappeasable desire of fame, and lofty aspirations after immor- tality, he still clings affectionately to his friends, on whose kindness and sympathy he is constantly dependent for his best pleasures 5 he is eager to impart to them whatever has given him delight, and, with childlike simplicity, expects they should »ot only share, but divide his triumphs. It is pleasing XVI INTRODUCTION. pleasing to observe the different style in which he addresses his parents ; to his mother he overflows with endearing confidence, he communicates any little circumstance calculated to gratify her mater- nal feelings, and withholds only his cares; but for his father he shews a sort of religious rever- ence, carefully abstaining from subjects of too light a cast to accord with his serious character ; to him, therefore, he mentions, not the honours he has received, but the arduous duties he has engaged to fulfil ; and when he announces his intention of composing a series of devotional hymns, it is obviously with the persuasion that he shall present an acceptable offering to his father's piety, and we easily discover an amiable solicitude to obtain his benediction. From the period of Margaret Klopstock's death, the correspondence devolves on the poet and Gleim, and, in the absence of dearer in- terests, sometimes takes a more literary cast. Those, however, who look for a transcript of books, or criticisms on authors, will inevitably be disappointed. Yet is it, perhaps, from this very circumstance, that the work may be considered as in some degree a literary curiosity, since it not only affords a specimen of the style which pre- vailed in Germany sixty years ago, but exhibits the character of their nascent literature, of which, if INTRODUCTION. XV11 if we may credit one of their most elegant modern writers, the primitive spirit is now extinct. In a letter from Muller to Gleim, dated 1796, we have the following observation : " Just before " I received your poem of The Hut, I had been " reading in the Helvetic almanack for 17«50 a " letter of Hirzel, in which he mentions you and " Klopstock, and which brought to my mind all " the youthful gaiety that belonged to our new " literature, whose spirit still breathes in you. " (Imagine with what transports I have mused on " your Hut J No chronology was necessary to " ascertain that the date was, coeval with Hirzel's " letter, I find in both the true principles of " wisdom, content and liberty." Of this youth- ful spirit and its happy influence, it is impossible not to be sensible in reading the early series of the following letters. We have here a holiday view of human society ; the ordinary cares of life are sus- pended, the darker passions dismissed, the dis- tinctions of rank and fortune forgotten, the rich are gay, the poor contented. It is a native strain of happiness that makes every heart beat in unison with the simple movement. Klopstock and his friends appear to have realized whatever the poets of other countries have fancied of concord and truth, frankness and hospitality. The simple tastes, the domestic habits, and even c the XV1U INTRODUCTION* the domestic virtues, which, in a luxurious state of society, often form only the pleasures of the imagination, were to them the household Deities, whose influence produced perpetual renovation to the most common enjoyments ; these pleasures did not fade, the spirit of enthusiasm preserved them from languor and satiety. In the course of this correspondence we continually meet with charac- ters similar to those that delight us in the page of fiction, till we recollect that they have no proto- types in actual existence. The poets of that age formed a confederacy, from which jealousy and rivalship were excluded.* Animated by a noble object of national emulation, they rejoiced in mu- tual success, and cordially welcomed to their com- munion every new probationer of fame. Most of them lived in retirement, and with the exception of the literary men assembled in Berlin, who had their club and their academy, were seldom thrown into much society. They delighted in the inter- change of letters, and this commerce generally extended to many they had never seen, but for whom they had conceived an ardent attachment. It was in this manner that Klopstock laid the foun- dation of an intimacy which lasted half a century ; and afterwards, with as little ceremony, desired his * During Klopstock's long life, we hear only of hig feud with Bodmer, and that, to his honour, was suppressed; INTRODUCTION. XIX his friend Gleim to write to Margaret Muller, whom he only knew by his partial description. We may be permitted to smile at their proneness to such sudden impressions, and their extreme facility in submitting to them; but we shall be unable to withhold respect for their undeviating rectitude and manly independence ; and this respect will in generous minds be exalted to veneration, when we consider to what point their efforts were directed, and what object their perseverance achieved. In other countries, both of ancient and modern Europe, the birth of literature has been coeval with some great political or moral changes, and heralded by awful triumphs, or illustrious cala- mities ; but the Teutonic harp was attuned in a season of stillness and security ; the chords did not vibrate wildly to the elements, nor was the melody divided by the murmurs of the storm. Yet the ge- nius of poetry was not invoked by royal munificence. In the court of Frederick, though filled with men of letters, the native language was despised and neglected; and there was no other prince suffi- ciently powerful or enlightened, to be a patron and protector. It was from the people alone that this literary reformation emanated. The agents in the grand design were no other than private individuals, who in an obscure station, were ca- pable of enlarged views and exalted sentiments ; c 2 men XX INTRODUCTION. men patient of poverty, invincible to difficulty, animated not by patronage but patriotism, mag- nanimous in their indifference to fortune, insatiable in their desire of glory. Such were the men by whom the literature of Germany was called into existence ; with the spirit of heroes, they persever- ed till they had presented to their country this intellectual trophy, which suddenly rose like the monumental mounds of their northern ancestors, when every soldier rilled his helmet with earth, and none rested on his spear :* and which, like them, shall remain when the labours of cotem- porary statesmen and warriors are consigned in obscurity and oblivion. The German language, it is well known, pos- sesses peculiar aptitudes for metrical modulation ; but independent of language, the society in which such men had arisen, must have been congenial to the poetical character. Who does not know that the sensibilities of the uncorrupted heart, the ener- gies of the nobler mind, the emotions produced by the moral beautiful and sublime, are all allied to the spirit of poetry ? Klopstock and his colleagues were not only sheltered from criticism, but assured of that cor- dial reciprocation which confirms confidence. It was * See Mallet's Northern Antiquities. INTRODUCTION. XXI was the happy moment of inspiration, not such as ripens exquisite genius, but which awakens the consciousness of talents, and bids every bud of fancy expand in free luxuriance. It might appear remarkable that, in a country distinguished by the jealous vigilance of rank, men of letters, without birth or fortune, should have so easily obtained superior consideration ; but it must be remembered that they extorted esteem by their principles, entered into no political intrigues, and were as little tools of faction as slaves of corrup- tion. It was to the people they looked for patro- nage and protection ; cheered by their applause, rewarded with their attachment, they used no un- worthy means to attract a few transient smiles from those, whom Nature had doomed to insig- nificance ; they scorned to be mendicants of praise or parasites of prosperity. Above all, they en- sured respect from the public, by lending encou- ragement and assistance to each other. The de- marcation of ranks might contribute to cement their union. It is perhaps of advantage to the literary class when they can aspire to no order more dignified than their own, since they are thus preserved from the petty ambition which too often subverts integrity with glory, and renders a titular honour synonimous with a moral degradation. Nothing can be more independent than the c 3 spirit; XXII INTRODUCTION. spirit that breathes through the following corf es* pondence ; and these letters would perhaps deserve publication, were it only for the new and pleasing light in which they exhibit the votaries of poetry, and their comparatively happy destiny. The condition of literary men in Germany, ap- pears to have been almost as singular as the manner in which their literature was created. We hear not of a Cervantes, a Spencer, a Butler, of detrac- tion added to unkindness, of obloquy aggravating neglect ; still less do we hear of any by whose mo- ral turpitude the name of poetry or philosophy was disgraced. — The Gessners, the Gellerts, the Hal- lers, the Herders, and a host of names, conspire to attest the natural coalition between moral and in- tellectual excellence. After such ample testimony, who shall affirm that the pursuits of poetry are inimical to virtue — who shall believe that the poet is by nature disqualified for happiness ? In the character of Klopstock, it is impossible not to detect those temperamental sensibilities* which have been supposed to include the seed of future misery, and his passage through life was marked by circumstances which in another coun- try might perhaps have doomed him to wretched- ness and desolation. At the commencement of his career, * See an eloquent passage in Dr. Currie's life of Burns. INTRODUCTION. XX111 career, he had to struggle with indigence, nor did the subsequent friendship of Count BernstorrT, or the fa- vour of his master, secure to him the blessings of ease and competence, since in the letter on his father's death, he laments his inability to defray the expences of his sister's education. On his retnrn to Hamburgh, he depended on casual or precarious resources for subsistence, and late in life scrupled accepting pre- sents from Angelica KaufTman, because he could make no return but thanks ; yet was Klopstock not unhappy, for he lived where wealth was not necessary to procure respect, or to purchase the luxuries of intellectual association. He lived with companions congenial to his mind and heart, by whom noble sentiments were not as enthusiasm deprecated, or as eccentricity disclaimed ; ge- nerosity was not derided as romance, nor disin- terested conduct stigmatized as insanity ! In the ardor and independence of his character, he had also another source of permanent delight. It was his privilege not only to have co-operated in the* creation of a national literature, but to have ani- mated others by the example of his patriotism and emulation. He lived to realize the visions of im- passioned youth, to see himself the patriarch of German poetry — to behold the shoot he had grafted bud forth in rich luxuriance on the parent stem, with the promise of immortal bloom and beauty. e4 He XXIV INTRODUCTION. He could recall the time when the language in which he thought and wrote, had been abandoned to homely obscurity ; he might trace its progress from captivity to conquest ; he had been among the first to assert its rights, and it was his pride to see them acknowledged by the most cultivated nations of Europe. " Should the next century produce as many detractors as the present," says Klamer Schmidt, " still will they be unable to de- prive the poet of one imperishable laurel, still must envy and detraction allow him the merit of having tuned to harmony our national lyre, which was before rude and dissonant." In a literary view, indeed, Klopstock ap- pears to have been singularly favored by for- tune : having been raised by a youthful effort, when the powers of his mind were but partially unfolded, to the absolute possession of fame. Emi- nently happy in the subject he had chosen, we find him hailed not only as a poet but almost as an apostle. One admirer speaks of his sacred voca- tion, and another confesses herself indebted to his Messiah, for her first exalted conceptions of the Deity. The uncultivated were touched with the scriptural descriptions, and at once charmed and awed by those sacred images which had first been traced on their remembrance. The literary were charmed with the novelty of hexameters in Ger- man INTRODUCTION. XXV man verse, and by being published in single books, the objections to which the poem was most liable, from a defective plan, escaped the critical reader. The splendor of its success attracted a crowd of imi- tators, and the year 1750 was so prolific in attempts at the Epopea, that Schmidt quotes on the occa- sion, a remark of Ramler, that it would soon he difficult to determine whether it were the greater stigma not to write, or to have written, an epic poem. These ephemera have long since perished, whilst the Messiah still remains in lofty pre-emi- nence. That much of its former popularity is lost, must be inferred from Klamer Schmidt's allusion to critics and detractors. But the invention, and even the majesty of the numbers, is, as he justly ob- serves, a merit, to which even envy and detraction cannot refuse praise. The, Messiah has been happily compared to a Gothic church,* and surely ought not to be judged by * " Lorsqu'on commence ce poeme, on eroit entrer dans une grande £glise, au milieu de laquelle un orgue se fait entendre, et l'attendrissement et le recueillement que les temples du Sei- gneur inspirent, s'emparent de l'arae en lisant la Mcssiade." — De VAllemagne. It should be remembered that the Messiah was cotemporary with many works of a solemn cast in England ; such as Young's Night Thoughts, the Letters from the Dead to the Living, Hervey s Meditations, which had in its day a flow of popularity. Clarissa had been translated into German, and something like an imitation of Richardson's epistolary style maybe traced in Schmidt. XXVI INTRODUCTION. by the rules of Grecian composition. The defects in the plan, the confusion produced by the fatigu- ing number of characters, who are rather names than personages, must be obvious to the most su- perficial glance, whilst the grandeur in the con- ceptions, the elevation and dignity of the senti- timents, can, perhaps, be fully tasted only by a few poetical ruminators. Something like this is admitted by Gleim, when he says that Klopstock, like Milton, requires an Addison to point out his beauties to his country- men. In one of his transports of enthusiasm, the same friend exclaims, " Klopstock, thou art nei- ther Homer nor Pindar, but Eloa"* The real power of Klopstock resides in the enthusiasm with which he yields to his own impressions, forgetting all but an ideal world. He was no mastei of the passions ; he understood not their language. He had only studied man in the abstract, and was un- acquainted with the artificial idioms acquired in society. He had no eloquence but for those do- mestic affections which form the primitive voice of nature ; his imagination was conversant with beings of a higher order, yet in his wildest flights, he reminds the reader, by some native touches of pathos, that he is a man, and a brother. Whatever * Eloa is one of the Angels in the Messiah., who appears to bt the minstrel of heaven. INTRODUCTION. XXV11 Whatever he wrote is so perfectly in harmony with his own character, that his true source of in- spiration should seem to have been the heart. In all his writings, he is animated either by friendship, or filial piety; by patriotism or devotion. Though decidedly of the English school, it cannot be said he proposed to himself any model of imita- tion. In exploring the same region as Milton, he deviates into an original track, and in adopting the same subjects as Young, he imparts to them his own amiable and almost feminine tenderness. His images of death have nothing to revolt the mind ; he finds a sacred joy in grief \ he delights in cherishing the images of departed friends, and anticipating their reunion in the realms of immor- tality. A few years after Meta's death, Klopstock be- came attached to a young lady of Blankenburg, who was not insensible to his affection ; but the father opposing the union, the acquaintance ter- minated abruptly, and the poet seemed to have relinquished the idea of forming another matri- monial connexion ; nor was it till after the lapse of twenty years, that he married Johanna von Wendhem, to whose youth he had been a paternal instructor, and who was from gratitude induced to become the companion and solace of his declining years. During this interval, Klopstock completed his XXV111 INTRODUCTION. his Messiah, wrote several scriptural plays, and composed a series of national odes, calculated to inspire his compatriots with veneration for the land of their fathers. The design of these poems was suggested to his mind by the Edda or Ice- landic Mythology, an admirable account of which is given in Mallet's preface to the History of Den- mark. His friend Schmidt had been attracted to this subject, many years before, by the perusal of Sir William Temple's Essay on Heroic Virtue ; but Klopstock, who drew his information from a more copious source, soon conceived the hope of ren- dering it subservient to the great object for which he lived, the exaltation of his country. He did not paraphrase those Runic fables, like Gray, and other English poets ; he merely employ- ed their machinery in his own original compositions, interweaving the marvellous legends of Scandinavia, with the romantic traditions of his forefathers. The great Arminius had been the idol of his youth- ful fancy ; and it was, therefore, from no new im- pulse, that he celebrated that renowned champion of freedom, under the popular name of Hermann. It appears that Gleim participated not in his friend's ardour for these remote researches ; and to the infinite chagrin of Klopstock, continued in his poems to prefer the native Gods of the Herci- nian forest, to the polished deities of Greece and Rome. INTRODUCTION. XXIX Rome. On this point alone, there existed between them a complete dissonance of sentiment ; Gleim could have adopted the predilection for Arminius, had Klopstock shewn the same disposition to recognize the merit of Frederick the Great, who was in his estimation the first of sovereigns and of heroes. From his intimacy with Kleist, he had in- bibed a partiality for Berlin and its literary circles, which continued to operate : his taste was not warped by prejudice ; and to talents, wherever they existed, he was ready to offer homage. In a letter to Muller, he confesses he is not so very a Gemnan as Klopstock and his echoes, who affected to consider Pope and Voltaire as pigmies in poetry . The schism of opinion in these faithful friends, extended not to the heart, and as little as Gleim cared for Arminius, he received the bardits or heroic odes, in which he was celebrated, with the most impassioned admiration. At the age of eighty, there was still youth in his soul ; and he retraced with transport, the scenes he had once enjoyed with Klopstock. He writes with an ear- nestness, that assures us he did not exaggerate his feelings : he entreats only to be permitted the perusal of his friend's unpublished poems; under the pressure of illness, he still wishes to live for this banquet ; and when afflicted with blind- ness, he dwells on the loss he sustains, in only hearing XXX INTRODUCTION. hearing them read, as the most cruel excess of the privation. Neither poetry nor patriotism swayed the soul of Gleim, like friendship ; it had been the ruling passion of his life ; and when every other human care had been resigned, still kept its place. On his death bed, he dictated to his old and dearest correspondent, this tender reproach : — " I am " dying, my friend ; and with the sincerity of a " dying man, will I say, — we have not lived enough *< together, nor enough for each other." It will appear, that the intimation, conveyed by these words, was not wholly undeserved ; and that Klops- tock, happy in his own domestic circle, had not always treated with due attention the desolate Gleim, who was but too sensible to imaginary neg- lect : but this weakness was the infirmity of decay- ing nature ; he was still capable of fortitude, and beguiled his tedious illness, by composing some lyrical poems, to which he gave the appropriate name of his " Last Hours." Of these " Last Hours," Klamer Schmidt observes, that they are not unworthy of his reputation ; and, without allowing himself to dwell on those last remains, with the coldness of a critic, thus proceeds to apostrophise the author : — " Farewell, thou man of noble nature I thou friend of friends ! who hast supplied to so many the place of father ! and INTRODUCTION. XXXI and wert also mine ! easily offended, easily ap- peased ; even in anger, was thy right hand frankly pledged to peace and forgiveness : thou explorer of modest virtue ! thou fosterer of neglected talents! little was there of dross in thy composition, and that little was separated long ere thine end, leaving only thy genuine worth, the sterling gold !'•* Klopstock outlived Gleim but a few months, and considering the intense feelings of the poor blind friend, it is soothing to reflect, that he was not the survivor. The publication of this correspond- ence had been proposed to him a short time pre- vious to his death, and received his cordial appro- bation. It can scarcely be doubted, that he was pleased with a suggestion which promised his friend any accession of reputation. Careless for himself, he seems to have built his ambition on Klopstock's fame ; and the following passage, in which the con- fessedly most eloquent writer of modern France, has paid homage to the author of the Messiah, might be considered as an oblation for the spirit of Gleim, and a tribute to his friendship and fidelity: — " Ceux qui ont connu Klopstock le respectent autant qu'ils l'admirent. La religion, la liberty, Pamour ont occupe toutes ses pensees 5 il professa la religion par l'ac- complissement de tous ses devoirs ; il abdiqua la cause meme de la liberte, quand le sang innocent l'eut XXX11 INTRODUCTION. 1'eut souillee, et la fidelite consacra les attache- merits de son coeur. Jamais il ne s'appuya de son imagination pour justifier aucun ecart, elle exaltoit son ame sans Fegarer. On dit que sa conversation etoit pleine d'esprit et merae de gout ; qu'il aimoit Fentretien desfemmes,etsurtout celui desFranc^oises, et qu'il etoit bon juge de ce genre d'agremens que la pedanterie reprouve, je le crois facilement, car il y a toujours quel que chose d'universel dans le genie, et peut-etre meme tient-il par des rapports secrets a la grace, du moins a celle que donne la na- ture. Combien un tel homrae etoit loin de Fenvie, de Fegoisme,et des fureurs de vanite, dont plusieurs ecrivains se sont accuses au riom de leurs talens ! s'ils en avoient eu davantage, aucun de ces defauts ne les auroit agites. On est orgueilleux, irritable, etonne de soi-meme, quand un peu d'esprit vient se meler a la mediocrite du caractere ; mais le vrai genie inspire de la reconnoissance et de la mo- destie : car on sent qui Fa donne et Fon sent aussi queries bornes celui qui Fa donne y a mises. " On trouve, dans la seconde partie de la Mes- siadc, ur ires-beau morceau sur la mort de Marie, sceur de Marthe et de Lazare, et designee dans Fevangile comme Fimage de la vertu contemplative. Lazare, qui a recu de Jesus Christ une seconde fois la vie, dit adieu a sasoeiiravecun melange dedouleur et de contrance profon dement sensible. Klopstock a fait INTRODUCTION. XXXlll a fait des derniers moments de Marie le tableau de la mort du juste, Lorsqu'a son tour il etoit aussi sur son lit de mort, il repetoit d'une voix expirante ses vers sur Marie ; il se les rappeloit a travers les ombres du cercueil, et les pronongoit tout bas pour s'exhorter lui-meme a bien mourir : ainsi les sen- timents exprimes par le jeune homme etoient assez purs pour consoler le vieillard. " Ah qu'il est beau le talent, quand on ne l'a ja- mais profane, quand il n'a servi qu'a reveler aux hommes, sous la forme attrayante des beaux arts, les sentiments genereux et les esperances religieuses obscurcies au fond de leur cceur ! " Le meme chant de la mort de Marie fut lu a la ceremonie funebre de Penterrement de Klopstock. Le poete etoit vieux quand il cessa de vivre ; mais Phomme vertueux saisissait deja les palmes immor- telles qui rajeunissent Pexistence et fleurissent sur les tombeaux. Tous les habitants de Hambourg rendirent au patriarche de lalitterature les honneurs qu'on n'accorde guere ailleurs qu'au rang ou au pouvoir, et les manes de Klopstock rec^urent la re- compense qui meritoit sa belle vie." — De V Alle- KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. LETTER I. From Schmidt to Gleim, Leipsic, May 9th, 1750. YOU see how bold I am, and that even in this early stage of our acquaintance I scruple not to claim all the privileges of ancient friendship ; but you will cease to wonder at my importunity, when you recollect that I am rapid and impetuous in all my movements, and that an attachment which is scarcely four weeks old, has reached in my heart the patriarchal standard of a century. To confess the truth, Klopstock already prefers you to his early friend, and but for the fear of seeming to boast overmuch, I should be tempted to say, I have a strong inclination to retaliate by d 2 36 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. imitating his example. My sister, who presents to you many compliments, can talk to Klopstock of nothing but her lover Doris* Be not surprized that I call the maid not Daphne, but simply my sister ; I can assure you I am never better pleased to give her that title, than when another bard like yourself considers her sufficiently attractive to merit a poetical appellation. A thousand thanks for the odes I have received* On some future post day you may expect from Klopstock and me a Messiah and an Iliad ; I ea- gerly anticipate your letter, and perhaps shall accompany Klopstock on his next visit to Hal- berstadt.* Postscript from Klopstock. — I can now but briefly say, my dear Gleim, what I shall soon repeat in a long letter, I hold you so dear that I feel I shall soon be entitled to contend with Kleist for a place in your heart. Postscript by Fanny. — My brother says it will be agreeable to Mr. Gleim to receive the assurance of my esteem and admiration j may I hope he is right ? * The place of Gleim's residence. KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. , 37 LETTER II. Klopstoclc to Gleim. Langesalze,* Whitsun Eve, My dearest Mr. Gleim, How sincerely do I rejoice, that the time ap- proaches for our meeting, when you shall see whether I have indeed a heart, and with what an unhomeric mien I can embrace you. Had you not happened to come to Leipsic, or had I hap- pened to visit your neighbourhood, I should long since have been familiar with you, and, from the first glance, endeavoured to discover how far I might dispute with Kleist the possession of your heart. It is now almost three quarters of a year since I first read his Spring, arid, from that mo- ment, was drawn to him by a stronger impulse of affection, than I could have believed it possible to feel for any friend I had never seen, however noble and sacred to my imagination. So dear, indeed, do I hold him, that I cannot think, without emotion, of your communicating to him my sentiments — what a glimpse of heaven if we should be mutual friends ! We have, with * Langesalze, is a small town of Thuringia, in the north of Saxony. It was here that Klopstock spent some years in the family of Mr. Weiss,, as domestic tutor ; the Schmidts resided in the same place. D 3 38 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. regard to one subject, on which I no longer trust myself to speak, the same destiny ; with this dif- ference, however, that I am still more unfortunate than your incomparable friend* If I may hope that Kleist has read some of my midnight effu- sions, he is, in the strict sense, the only reader who perfectly enters into all my thoughts and feelings. LETTER III. Schmidt to Gleim. LangesaSze, July 1750. This is not the long letter I promised \ forgive the delay — indeed, when I consider how often I have been disturbed in my wonted epistolary inspirations, I am surely entitled to claim for- giveness from your justice. At any rate I have but sinned like Klopstock, whose Messiah was promised to the public at Easter $ and really, an Iliad of a letter addressed to you, full of nothing but friendship, is in its way, as diffi- cult to write, and, as a curiosity, no less to be valued than the Messiah. Were I only to write the history of my feelings, I ought to possess every talent that belongs to the historian, and should KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 39 have as much reason to invoke assistance from the muses, as the poet who sings of angels and devils, of death and hell. But the muses deign not to remain with their hum- ble votary ; they take little interest in my success ; they shew not the friendship they bear to Gleim, and that Gleim transfers to me. I am accustomed to have many quarrels with my heart, and one of the most violent conflicts between us is to restrain the impulse which prompts it to pour forth every feeling to you. My Gleim, how happy am I ! Hush, heart be still, thou shall not assume the master ; I will not submit to the insolent usurpation — never was any thing so refractory ; no Briton is more impatient of tyranny than this perverse thing of the slightest contradiction ; again in a state of mutiny, again its violent throbs almost compel me to lay down the pen ; how many pangs did it make me suffer for the girl I left in Leipsic ! (ah Gleim !) that girl was an incomparable being ; peace, tor- ment or peace— if I only knew what right the heart can have to arrogate such power — but it has no more pretensions to self controul than a child, or the kings of France, who think it fair for all their wild vagaries to assign that most comprehen- sive of reasons, I will. With regard to poetry, I have at present no lei- d 4 40 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. sure to think of such compositions, I feel with more energy than I can express, and to write on any subjects but such as are prompted by feeling, this wicked heart of mine allows me neither time nor liberty. Am I not a babbler ? how rambling is this letter ! pray consider it as a little Iliad, and to eke out the comparison, you have only to set such passages as refer to business, against Horner's descriptions of the horses, and add to these some indifferent speeches of the Gods * LETTER IV. Klopstoch to Gleim. Quedlinburg, June 20tlr, 1750. As you wished me to accompany you in your late excursion, know, I, in fancy, hovered over your steps, and enjoyed with you all those agree- able rural scenes, of which I can still recal a kind of twilight view to remembrance. But do not imagine I would allow my spirit to venture with you to the magic circle of female beauty ; I should hava found it too tantalizing to have merely an ideal participation of such enjoyment. Sulzer's in- tended is indeed a delightful girl, and appears not * Those passages do not appear. KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 41 a little disposed to become my friend ; I should not despair of inspiring the same good-will in the amiable girls of Magdeburg, but what is all this compared with the privilege of having found such a friend as my dearest Gleim ? Nothing in this world is more precious than friendship except love, and love only in the pure exalted sense, such as I long since felt, and you perhaps will some day learn to feel ; I knew all this an age ago, but it is a satisfaction when our internal convictions are re-echoed to the heart by new and lively impres- sions. LETTER V. Klopstock to Fanny. Quedlinburg, July 10th, 1750. Yesterday, my dearest cousin, I returned from Magdeburg, where, in the full tide of gaiety and enjoyment, I still missed the one little letter I had so earnestly implored, and which was alone want- ing to complete my felicity. How easy would it have been to you to dispatch, on this gentle errand, the little Anacreontic dove,* how very easy — but — I am tempted to revile the inflexibility — I would fain abuse you if I could — I would even deny * Klopstock always employed this allegorical phraseology in speaking of his correspondence with Fanny. 42 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. that you are the best and dearest of your sex, if I could find in my heart to do so. I ought, at least, to suppress my own promised sketch of our ex- cursion, since I am now deprived of the very cir- cumstance on which I could have been most eloquent ! Had you but deigned to write, how happily might I have introduced the following passage into my description : " it was here that I received " her letter, when quitting the party, and almost " forgetting their existence, I shut myself up in " the prettiest room on the island, to muse on " Fanny. I sought the most shady walks, I plunged *• into the deepest recesses to have no companions " but my own delicious meditations. Meanwhile, " the girls too, (charming girls,) were in quest of " me, but I was no where to be found ; and why " was I not found? or rather, why did they not " know, there could be no human being so amiable, "so attractive as Fanny ?" All this, my dear cousin, and much more, might have been said on your letter, if, (unhappily, to spoil the description,) it were not the simple fact that it had never been written. Quitting this theme, I will now give you some account of our journey ; Gleim and myself, drawn by four steeds not unworthy to have run at the Olympic games, performed a journey of six miles, in six hours. KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 43 No sooner had we arrived, than we were joined by Hempel, a painter, and bel esprit — one word of him as an artist en passant — he is at present copy- ing all the faces on the island, and consequently performs ar important part. With him we pro- ceeded to the house of Bachmann,* in whose occu- pation are the delicious gardens, and who is him- self an elder in religion, a sage in natural philo- sophy, a lover of the arts, and, to sum up all, an upright man ! Righteousness is written on his brow. We found here the greater part of our company : there was Sulzer, whom you know through your brother; Miss GuisenhofF, Sulzer's intended ; a girl who has speaking eyes, an understanding not unworthy of their eloquence, and who cultivates a taste for natural history, and has collected several chests of curiosities ; and yet dresses with elegance, plays admirably, and sings Italian airs. Then comes her sister, Miss Wernigrad, who is almost such another, but not quite the same ; Monsieur de la Veaux, from Halle, who resembles Bachmann, and Bachmann' s youngest son, a lad of thirteen, under Sulzer's tuition, who is already something between * Bachmann, a merchant, in whose family Sulzer lived as do- mestic tutor. — Mr. Sulzer, a native of Zurich, afterwards became professor and superintendant of the philosophical class in the academy at Berlin ; a man of science and taste, and, in his day, a writer of some reputation. 44 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. the child and the man, and was most anxious to obtain from me the title of his little friend. Such was the party till we reached Bachmann's mansion ; and now, deserting the ladies we escorted, and forgetting those we met on the island ; leaving gardens enchanted, and unenchanted, pavilions, pictures, promenades, and every curiosity, natural and artificial ; I must instantly introduce you to a man who is worthy of your acquaintance, and who is no other than Mr. Sack, the first preacher in the Royal Chapel at Berlin: at the first glance he remind- ed me of the Abbot of Jerusalem, whom I formerly described ; but do not imagine I shall attempt to bring Sack before your mind's eye, he must be seen and heard ; there is an individuality, a something that belongs to him alone, that baffles description. He addressed me from the first moment as an inti- mate friend, and so instinctively did he divine our mutual inclinations, that we immediately took pos- session of a summer house, which promised a safe asylum from disturbance and intrusion ; and here, how much had he to ask and I to answer of Fanny ? I indulged him with the sight of your last letter, on which he rapturously exclaimed it was a perfect Sevigne ; he importuned for a copy, but, without your permission, I would not grant his request. Mr. Sack was accompanied by his wife and daugh- ter, and the island was graced by many other ladies, KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 45 but to introduce them all would be too tedious. Ihave often thought, that the sweetest moment of a poet's triumph, is to find himself the object of an amiable female audience, by whom he is at once admired and caressed. It has sometimes fallen to my lot to read the passage of Lazarus and Cidli, to a circle of youthful maids, who admitted no other in- truder, and sweetly repaid me with their artless tears; in such moments how happy have I been ! and yet, oh! Fanny, how much more happy I might be! On the present occasion a different scene awaited me, in which I had to perform a more arduous part : I found Madame Sack had by some means obtained copies of all my odes, not except- ing even that which I supposed to be exclusively in Bodmer's possession ; and now, you anticipate what followed. — I was assailed with prayers and solicitations, and how was it possible to resist such importunity ? yet I yielded with reluctance, and Gleim ended the contest by reading the poems in question, whilst I hid myself behind the hoops and sunscreens : the reading having ceased, there fol- lowed such a torrent of questions ! and how many true things did I aver to which my auditors gave no belief ; but once I obtained implicit credit, when I exclaimed, — " Yet all this, and far more than this, deserves my Fanny ;" then rang the room with plaudits and acclamations, and the wo- men re-echoed, even with tears of enthusiasm, the 46 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. praises of Fanny ; and as I gazed on their fine eyes, which glistened with sensibility, methought I was transported to Elysium ! That night, for I must now glance rapidly over inferior things, that night I stole to the garden, to muse and meditate on Fanny. It was a delicious heavenly hour, and fervent was the prayer I offered for her who is the supreme object of my existence ; it is surely im- possible that such an invincible impulse of affec- tion, such unmeasured, eternal, love, should have been given in vain ; the sacred conviction sunk in my heart, and methought I received the aspirations, not only of hope, but immortality. llth July. I must now briefly relate to you something of Mr. Sack. During our first interview, he said tq me, " let me whisper in your ear; you have a vocation from Providence of more than ordinary importance, a vocation to write the Messiah, and every effort should be directed to the accomplish- ment of that one object. The Abbot of Jerusalem would attach you to his society, and deserves to do so, but that would not be placing you in your proper sphere; and if hp really merit the opinion I am disposed to entertain of his principles, he will readily sacrifice his present gratification to the superior pleasure of seeing your work completed. I have in embryo a plan to enable you to spend KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 47 two years in Berlin, perfectly at your ease, and perfectly master of your time. The particulars of this plan I hope in a few weeks to transmit to you at Zurich. Whatever be your fortune, it is ob- vious that Berlin is the only place for you, and if you wish to enjoy the society of your friend, suffer me to assure you that Berlin is equally the place for him."* Between this conversation and our separation, many little pleasant things occurred ; but I must not take your permission to write long letters in too unqualified a sense, and will not run the risk of fatiguing you by the repetition. Five o'clock was the time fixed for our depar- ture. In the morning, Sack would have me sit for my picture ; and all the women, except Miss Sack, exclaimed, " It was taken to the life." In gratitude for this agreeable declaration, I gave each of them a kiss, and even Miss Sack, at length retracted her opinion. It was with regret we thought of parting; but this inevitable moment arrived. After a reluctant farewell, we had to * It does not appear that any thing resulted from these va- rious plans of Mr. Sack to Klopstock's advantage, and the friend alluded to could not be Kleist, who was at Potsdam, and an officer in the Prussian service, but was probably Schmidt. Miss Sack is mentioned in Richardson's Correspondence by Mr. Reich as a woman of uncommon talents. 48 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS, pass the night at the mansion of a portly country gentleman, who tired us heartily with his long stories. The next morning I was joined by Sulzer and his two Swiss companions. How happy, how supremely happy could you have made me, had I been permitted to greet a letter from Langesalze ; but I have long been accustomed to ask that for which I dare not hope. LETTER VI. Schmidt to Gleim. Langesalze, July, 1750. My sister is at length nearly restored to health, and but for pale haggard looks and feeble limbs, would retain no traces of her recent indisposition. I assure you, she has incurred a large debt to my shrewdness and sagacity, and certainly owes to me alone, the first symptom of recovery. It was I, who on the approaching paroxysm of fever, coun- selled her to leave her bed, and (weather permit- ting) to walk out for the benefit of air and exercise. To this prescription she meekly submitted, and leaning on my arm, persisted in the laudable ex- ertion till she sunk down exhausted with weakness and fatigue. You will imagine my trepidation at this unlooked for consequence j but the fever, like KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 49 a generous foe, had too much consideration to put me to open shame on my first trial of medical skill, and was graciously pleased to go away. The panic I felt on the occasion, has however inspired me with abhorrence for death, whom I can now conceive to surpass in ugliness even your poetical description of his ghastly figure. Assuredly, my dear Gleim, the king of terrors must be a sorry wretch to have the heart to enlist against our poor afflicted human race. I am really vexed you should ever have pledged him to drink with you in brotherly fellowship, Churl that he is ! rather than so waste the precious wine, I would dash the bowl against his hideous visage ! Is it not cruel to sever youths and maidens at the moment when they would rush into each other's arms ? Is it not abominable to drag the poet from his pen at the crisis of inspiration, when concord is just esta» blished between sense and sound, and a thousand experiments rewarded with the discovery of a fe- licitous rhyme ? On observing what objects are selected by his malice, I am convinced that death has as little sense as feeling, and am amazed that any reason- able beings can wish for his society. May he but spare my friends ! You will not doubt you are included in this aspiration. Oh ! how I love you ! I have yet to see the man who in this respect could claim precedence of your Schmidt. 50 &LOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. Journal of the Excursion made by Klopstock, Schuld- hess andSuher to Zurich, addressed to Rabener, * ( 1 ) Gellerty Rothe, at Leipsic ; to Cramer (£) and his wife, and Schlegel, at Crellwiiz; to the Abbot of Jerusalem at Brunswick ; to Schmidt and Fanny at Langesalze ; to Gleim at Halberstadt ; to Gesike(3) and Olde in Hamburgh ; to Bachmann and the other Friends near Magdeburg. Quedlinburg, July 12th, 1727. My dear Friends, To-morrow morning, accompanied by Sulzer and Schuldhess, I shall commence my journey to Zurich and Bodmer. It forms no part of our plan to waste much time on the castles we might visit in the way, and I am resolved to avoid as much as possible the haunts of men, and to dedicate all my thoughts to my absent friends. It is my inten- tion to commit to paper whatever occurs to my mind, and I shall impose on Schuldhess and Sul- zer the same task ; but be it remembered, that the suggestion was wholly mine. I am too proud of an invention, inspired by friendship, to leave it doubtful who is the author. I will soon write to you again. Kloestock. * Schuldhess was a native of Zurich, and died in 1! pastor of Monchalthorf in Switzerland. He had been a dilig* translator of the Gieek classics, and was well known to the li v terary club in Berlin. KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 51 Gleim to the Travellers. I am happy that it falls to me alone to reply to you in the name of so many honourable friends, and to assure you of our united wishes for your safe and pleasant journey. But I can also promise that we shall in spirit attend you over hill and vale to whatever region heaven may conduct your steps. To you, my dearest Klopstock, I must observe, you have a vocation I am tempted to envy. You are our Envoy to the Swiss — to the nation we love and venerate, and with whom we form a kindred people. With regard to your journal, we shall be most anxious to discover in it a series of illustrious names, and if you but introduce us to such as have done honour to their age and country, we shall wil- lingly allow you to pass over in silence the pomp of the rich and the palaces of the great. Would I too had the privilege to offer with you my homage to Bodmer. Gleim. JOURNAL. Sulzer writes. I am too much agitated by tumultuous feelings to have any ability for description. Such is my distraction, I should be utterly unable to decide whether I most love the country I am to leave, or that to which I shall so soon approach. I have in E 2 5$ KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. each friends who suspend the balance; I am one moment tempted to wish myself back, and the next ready to repine that the space is not anni- hilated between us. One thing alone is certain, that in my present state I am wholly incapacitated for making observations on our journey. I should, indeed, have done well not to take up the pen, for I am absolutely writing I know not what, with my thoughts confused and bewildered as in a dream. Schuldhess writes. The moment is at length arrived when I shall have to retrace in memory the country to which I was so anxious to be introduced, and in which I have discovered so much to excite esteem and ad- miration. For my journey hither I have been am- ply recompenced, since it has extended my ac- quaintance with the great and good, and augment- ed the respect I was before disposed to cherish for men so worthy to inspire homage. I would fain hope the example of Klopstock may attract imi- tators, and that he will not prove the first and last of his countrymen to allow Bodmer and the Swiss the satisfaction of seeing the genius they have al- ready learnt to love. This pleasing persuasion redoubles my delight, and to such a state of com- placency am I now soothed, as to feel disposed to smile at the disasters incident to travellers, and to have lost all power to be angry. KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 55 Of this fact you will not doubt when I tell you, that nobody scolds the postillion for driving all round the district, because the first toll-gate hap- pened not to be open ; nobody is impatient, though we have consumed two hours in staring for Klop- stock's house, without once observing the tall stee- ple that had been so long our beacon on the road. Klopstock writes. Gonzenhausen, 13th July. We set off this morning, silent and dejected, and in no humour to anticipate brilliant adven- tures ; but our taciturnity soon yielded to a risible impression, for suddenly the carriage stopt, and Sulzer's servant, who has imbibed his master's re- lish for natural history, jumped from the coach- box, opened the coach door, and half thrusting himself in, enquired with a look full of importance, " if the worm he had just picked up was good." We passed through a village, whose inhabitants certainly merit the appellation of sages. The church-yard was planted with rose trees ; we had an inclination to drink a bottle of wine on those blooming graves, and the good people brought us so large a glass, that they seemed to know intuitively we were not water drinkers. After this potent libation, how lovely appeared to us the long track of woods through which we had e3 54 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. passed, and which fancy changed to delicious groves. Sulzer "writes. There remains to record of this day's peregrina- tion something besides the discovery of the worm, which has produced so strong an impression on our poet's fancy. Yesterday we travelled from two in the morning till five in the afternoon, through the worst of all possible roads, without rinding aught to allay thirst or hunger. Thus travel poets and scholars. This extraordinary abstinence very nearly introduced the apple of discord. We had set our hearts on seeing Gleim's native place, Elmsleben, but our view was obstructed by the tall trees planted in the vicinage. We have, however, decreed that he shall in future be called the Swan of the Selke.* Hunger will not allow me to write another line. May Providence take better care of our welfare for the future, or bestow on us the ethereal frames of Cherubim and Seraphim. Klopstock writes. These gentlemen talk of nothing but eating ; Sulzer especially is so much absorbed in the pur- suit, as to affect to be quite a novice in the art of * The Selke, an inconsiderable river in the district of Halber- itadt. KLOPSTOCK AND HIS TRIENDS. 55 drinking ; but I recollect that one of the fair resi- dents of the happy island, a lovely girl, presented him with a bottle of Hermitage, which he emptied as a libation on the rose-decked church-yard. But not one syllable of this does he mention ; observe too, he had in common w r ith us, a glimpse of poor Gleim's birth place, which lies at the foot of a Saxon Alps, and really is a very pretty little hamlet. From Klopstock to Fanny and Schmidt. Erfurt, 14th, ten o'clock. I arrived this morning within a few miles of your residence. I gazed on the horizon that bounded your view. I beheld the same clouds — how wdllingly would I have approached your ha- bitation. But Sulzer, who for the present is the lord of my destiny, would allow me but two hours leave of absence. Such a meeting would only be a prolonged parting. I did not fail to remember you in my orisons, and many were the tender aspirations I breathed towards your dwelling. Did the winds bear them to you, or were they all w T afted to the Gods ? Methinks a soft mysterious breeze must at least have whispered our approach. Go, Fanny, if you listened to the murmur — go once more crown the Apollo in the garden of your friend Weiss, and whilst you are performing that sacred office, I will in fancy gaze on the terrace from e 4> 56 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. whence but two years before, I saw with you the procession of the Saint, whilst you stood under the beautiful hawthorn, whose luxuriant blossoms dif- fused ineffable fragrance. Sulzer mites. A false accusation on my honour — willingly would I have prolonged my absence another day, from my native country and nearest friends, to have had the privilege of seeing Schmidt, and still more to have seen his sister, so well known as the soul- subduing maid ; but Klopstock was not to be sa- tisfied with less than two days, and he even inti- mated, that when properly indulged, he might be tempted to requite the indulgence by desertion. To say the truth, he was so far from imitating the firmness of Ulysses, that he would neither shut himself into our carriage, nor allow us to bind him. For my own exculpation, I must however add, that after he had remained a full half hour in deep cogitation, he suddenly started, like one roused from a dream, and exclaimed in a tender, plaintive voice, " No, not now thither." So Cesar looked when he cried, " Jacta est Alea j*' with this trifling difference, however, that Cesar, in trials of the heart, was no Klopstock. Though not permitted to meet you, we seemed to have a lively impression of all your movements. KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 57 Now she is risen — said we. Yes — by this time Schmidt has taken his accustomed place, and is reading to his sister. We are interrupted. Klopstock wtites. 15th, Radach, two miles from Coburgh, four in the afternoon. No one thinks of writing but myself. I may well claim the merit of having invented this friendly art of journalizing, since I alone, tired as I must be, am unremitted in exertions for its preservation. How gladly, in the short interval allotted to me, would I communicate some of those thoughts with which I marked my respective friends on passing through the poetical region we have just quitted. In our road from Armstadt, behind Erfurt, we constantly beheld forests of pine and fir, sweetly intermingled with Elysian vallies. Our Swiss companions, in an ecstacy of delight, be- stowed on these delightful regions the beloved name of Alps ; and on our happening to halt in the vale to take some milk from a hospitable shep- herdess, actually fancied themselves restored to the land of their fathers. This kind hearted cot- tager had a lonely dwelling at the foot of a wooded cliff; and there all her children, a troop of wild laughing boys and girls, were gaily assembled. I am too much tired to pursue my description of the 58 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. scene, but pledge myself at some future time to name the place where, gazing on a distant emi- nence, which appeared under a canopy of crimson clouds, whose glowing tints were reflected on the sable fir wood, I beheld the visions of my dearest friends. Schuldhess writes. I am as much exhausted as Klop stock can be, and with more reason, not having indulged in the same repose ; and yet I engage to write more than he has done. Apropos of his inordinate propen- sity to sleep, (which appears to me to argue some- thing preternatural,) of the four and twenty hours which compose the day in our latitudes, he dozes sixteen and a half! I suspect, indeed, this apparent drowsiness is but the disguise for waking dreams, and that when he shuts his eyes, and drops his head on one shoulder, it is purely to have the satisfaction of brooding on his own thoughts without inter- ruption. Oh ! thoughts Klopstockean, why are ye not audible ? But enough of complaint, proceed we on our journey. Since we left Erfurt, which was yesterday at noon, we have had a constant succession of hills and valiies, and with these were too much trans- ported to have leisure to reflect, that we were every moment on the very brink of destruction. Often were we in jeopardy from the water which KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 59 rushed into our carriage, and often were we on the edge of a precipice, where a single false step in our horses must inevitably have plunged us into the abyss beneath. That we so happily escaped, is perhaps owing to the interest you have taken in our preservation ; it was your prayers that pre- vailed — we are not so holy as to have obtained by our own merits such special favour and protection. Yet to the terrors of our situation we were scarcely sensible, so completely was the sense of danger, and every faculty absorbed in contemplating the in- comparable beauties of the surrounding scenery. How often did we wish you with us to partake our transports. I regretted your absence most at the mill, where seated on a wheelbarrow, w r e had such a banquet of sour milk, as neither Lu- cullus nor Cleopatra ever equalled : the milk was to our taste Nectar and Ambrosia, and our sub- lime bard sufficiently evinced that he was not in- capable of descending to terrestrial cares; he rinsed out the bowl with great glee, and in performing this office, discovered as much genius as he has shewn in the composition of his poems. Whilst we rested at this spot, we saw here and there, the inhabitants of our Saxon Arcadia busied in hay- making ; many loving couples were lightening each other's labours : the old basking in the sun, the young reposing in the shade : would we had but time 60 KLOPSTOCK AND, HIS FRIENDS. to describe all we have thought and felt ; had you been with us, I should have urged with more zeal a proposal to purchase one of these delicious val- lies for our residence, and lay the foundations of a new world. Were this idea realized, we might certainly change the earth into a perfect paradise. From this slight sketch of our tour, you will not doubt, we have had much enjoyment since yester- day : but, were you in your turn to question those we have met on the road, you would certainly hear us described as poor bemazed travellers, who had lost their senses. Such at least was the im- pression left on those who beheld us in our equi- page during our late breakfast. To this breakfast appends a comic tale, of which nothing must be premised at present. The postillion blows his horn, and away for Coburg. Schuldhess "writes. Numburg, July 17th. Klopstock, exclusive of his poetical pretensions to the appellation, is become, in a peculiar optical sense, a seer. Through a smoaky window of the post house, he lately espied a sleeping maid at Baysdon, where we merely perceived a castle ; we discovered that the walls were mouldering in de- cay, the precise state in which, from accurate ob- servation, we afterwards ascertained they were. KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 6l After all, it is, however, not very difficult for him to surpass two poor purblind mortals, who could not fall in love at first sight, without the aid of a telescope. A heavy shower of rain, gave us occasion yes* terday, at dinner, to speak of Gleim. It hap- pened that our inn was called, the Golden Swan, and there fell from the roof, a stream of rain- water, as broad as the Selke ; observe, this remark was made by Klopstock. We are about to pass through a place call Gon- zenhausen, where Marius, as Sulzer affirms, dis- covered the satellites of some planet, whose name escapes my memory ; on such a spot we certainly ought to develope some of the mysteries of nature. Klopstock writes. Sulzer and Schuldhess are going to procure me an introduction to a young lady artist, who paints flowers better than any other person in Germany ; I am delighted with the idea, that such a species of excellence should belong to an individual of the other sex ; it appears to me so happily appro- priate to Woman, that she should possess skill in pourtraying those delicate and beautiful objects of nature, which are fairer than Solomon in all his glory. I will now perform my promise of describing the scene from whence I beheld in beatific vision, the phantoms of my dear distant friends. It 0*2 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. was from a wooded cliff that I perceived Schmidt standing by a young fir, on which he had inscribed nis name, not without the hope of attaining to coeval longevity ; (be it whispered, he seriously expects to survive a hundred years). I beheld his sister gliding on a crimson cloud refulgent with the setting sun, through a young plantation of beech-trees, till lost at length, in the misty shadows of the darker wood. Cramer and his consort next appeared, rapt in ecstacy, whilst listening to some heavenly voice that issued from a ridge of orient clouds, and whose strain was such as might have been breathed by some departed spirit, ere admitted to the commu- nion of immortal beings. I observed Gleim standing on the margin of a clear brook, and complaining with an air of lassi- tude and melancholy, that he had so long been separated from Kleist, It was in a most delicious valley that I descried Gartner and his wife reclining on the fresh green bank, and exchanging smiles of mutual love and felicity ; they were soon greeted by Gellert, whose looks were grave and frigid, whilst his soul over- flowed with the tenderest affections. Rabener sat smiling at the foot of a cliff, but could find no subject for ridicule in the simple peasants labouring in the valley — I then stole a transient glimpse of Ebert, who bounding from a hill, laid down his Pope and talked to himself of KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 63 his absent friends. Hitherto, I had not beheld Kleist, the incomparable Kleist, when suddenly I perceived in the most shady spot, a man whose mien bespoke the philanthropist, and who having listened intensely to the music of the nightingale, raised his eyes, and gazing on a beauteous vision in the distant horizon, invoked the name of Doris, Hagedorn and Gesike, no less worthy than Hagedorn, were seen together, and supported be- tween them, I discerned the image of true happi- ness, whom they had rescued from the half virtuous, half witted crowd, who had presumed to claim acquaintance with the goddess. Olde was also with them, and with one indignant glance rebuked the boldest of those intruders that ventured to pursue their steps. I must now leave you, to pay my visit to the fair artist. Stilzer writes. Gonzenhausen, July 18, Six in the morning. I have once more the pleasure of conversing with you, a privilege of which I have lately been deprived by my worthy companions, who think proper to delegate to me the task of wrangling with innkeepers, and grumbling at postillions, in which honourable vocation, you will easily conceive I have little leisure left for writing. I am at this moment sitting opposite to Klopstock, who is sipping his 64 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. coffee with as much glee as Anacreon or Hagedorri would quaff their wine. He flattered himself with the hope of commemorating his arrival by some brilliant discovery, but the fortunate moment is not yet arrived, and may perhaps be deferred till we have proceeded tw'o miles farther, when we shall have entered Swabia, the vestibule of Switzerland. But why so many anticipations of the future, when I have never adverted to the past ? Yesterday we spent several hours at Nurnburg, where it would have been easy to collect materials for a hundred letters, and lo we collect none — so nobly did we scorn to imitate the example of ordinary travellers, in admiring the curiosities of Nurnburg, a sin- gularity which will I trust exalt us to higher honours than if we had vied with Knysler himself in the minutiae of description. To preserve such sedate indifference for a scene where every body else is eager and inquisitive, is no small proof of intellectual superiority. Klop- stoek alone explored, (having set his heart on seeing some pretty girl,) but fate decreed against his wishes ; though, not finding his own eyes keen enough, he enlisted ours in his service, and we gave him a wink whenever a female coif ap- peared in sight — all in vain — he saw only com- mon human faces, not one angel among them. At this, our philanthropist became troubled in mind, and departed from Nurnburg, with the KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 65 sorrowful persuasion, that it contains not a sin- gle joy. Last night was pre-eminently beautiful, and wor- thy to have succeeded the most glorious day : I kept my eyes fixed on the clear cloudless heaven, through which the moon glided in serene majesty : I imagined that some of my friends must be at- tracted by the magnificent object ; and that thus our thoughts might commingle together at the same moment ; I was still indulging those delici- ous reflections, when lo ! a crash occasioned by the breaking of one of our wheels aroused my slum- bering companions, and obliged me to invoke hu- man aid instead of pursuing any heavenly medi- tations. I would fain furnish some augmentation to the honours of this town already rendered famous by the discovery of Jupiter's satellites. Oh thou, whosoever thou mayest be, who dost preside at the birth of discovery, thou who art assuredly a heavenly muse attracted to this ter- restrial sphere, inspirit my efforts, aid me with thy influence at this important moment! But how arduous is the effort to produce no- velty ! Solomon said, long ago, there is nothing new tinder the sun, and what shall be attempted by a wretched traveller who has not slept and is half starved, and in addition to this, has his head com- F 66 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. pletely occupied in repairing the mischief of a broken wheel ? From Klopstoch We were disappointed in our expectations of seeing the fair artist; she had taken a walk to collect flowers to supply future studies for her pencil. We saw however her sister, who shewed me some of her performances, beautiful roses so red, so fresh, they wanted only fragrance. This girl though grave and reserved had pierc- ing eyes which promised something brilliant. She is herself an artist, and only inferior to her sister. The father shewed us his cabinet of natural his- tory, where Sulzer looked at nothing but shells, and I saw only pictures. I was however the more diligent of the two, in gratifying my curiosity ; and contrived to draw the maid aside, with the hopes of seeing her intelligent eyes lighted up in conversation ; but no — the fair damsel from time to time dropt me a low Nurnburg curtsy, and the eyes were just as before. From Sulzer. Ulna, 15th July, noon. People in general have the laudable custom of eating at this hour 5 we have no resource but writ- ing to dissipate our chagrin on being compelled to KJ.OPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. &J depart from the venerable example of our fore- fathers, I am tempted to communicate the honourable distinction I lately acquired, at Nordlingen. The post-master at that town, an old shrewd fellow who has pondered deeply on the momentous events which have taken place in Europe, took occasion during our stay to launch out on many profound subjects ; but it was to me alone that his obser- vations were addressed. " Those other gentlemen" said he, winking on my companions, " are somewhat too young to discuss such matters, but you, sir, are able to comprehend them" Since these fatal words my colleagues have thought proper to impose on me the most humi- liating hardships by way of retaliation. Not a me- nial office but falls to my lot. I have not only to scold, bawl and cater for them, but even to see the wheels greased for our journey ; so goes desert ; pity my distress; it was surely not my fault if the sage gave me credit for having more wisdom than those gentlemen. Klopstock writes. Erlangen, six miles from Vim. When I reached this place I was smothered with dust, exhausted with fatigue, and still more com- pletely out of tmmour with the very worst roads f2 68 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. we had hitherto encountered ; yet, at the thoughts of writing to you, I find my spirits renovated, and my chearfulness restored. Notwithstanding the horrors of our late route, we have enjoyed the beauty of the scenery, and I am reconciled to Suabia, particularly since I disco- vered in a village we reached at noon, that its natives sometimes worship pleasure. Not such indeed as is the goddess of nobler minds, but yet something that accords with her communion. It is possible the good people here may speak the Saxon language in all its purity, but this is certain, I have not hitherto exchanged with them a sylla- ble. The costume of the women appears to me singularly grotesque ; they have a head dress, three points of which are brought down low and pointing on the forehead ; those who are tenacious of their pretensions to fashion, bring the coif over the eyes, scarcely leaving the eyelid visible. In addition to this, I have observed something pendant like an ear-ring, and great was my commiseration for a pretty blue eyed girl who was thus cruelly disfigured. Sulzer writes. I am sorry for Klopstock's unfavourable im- pression of the Suabian females, since the same objection will apply to my own countrywomen the KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 69 Swiss. With their dress indeed he has no occa- sion to be displeased, unless he should see them in their church-going habit, on which occasion the Gothic style is religiously preserved ; when I told him of the broad band fastened to the top of the head which completely invests the neck, cheeks and chin, he objected that it might easily be slip- ped over the lips at the very moment the lover was expecting to steal a kiss, and very seriously asked if they always wore this repulsive ornament? it might perhaps have been so in the days of yore, but happily for us, the tyranny is now ex- ploded. I am interrupted every moment, and shall cer- tainly get nothing to eat if I do not lay down the pen, Klopstock has the conscience to insist that I shall scold for my comrades during the journey ; well ! I shall at least have the comfort to praise one thing ; for many years have I not tasted such good wholesome bread as we met with in Suabia. By this alone, might we know we were approaching Switzerland ; from that point the improvement became perceptible. Every thing is better here than in Franconia, nature and man participate in the amelioration. But I am now suffering so severely from the jolts of yesterday, that I can scarcely sit to hold f3 70 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. the pen — farewell then, till we shall have reached the fields of peace and freedom, which we hope to do to-morrow evening. Klopstock writes. Messkirchen, six miles this side of Scaffhatfsen, July 20th, 2 o'clock. It was from an eminence within a mile of this spot, that the Swiss gentlemen first descried two of the Alps, at which they were thrown into transports, such as sailors express on the first sight of land ; nothing could be grander than the abrupt appear- ance of those Appenzelles glittering like silvery clouds, yet evidently more than clouds in the distant horizon. I at first pretended to fancy they were purely aerial mists, but I did this to revenge the slights they had offered to our own Suabia, whose pine-crowned cliffs and delicious vallies were all disparaged at the mention of their Alps. I shall ere long, have a nearer view of these stu- pendous summits ; I shall soon commune with the virtuous men who dwell in the vales beneath > I hail you even here, my amiable unseen friends ; you whom I hasten to meet under the length- ening shadows cast from every cloud-capt moun- tain. KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 71 In continuation, Schaffhausen, 21, 8 in the morning. We were yesterday present at a wedding festival and saw the Suabian damsels dance, and caroused with the swains till we were almost too merry. We again beheld the Alps more distinctly than before, the full moon accompanied us the whole night through a fine rich sylvan country. We have this morning often had a glimpse of the Rhine as it flows softly through the woods. The vine-covered hills encircle the town, and you may imagine they were not viewed with in- difference by those who know the joys of wine. On the bridge of the Rhine we descried with rap- ture this land of promise. We have crossed the bridge and are now hastening to see the falls of the Rhine. I have pledged myself to the nymphs of that majestic river to drink wine on their banks, and shall not fail to perform the libation. The Falls of the Rhine: What a sublime image of the creation does this cataract present! all powers of description are here baffled, such an object can only be seen, and heard and contemplated. Hail, oh! thou magnificent stream now thunder- ing from the heights above, and thou who hast caused the stream to pour forth that awful sound, f4 7 C 2 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. oh creator, be thou thrice blest, thrice hallowed ! Here, stretched on this verdant terrace, in sight of the stupendous torrent, in the sound of its rush- ing waters, I salute you all, my near and distant friends. Above all, I salute thee, thou land of heroes, on whose holy earth I shall soon imprint my steps ! oh that I could gather to this spot all the objects of my affection, that I could unite them to enjoy with me these miracles of nature ! on this spot would I spend my days and close my eyes, for it is lovely ! I have no words by which to paint my feel- ings, I can only think of the friends who are ab- sent y I can form but the wish to draw them all into one circle, and to dwell with them here for ever, Klopstock to Bodmer. Bilach., 4 o'clock. Arrived at length in your vicinity, I have no motive for writing, but the necessity of beguiling my impatience during the interval that must yet elapse before we can have any personal communi- cation. I am gratified by having an opportunity to mention previous to our interview, that I ob- served in this neighbourhood a scene correspond- ing in features with the country in which I in* KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 73 dulged my fancy with the idea that I beheld the phantoms of my absent friends. I had begun a sketch of this fantastic vision at Nurnburg, but was interrupted before I could finish it. I am now glad that this happened, since it will be so pleasing to talk to you of all I should otherwise have written — and the Abbot of Jerusalem ap- peared to me in heavenly glory ; when we meet, I pledge myself to prove to you that these two illustrious men have scarcely an equal. From the same. Zurich , July 25. I have already spent here several days, and have at length had the delight to behold, for the first time in my life, that most respected man, before whose image there was always a cloud in- terposed, when I contemplated him as an unknown incomparable friend whom I should never meet face to face in this world. Since my arrival, I have been constantly in the full tide of enjoyment ; what happiness to become acquainted with so many noble minded men, and to believe that they all regard me with affection ! nor, let me forget the minor pleasures that are offered to my gratification, in the beau- tiful scenery to whose charms I .am so feelingly alive, the congenial spirit that prevails in society, 74 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FEIENDS. the gaiety so sweetly mingled with serenity — that simplicity of manners — that unreserved frankness in conversation. When I think of these, and of all the happi- ness I have already tasted, and of all that awaits me in anticipation, my soul overflows with gratitude, and I surrender every feeling to the consciousness of delight ; yet is all this endeared to me by the conviction that you, my dear compatriots, and you, my sweet female friends, feel with me and fully share in all my emotions. Sulzer and Schuldhess are gone to Winterthuiv I am soon to join a party who are to make an ex- cursion thither and attend them back to Zurich. We shall embrace that opportunity to sail on the Zuydersee, and to visit Riggi, one of the snowy mountains, on whose summit we shall tower above the clouds, and hear the tempests thunder at our feet. The letters we have sent you are the genuine letters of friendship, they are intended for your participation, and if in reading them, you recol- lect under what circumstances they were writ- ten, you will not fail to find excuses for their defects and to allow them every claim on your in- dulgence. Klopstock. KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 75 LETTER X. Klopstock to Schmidt. Winterthur, Thursday. I am now sojourning here with Sulzer and Schuldhess, on a visit to Waser and Runzli ; the two former are to accompany me back to Zurich. Bodmer is also of our party, but I steal from them all an early morning hour to write to you* I could find much to communicate, but for the present will confine myself to our excursion on the Zuyder, with which I was highly gratified. I know not indeed when I have enjoyed such a suc- cession of lively natural pleasures, as this de- licious day afforded. The party, sixteen in number, was composed of persons of both sexes ; an unusu- al circumstance, since it is here customary for the young ladies to exchange visits with each other, but not to enter into general society. I felt it as no trifling compliment, that on my ac- count this custom was overruled, and such an agreeable addition to the party admitted. We embarked at five in the morning, (in the largest vessel the pleasure afforded) on the lake, whose clear green expanse presents a surface smooth as glass, unruffled with a wave ; on each side rise sloping banks, fringed with vineyards, country 76 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. villas and pleasure grounds often interposing be- tween them, whilst at every bend of the lake appears some Alpine summit which shuts in the horizon : all in all, I have certainly never beheld so lovely a landscape. We had proceeded during one hour, when we landed to breakfast at a villa close to the water's edge ; here the company divided into smaller co- teries, who thus came insensibly to enjoy the pri- vilege of social intercourse. Hirzel's wife, a young woman, with speaking blue eyes, who sings Haller's Doris with incomparable pathos, was the queen of the party, and I of course as occupy- ing the post of honour was expected to be her loyal knight. Unfortunately for the credit of my fide- lity, there was in our party a Miss Schinz, (the sis- ter of a very agreeable young man who was also present) a black eyed girl, who was the youngest and the prettiest of the group : at the first glance my heart beat with emotion, for I saw in her the exact counterpart of the girl who in her thirteenth year, had pledged herself to be mine. It is not necessary to relate to you this story, though to say the truth, I told the tale, and much more than I would now be at the trouble to repeat to my new little friend, who listening with the guileless inno* cence of seventeen, (yet half afraid to listen) trem* bling to be thus addressed on a subject so r*ew to KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 77 her bashful inexperience — above all, to be thus addressed by me — at first cast down her lovely black eyes, with the sweetest and most touching expression of reverence, and then kindling with enthusiasm, unexpectedly gave utterance to some lofty sentiments, and at length in an attitude of impassioned devotion, exclaimed, " you may ima- " gine how highly I revere the bard by whom I " was first taught to form just conceptions of the " Deity!" At noon we landed at another villa near Zu- rich ; we returned to our bark and were again rowed on the lake till we came to a beautiful lit- tle island covered with wood, where we made our longest station, and in the evening partook of a grateful repast on the beach. On returning to the lake, I gave a flagrant proof of infidelity to Ma- dame Hirzel, by handing Miss Schinz instead of her to the boat ; we continued repeatedly to land on the coast and to enjoy the beauty of a serene evening. Mad. Muralt of the family so celebrated by that name, is the next lady under whose aus- pices I shall be admitted to a female party. I have often read to the damsels here your Apotheosis, and, as you may easily imagine, they are all impatient to hear more of your verses. Send me what you please, the girls like you next to me ; remember who has made them do so. KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS* LETTER XL Schmidt to Klopstock. Langesalze. I am angry with you, angry in good earnest ; how dare you distrust my affection, atheist j shall nothing be sacred enough to defy your calumny ? It is truly a pretty letter I have received from you,* To announce to a man like me, a man so guile- less, so susceptible, so easily depressed, that a certain agreeable party had enjoyed pleasure in my absence, nay evidently, in consequence of my absence — it is cruel, abominable, unpardonable. Pray bear in mind this transgression, when from your own wicked suggestions, you venture to re- proach me with having ceased to love you ; my attachment is, indeed, rather to be considered as a habit rooted in my nature than an affection to be traced in remembrance, an,d in reality is a tru- ism as little to be controverted as that I have felt the pangs of love, or you the inspiration of the muses. Compose yourself on this subject, my lit- tle Klopstock ; I am bound to you by a thousand ties ' ? to say nothing of the rest, observe how much * It does not appear to which of Klopstock's letters this could have been an answer. KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 79 my pride is interested in the preservation of our uni- on. Has not the fame of our mutual friendship gone through the ten circles of Germany ? are we not likely to become as proverbial as the fabulous Pylades, and his equally true Orestes ? or to draw a parallel more to my taste, shall we not vie with Nisus and Euryalus ? Is not the description of the latter enchanting ? " Euryalus forma insignis, viridique juvcnta.'* Euryalus in his first blooming years. I leave you to make your choice between the names of these two heroes ; only this I know, that I can never be identified with the elegant Nisus. My sister is at present somewhat indisposed. — A-propos, we were lately speaking of you , upon which occasion my mother as usual pronounced some pithy axiom of prudence on matrimony, and lo, tears came into my sister's eyes — what say you to this, Klopstock ? LETTER XII. Schmidt to Gleim, Langesalze, August 14. Whether to suppose it is your General chapter, or that you have fallen in love, I know not, but 80 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. take it for granted that one or the other of these important events must have occurred to prevent your writing, for you surely have not now to learn, that your letters form the best if not the only solace of my solitude. Of your, so- litude ! I hear you exclaim; what, surrounded as you are, by female friends, will you venture to complain of solitude ? yes, my dear friend, your conclusion is perfectly natural, and yet, true it is, that no Anchoret, not even excepting brother Phi- lip in la Fontaine, who occupies a dreary cell, has more lonely hours than myself. The girls to whom I have daily access are all destitute of attractions to win my heart, they are easily known and might perhaps be too easily won. Were I to select an object, I should have like Pygmalion to implore the gods to animate the statue, before my vows could be accomplished. I have already confessed to you, that in my feelings for the sex, i observe no medium, and must either love or hate with vehemence ; to escape from uncompanionable society I should readily take refuge in solitude, and to this indeed I am now so much accustomed, that it is rather to be classed with my duties than my pleasures ; I have no longer the same delight in taking a lonely walk or seeking a favourite retirement to indulge in poetical meditation. Solitude is im- KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS t 81 posed as a daily regimen, and obviously ceases to be a luxury. No, I have no resources but in my sister, and my correspondents ; with regard to the first, you must be sensible that we lose with a sister many of those subjects of conversation we enjoy with a male friend, or with any ether individual of the softer sex. I cannot always read, and for letterr writing I lose my relish, because I am constantly left without a partner in the correspondence ; there are moments when a single line from your pen would operate on my spirits like the Deus ex Machina,— oh ! why will you deny yourself the pleasure of working a miracle for your friend ? Consider not this, my dear Gleim, as the lan- guage of recrimination or reproach. I am per- fectly aware you cannot always discharge yourself from business, and that six letters from me would but balance one from you. I believe you would smile to see me on a post day, at the window, standing with eyes sparkling with impatience, wistfully looking for the dear expected letter, like the matron in Horace, " Votis omnibus que et precibus voco, " Curvo nee moveo littore lumina." for not having yet written to you ; if you consider in what a tumultuous whirl one moves on arriving for the first time , in such a capital as Berlin, you will have no difficulty in suggesting my excuse. A series of new acquaintance, excursions, balls, wed- ding festivals, have consumed the greater part of my time. When I could snatch a moment from such engagements* I was unfitted by previous dis- sipation for employing it as I wished, and I have actually begun four letters to you, without being able to finish one of them; there is always so much to be said to Gleim, and you know full well how little it is my forte to write short letters ! I am tempted to smile at the reflexion, that both my epistles and my odes labour under the same defect as my figure, namely, that of being too long. To bring the comparison closer, as I am tall enough to be a sort of Fugelman to my companions, so my letters might be considered as the Fugelmen of my correspondents, who are unhappily not disposed to imitate the admirable example. KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 149 I can, however, easily conceive your dissatisfaction at not finding the letter you had expected ; perhaps I ought to assume some merit on the occasion, as having evinced my friendship, by allowing you for once the novel pleasure of rinding me in the wrong; for you well know that, as far as our correspondence is concerned, I am accustomed to engross to myself the privilege of being always obstinately in the right. — Raillery apart, it is quite a different thing whether I write to you or another friend, so encroaching is the affection I bear my little Gleim,that when I take up the pen I am no longer master of myself, but carried far beyond the time allotted to the task. Le coeur s'occupe du sujet, Et l'esprit laisse-la l'ouvrage. And now let me hasten to communicate my impression of Kleist, though it will be as diffi- cult to do justice to my own feelings as to give satisfaction to your expectations. I spent a whole day in his society at Potsdam, and was delighted not only with the writer but the man. It is the character of integrity that strikes you first in his countenance and deportment, before you have dis- covered either the poet or the soldier, (perhaps for the honour of our poetical fraternity it might be said, that the features of the upright man and l 8 150 KLOPSTOGK AND HIS FRIENDS. the bard are precisely the same). Conscious as I am that I have rather you than myself to thank for Kleist's attentions, I do not deny I could find an ungrateful pleasure in rivalling you in his af- fections ; but I doubt whether this be possible, for you are absolutely his idol, and I cannot tell you how much he rose in my veneration, when I dis- covered that your portrait was the chosen com- panion of his lonely hours, and is indeed the only picture that occupies a place in his study. In looking at this resemblance, I missed the wonted smile which I (you may remember) am so well pleased to recognize in your face. It has, how- ever, a more poetical aspect, and I was recon- ciled to the artist, by the reflexion, that an image which is constantly to remain in the temple of friendship, ought rather to inspire reverence than kindness and affection. Kleist shewed me some prose essays, consisting of maxims, in the manner of Rouchefaucault, all excellent in their way, but tinged too deeply with misanthropy ; on which account, I, who am in a better humour with the world, ventured to arraign the justice of his sentiments. Take no notice of this when you write, for I am not sure he would approve of my mentioning the subject. I come now to our little Ramler, who is by Jupiter the first born son of Horace, His emendations of KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 151 Kleist's Spring are incomparable, and you might justly complain that he has hitherto failed to com- municate them for your perusal. I am charmed with Langemack, whose bon sens and wit, like the sun emerging from a cloud, is the more wel- come from being unexpected, and soon dissipates the prejudice an ungracious exterior had created against him. Whence happens it that Sulzer did not please my taste ? I have seen him but for half a day, when according to Ramler's remark, he even surpassed himself. With Bergius and Hempel I have conversed so little, that I can only tell you I foresee they will please me greatly. I have some cause to complain that none of my acquaintance have introduced me to Sack. Yet once more, let me not forget to mention Walter, with whom I have spent most of my time, and who has not only wit and taste enough to satisfy the few, but (what I value still more,) facility, and good nature to con- ciliate the many. I can give you no account of a croud of other acquaintance, on whom I have looked like a bride who from a hundred specimens of dress, selects a few for closer observation, then tries on, goes to the glass, criticizes and compares, and finally dis- misses the finery, of which she keeps but little. And now will you be longing to hear something L4 152 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. of my female friends. Patience — you ought to be pleased. That the women here possess more men- tal and personal attractions than the dames of Saxony, and more virtue than they gain credit for in Halberstadt, and such little towns, this is very evident. You really said too little for Miss Dietrich, when you merely called her sprightly and agreeable > she has an understanding of the first order, and the most amiable disposition ; by the way, it is whispered that you, provoking female conque- ror, durst not venture during your visit to betray the least susceptibility to tenderness, lest your virtue should be in danger. This girl has conceived a high esteem for your character, and were you once in our circle, might surely smooth some of your difficulties in the choice of a wife. Of Ramler's love adventure I really know nothing worth communicating ; he has perhaps affected to give the affair a more serious cast, to have the credit of being an enamoured hero. And here, if you will allow me to digsess into a reflexion, I would observe, to vindicate the nobility of love, that all men, whether ardent or frigid, wise or foolish, either are, or affect to be, subject to its magnetic influence* KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 153 LETTER XLIV* From the same to the same. Berlin, 10th October. I have something to communicate which gives me great regret : a misunderstanding having arisen between Sulzer and Ramler on one side, and Sucro on the other, which has been attended with the usual consequences, that of inducing both par- ties to lose sight of justice. You are well aware how strongly I was prepossessed in Sucro' s favour, and may therefore imagine my surprise and vex- ation to find his superior merit so little understood, being here admired only for those conversational powers which give zest to society. Even Ramler himself is not free from this prejudice; and I can scarcely extort a patient hearing when I avow my own favourable sentiments with the warmth and enthusiasm natural to my character. I was pained to observe that the first coolness might be traced to certain critical strictures on a literaivj undertaking, which excited the spirit of ambition in one party, and I know not what spirit in the other ; but friendship was the mutual sacrifice. Does not this almost authorise us to say, that even the jbest men have little more than speculative bonte 154* KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. du cceur, and that there is in the passions, as in death, something to bring all men to the same level? Yet one remark, and I have done. The sen- timents of friendship hold in reality but the rank of aliens and subalterns in the human heart ; they are cherished whilst they coalesce with nearer in- terests, or clash not with those stronger passions which are less generous, and consequently more properly indigenous to mankind. Alas ! my Gleim, are not these reflexions in the very spirit of misanthropy ? LETTER XLV. Klopstock to Gleim. Copenhagen, 30th October, 1 75 1 . I might again accuse you, dearest Gleim, of neglect ; there is now no doubt, no suspence, and you continue to aggravate my sorrow by your silence. If you missed my first letter directed to Colonel Cannebergs, you must at least have receiv- ed the last, from which you would learn that the former was awaiting your arrival. I could almost I KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 155 fancy myself too angry for reproach. Are you not aware how much I am devoted to you, and how willingly I would persuade myself of our mu- tual attachment ? Could you not comprehend the feeling that prompts me still to ask for tidings of Fanny? and might you not now venture to communicate the truths you have hitherto with* held from mistaken tenderness? How unhappy shall I be if you have not already written, and if I shall still be doomed to count the days and hours till a letter can arrive. But of what would I have you write ? You can surely guess that it is soothing to receive the assurance of your commiseration, and that it is necessary to my ex- istence to hear of Fanny ! I still love, nor can I cease to love - 7 and since she so seldom favours me with a letter, you must for my sake engage her to write to you, and then transcribe for me whatever she has written. Such is the boon I would owe to Gleim, and surely it is not too much to hope that he will scat- ter this poor twilight gleam of comfort on my dreary, desolate existence. Conceive if you can, the anguish of a heart like mine, when every murmur is suspended and every agitation sup- pressed, I sigh, but I no longer weep. — On recollecting the moments when I was accustomed to shed tears, I perceive there was still some 156 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. latent hope, and that the melancholy I then ex- perienced was a luxurious sentiment compared with my present despondence. I see her in my dreams, I even see her more often than before, and constantly does she approach me with a cold yet not averted aspect. It was but last night that she thus appeared before me ; her brother too, methought, was present, but spoke as little as he writes ; yet his looks expressed indifference rather than aversion, and he turned from me to converse with strangers, of whom I had no remembrance. Often have I wished that I had never seen her — never learnt to pronounce her name ; I might then have attached myself to another object, and per- haps tasted the supreme felicity of mutual love. But it is now impossible ! There are here many handsome girls, and I have scarcely perceived their beauty ; nay, such is my indifference to their attractions, that I see them with as little interest as if they were of my own sex. Not one of them has the power to extort from me even those slight attentions which are the first symptoms of prefer- ence ; my heart is steeled to every tender impres- sion. Fail not, my dear Gleim, to send me Raro- ler's and Spalding's address. I have received an answer from Bodmer, who mentions among other things, that a lady having translated for Voltaire KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 15/ the finest passages from Haller, the French wit exclaimed, " Oh que cela est pitoyable f" I love my nation too well to submit with patience to a fo- reign yoke. LETTER XLVL Schmidt to Gleim. Berlin, October 18th. You have to thank me for this quartette epistle, dear Gleim. It occurred to me that such a com- position must afford you peculiar pleasure, and I immediately assembled all these worthy messieurs to concur in the undertaking. You know how anxious I am to contribute to your satisfaction ; do me justice, therefore, and thank me for all you shall receive. Your Schmidt. Marnier writes. It is time, dear Gleim, that an epistolary com- merce should be established between us. I begin by writing to you on the subject of your future beloved, a subject in reality less difficult than it 158 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. appears to be. Schmidt prognosticates that in the grand article of marriage you will imitate one of the seven sages, called Thales, who on being im- portuned by his mother to make choice of a wife, exclaimed, " it is too soon." The discreet mamma suffered a whole year to elapse, and then returned to the charge ; the son shifted his ground, and replied, "it is too late." But, dearest Gleim, these are subjects on which we can best dispute viva voce. Schmidt protests it is a breach of good manners to write so much. I must cease, were it only to appease his murmurs. I am allowed to write but four lines, too little, surely, considering that this is the first time I have assured you of my sincere attachment. Every body is talking and buzzing around me, whilst Weiss looks over my shoulder to see that I do not exceed the measure prescribed ; I must therefore break off, hoping soon to tell you I am unalterably your Langemack. KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 159 Weiss writes. Only see, my dearest Mr. Gleim, how little re- spect is paid to youth ! I am expected to content myself with this pitiful space. I who love you— I who love you so much, and am more ambitious than all of them to be considered your darling Weiss. These messieurs are more wary than I expected, for I imagined they would vie with each other in pretensions to wit, which would have afforded me a glorious opportunity for turning them into deri- sion ; but they have overreached me by writing in a simple, natural style, and appear to be no less affectionately disposed towards you than your Schmidt. Rainier writes. I resume the pen, but I shall write as closely as possible, to leave room for my friends to criticize and dispute on their several pretensions to taste and elegance. Schmidt is somewhat too fond of mystery and concealment ; he often recites verses without 160 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. mentioning himself, and very adroitly contrives to palm them on some other author ; yet by all this elaborate address, extorts neither more nor less of criticism than he would receive for his own acknowledged productions. — I have used the first word that came to my pen; but I ought to recast the sentence, and say, that he lends his laurels to another bard. If he knew what I was saying, he would overwhelm me with de- nunciations in that favourite sentence, It is a breach of good manners to write in company. This very sentence he is now vociferating with such energy, that I begin to lose patience, and must certainly either out-talk or beat him. Ramler, Mr. Schmidt abuses me before I begin — eveiy one is railing at his companions, and complaining that he is defrauded of his share in the letter. I must yield to the torrent, and only say I am your brow-beaten Weiss. Schmidt writes. Heaven be praised that Weiss has at length blun- dered through all he ought in policy to have con- cealed. Now shall the remaining space be all - KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. l6l mine own ; and so tenacious am I of the preroga- tive, that I protest I would not yield a single line even to a female pen. I have received your re- proachful letter, and am not a little amused by imagining the compunction with which you would not fail to be visited on the arrival of my three sheets and a half, accompanied by the Bramin inspire. We think and talk of you continually. What can he be doing, the poor solitary Gleim, so far from his friends, and with no solace from a beloved maid ! Feasts and festivals cannot so completely engross his mind, but that sometimes in his lonely hours, he must sigh for our society ! ' Observe him ■ in the solitude of his study, leaning on his arm, c plunged in thought, yet not lost in abstraction, * for whilst his eye rolls but on vacancy, his active * fancy recalls the images of his absent friends, and * thus fills up the pensive scene ! * First, behold 4 Klopstock, with feelings almost too sublime for * participation ; next follows Kleist, whose heart is * open as his mien, and who hates the world for the * sake of his friends; he is accompanied by Ramler, « in whose eyes you may read a poet's dream of ' love. But who is he, so fluent in speech, so arch, * This passage is (in the original) in verse. M 162 KXOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. * so audacious, alternately sportive and melancholy, < simple as a child, yet not without some wit and 6 talent, some fire and enthusiasm ? You are by this 6 time perfectly aware that this eccentric personage * is called Schmidt ; and observe, he is unlike your ' other friends, who for a little while flit before * your eyes, and then vanish from you like midnight ' spectres. Scarcely have you rejoiced in their pre- * sence, when the approach of your housekeeper's ' sober step destroys the whole illusion. Roused * from the reverie, you complain with bitterness ' that you ase deserted, and, ask why you are thus ' left to ruminate in solitude ? Be consoled, my ( Gleim, Schmidt still hovers round the scene, still * lingers near you, and for your sake alone.' Schmidt. Ramler writes. Be a republican, or I renounce you, Schmidt, We tolerate not a Cesar. KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 163 LETTER XLVII. Schmidt to Gkim. Berlin, 30tb October. You must really be ungrateful, to have never thanked me for the quartette epistle, when you have written to Ramler on the occasion, with- out vouchsafing a single acknowledgment to me, to whom alone you were indebted for that motley composition. So far is desert in this world. Sic vos, non vobis mellificatis apes. You have also written to Sulzer ; a circumstance of which I was apprized by the thrushes I partook of at his table. I was so piqued with your ingra- titude, that but for the sin of revenging it on the poor harmless birds, I should have refused to touch a morsel. You must surely have been bewildered by the croud of epic poems which during the present month have poured forth like grasshoppers from the press. Klopstock's Epopea has produced a most numerous progeny, who, as Bodmer would say, rush in swarms from the hive. Ramler pre- dicts that it will soon be as discreditable to write, as not to have written, an epic poem, m @ 164* KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. LETTER XLVIII. KlopstocJc to Gleim. Copenhagen, April 9th, J 752. I welcomed your letter this morning, ere I had left my bed, and had with it a long and confiden- tial tete-a-tete. You might with some reason anti- cipate my reproaches ; but in future, my dear tru- ant, but ever kind, ever faithful friend, sin no more, and all shall be forgiven. But where to begin ? or rather, where to end ? Strange as it may seem, there is a total revolution in my feelings, and I am no longer an outcast from happiness. The fact itself will be interesting to Gleim, and to that alone must I now confine my intelligence. To trace the cause or describe the progress of my restoration, is more than I can at present undertake to communicate. I may, however, premise, that it belongs not to my na- ture to be happy or miserable by halves ; hence I so long remained the victim of sorrow and de- spondence, and hence having once discarded me- lancholy, I am ready to welcome happiness. You will be tempted to ask, by what agent the revo- lution has been effected ? But once mote remem- KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 165 ber, I am pledged to silence ; and it is enough for you to know, that I no longer claim your pity, and that I invite you to share as fully of my joy as you have participated in my grief. You tell me of , shall I name him in this letter ? No, I will not hazard my relapse. You mention something I am unwilling to believe — perhaps we are mistaken. If he loved me as much as I still love him, it must have been painful to him to write at this moment. It is difficult to conceive the nature of my offence. Once, indeed, it was my crime to be unhappy, but of that I am now acquitted. Had he been disposed to visit Den- mark, with what open arms should I have received him ! But I am not destined to enjoy so sweet a satisfaction. In short, I am weary of forming conjectures, and have no alternative but to wait behind the scenes till his long monologue shall end. You may remember, my friend, it was an ho- nourable feature in Pope's character, that he never celebrated a reigning favourite, but reserved his praises for independent patriots, or discarded statesmen, for those who had never basked in a Court, or who had voluntarily retired to the phi- losophic shade. It is this part of his conduct that so strongly inspires my esteem, and renders him the idol of my imagination. m 3 166 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. In addressing a poem to the King on his Queen's death, I simply followed the impulse of feeling of which it was but the spontaneous effusion.* Jealous of my honour, and anxious to escape the suspicion which Mr. Sack sup- poses me to have incurred, I had long resisted the dictates of my own heart, and disappointed the expectations of my Danish friends, when I took the resolution to communicate my scruples to Count Bernstorff, who patiently examined, and finally obviated them to my perfect con- viction. You must love this great man, who deserves to possess the esteem of such a mind as yours. How comprehensive is his understanding, what intuitive wisdom in his decisions! what rectitude in all his actions 1 He has this winter married a young lady from Holstein, who reads and relishes Sevigne. I commonly dine with them once a week, and am frequently admitted to the Count's library, which is also his cabinet. He has purchased beautiful editions of the English poets, and I have for some weeks been studying English in Young. I am also on terms of intimacy with Count Rosenberg, the Imperial Envoy, an excellent * The Princess Louisa of England, a daughter of George the Second. KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. l6j man, in the flower of life, rich in social feel- ings, and a passionate admirer of English litera- ture. It would not be difficult to extend my ac- quaintance with the diplomatic corps, if I chose to depart from my rule of waiting to be sought. I am a frequent visitor to Count Ranzow, who has an extraordinary understanding, and, in com- mon with us, is so devoted to English, that he has even suffered himself to be converted by Young, because he is an Englishman. The Ran- zow family have long been celebrated for their talents, and for an almost too singular cast of cha- racter. (A Ranzow without wit would be a pro- digy)- What would you say to my visiting you this summer? and if Kleist and Ramler could be drawn to our party, how delightful would be the meeting! All this is within the limit of possi- bility ; and yet the good old friend of the good old Mecenas says, Quid sit futurum eras, fuge quaerere. Ah, my dear Gleim, if I had not long since re- nounced the luxury of wishing, how earnestly should I at this moment wish for the privilege of transporting myself to you ! m i 168 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. LETTER XLIX. Klopstock to Cramer. Hamburgh, July 3d. I know not whether this letter will find my Cramer at Blankenburgh, which I hear he has been lately visiting ; but I feel peculiar pleasure in the idea of greeting him in that smiling region of poetry, which our elder bards have consecrated to immortality. I know not a scene that could better harmonize with the intelligence I am about to communicate, and which, if Giseke did not betray his trust, will, I think, occasion you no less surprise than pleasure. But where to begin, as was said long since by the wise Ulysses, who had not half so pleasing a story to relate ? I re- collect a simple distich, which may serve for the prologue of my tale. I love my Clara, and Clara loves me. •Poor dear Cramer, you are just as wise as before, for how should you guess who Clara is ? With the addition of another word, indeed, the problem would be solved, and that word I promise, you shall discover in some corner of my letter. In the KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 169 mean time I must whisper, that towards the end of last year, I suspected my passion for Clara, and as this suspicion gained ground, could not always so far command my feelings, but that they occa- sionally escaped in my letters. At length, I could no longer suffer in silence ; and here you ought to read our correspondence, of which I will only say that Clara writes just as Sevigne would have writ- ten, had she corresponded in her youth with the man she loved. At length then, I ventured to avow my sentiments, and since last December I have not been without hopes, though mingled with the thousand doubts and uncertainties which create the solicitudes of love ; but it was not till within a few days that this suspence was wholly removed, and that I was permitted to confide in my own felicity. And now what more shall I say, my sweet Clara? Say it for me. Suppose our Cramer sitting there, and listening eagerly to our tale ; speak you but two words, and tell me what I shall write. ' Klopstock will take no denial ; but that I < must tell you how much in the short time that "' I have suffered him to believe I loved ! (for ho- ' nestly, my affection might be dated long before) 1 how much in that short interval I have learnt to ' outdo him in love !' 170 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. To outdo — what does the girl mean ? This is the constant subject of debate between us, and one on which I most tenaciously maintain my pre- eminence. Yes, in love I am surely incompara- ble! but this girl fancies, because she is called Clara, she may assume to herself whatever merit she pleases j and truly I cannot but admire her audacity in bringing forward the disputed point the first time of addressing you. And now let me speak for myself. How blest, how supremely blest have I been for some days — a whole month of unalloyed felicity. I should not conceive this to be possible, but that I feel it to be true. Once more, I am nothing ; the overflow- ings of joy are as little to be expressed as the agony of grief. If you, however, can tolerate this wild carol of the heart, I can chat with you a little longer. And now shall I enumerate my Clara's names ? She is called my girl — my Babet, and Clara, and half a hundred synonyms, my Clarissa, my Be- loved, (the favourite appellation) and lastly, to sum up all in one word, she is my Moller. Yesterday there came on an inexpressibly sweet little word be- tween Moller and beloved. Shall I tell you this too, my Cramer ?* No. It is time to close a letter which * This name must have been Meta. KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 171 has already run out to an unconscionable length, considering that my Clara is at this moment sitting at the same table. LETTER L. Klopstock to Gleirri. Hamburgh, 8th July, 1752. My dearest Gleim, In the first place I refer you to Cramer's letter* which will, I think, repay you for the trouble of going to Quedlinburgh ; in the next place I must tell you, that I am happy beyond all expression ; that I love the little Moller, of whom I wrote to you a year ago, that she returns my affection, and is the loveliest and dearest of her sex. This includes all I have to say, and all my Gleim will wish to know. Postscript by Meta Moller. Would you ever have suspected that the Moller of Hamburgh should be this happy being? No- no, never could you have supposed that Klopstock would chuse such a simple girl ! Oh ! if you but 172 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. knew how he is adored — how it exceeds every thing, even Klopstock' s own heart, yet not much neither, for indeed he loves me truly ! Are you not surprised that I write this to you, who do not even know me ? but I cannot resist the impulse — Now that Klopstock is gone out, and can I no lon- ger talk to him, it is such a sweet privilege to talk of him — and this is it — he is here— he returns — and I am Your servant, Meta Moller. You must not scold Klopstock. Non, non, il ne faut plus ecrire. Mesdames les Sevignes vous tourmentez bien, les pauvres hommes, qui se melent aussi d' ecrire des lettres. Ah, mon cher Gleim, voila done ma resolution prise. Je n'ecrirai plus le Messie. Tous mes odes sont finies. My dear Gleim, I vented my agony in French, since the question was of Sevigne. Klopstock, KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 173 LETTER LI. Klopstock to Gleim. Quedlinburg, 31st July, 1752. If you knew how your general chapter has an- noyed me ! It is for so short a time that I can hope to stay in your neighbourhood, and I have such an ardent desire to spend some part of it with my own family. Come to me, if possible ; I must positively enjoy you more than one day, though you are too indifferent to worldly things to wish for more of my society. But, after all, shall friendship, such as ours, be classed with worldly things ? Write at least, if you will not come. Klopstock. 174* KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. LETTER LIL Meta to Klopstock. 8th August, 1752. Return, my Klopstock, return — let me reclaim thee as my hostage, or shall I say my master ? No matter which — if I but sit by thee, and listen to thee, I can be well pleased to remain thy cap- tive> Oh ! how dull and dreary and tedious have I found these days of absence ; not that I had to complain of unkindness — no, it was not that I suffered, but that I was not permitted to enjoy. Nobody talked of thee. I was in a beautiful coun- try, and how little it availed me, since I saw it not with thee. I was in what is called good com- pany; but since I have tasted of thy thoughts, and become familiar with thy perfections, I have lost all relish for inferior society, and find an inter- course with ordinary beings irksome and insupport- able. I was dead to the gaiety of my companions, and though there were some young foreigners, who would fain have drawn me into conversation, I had scarcely the complaisance to reply to their questions. Was I to blame for sullenness ? Oh ! when I no longer heard thy voice, nor was even permitted to KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 175 pronounce thy name, what remained but to think of thee ; and how could I bear to part from that only solace ! Had they but left me to myself, had they allowed me to enjoy my own quiet medi- tations, I could still have been almost happy, but some officious stranger was for ever invading my sanctuary. The dismal weather kept us all to- gether, and having no better resource than cards, we played from morning till night, nor did I then regain my liberty. I slept with another lady, and though I constantly carried in my pocket a pencil and a sheet of paper, could never find an oppor- tunity to write a single line. Imagine how this must have aggravated my chagrin a*d impatience ! Oh, how poor is all without thee, and with thee how sweetly is the absence of every other pleasure supplied ! Fain would I persuade myself it must cost me some effort to renounce all to follow thee — for methinks I should be proud to make some little sacrifice for thy dear sake ; but, in truth, I can claim no such honours. The amusements I shall relinquish are not only indifferent to me, but irk- some in the extreme. Here, in thy absence, with a thousand changes of pursuit, a single day drags so heavily, that I could almost fancy it a livelong year ; whilst with thee, without ever crossing the threshold, or casting a single glance towards the 176 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. world beyond it, the moments pass so sweetly, that the day scarcely seems to have been a single hour. Oh, return, my Klopstock, return, that is all I can say, What will be our privilege, when the lapse of time shall have cemented our sacred union, and we shall have passed years together without having experienced lassitude and languor for a single day I It is true our pleasures must lie in a small com- pass, for we shall find them in each other ; but yet shall there be a something better than our- selves — an affection dearer than friendship, an in- fluence the world cannot give — to inspirit, to ani- mate us, and supply a constant source of interest and delight. Am I not right, Klopstock ? I would reply to your letter, if my soul was not too full. It is so long since I wrote, and I now feel I have so much to say, that I cannot bring myself to. order or measure. Do you chide me for being- tedious ? no, you will not chide, so I may give free course to my pen. Whilst I was at Stollingen, it was one of my sweetest anticipations, that on my return I should find a letter from you. Imagine my transports, when I found two, and one for the , which was almost as precious as mine own. Thou, sweet- est bard — long was I thy votary ere I ventured to think thee my beloved. Hear what oblations I KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 177 will offer for every line, of which I have been the theme. Yet — no, for all thou hast ever written thou mayst claim, and shalt receive my worship. For the odes, first — I bow to the ground, and make my low obeisance ; for the Messiah I kiss thy feet ; for every line inscribed to Fanny I hail thy name. Ah ! Klopstock, often do tears steal from mine eyes when I reflect on all you were con- demned to suffer in those hours of sadness and despondence. I can but too easily comprehend what were then your bitter feelings. Would it were my privilege to bestow a recompence ! I must not yet aspire to such felicity — it is a privilege reserved for the wife, and at some future period may be mine. Yes, my love, I dare challenge you to have even wished for a kinder wife than you shall find in me. And now am I tempted to relate an anecdote of my childhood, with which you may perhaps be amused. I have already told you, that at thirteen my character was nearly formed ; this at least is cer- tain, however you may be disposed to smile at my wisdom, that I began seriously to speculate on future life, and to sketch plans of conduct for the single or married state. I shall not trouble you with my various judicious schemes, on the suppo- sition that I should remain a spinster ; but on the N 178 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. chance of becoming a wife, I made many deep- reflections, and composed, perfectly to my own satisfaction, a system of domestic management, including the care of my household and the edu- cation of my children. But, above all, I delighted to trace to myself the proper mode of conduct to be observed towards' a husband. And then, in these meditative reveries, did I imagine myself united to precisely such a being as I have since discovered to exist, when charmed with the pic- ture of my own fancy, I exclaimed to my compa- nions, a husband should always be treated with a certain douceur, but this douceur must be wholly unstudied, and flow so freely from the heart, that it should be impossible not to shew it in every look and accent. — Doubtless, my Klopstock, it is only with such looks, such accents, I can converse with thee. — What say you to this raisonnement of thir- teen ? I still adhere to the same principle, though I have learnt to abridge the explanation, and to sum up all, in this obvious truth, the wife must love her husband. See how I prattle, and with as much assurance as if I was leaning on your shoulder, and every other moment stealing from your eyes an ap- proving glance ! But in your last, you have so sweetly, encouraged me to prattle, that I am KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 179 now bold enough to say any thing, so impli- citly can I rely on your constancy and love. I would fain know whether my affection were capa- ble of being increased. I should wish to think so; but then must I also think I am capable of loving more at one moment than another j and this I feel loth to believe. I love your parents and sisters so dearly, that I almost suspect I prefer them to my own. It touched my heart, that your father so kindly inquired whether religion constituted my su- preme delight? I thank God, you could an- swer the question with a safe conscience. Will you not, indeed, soon return? I grieve to draw you from your own family, but yet should I grieve still more, if you were by them drawn from me. Meta Moixer. w % 180 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. LETTER LIIL Meta Moller to Gleim. Hamburgh, 3d November. You might v/ell think I should not write to you; but my indisposition affords some excuse, and KJop- stock's presence is an ample sanction for beginning a correspondence; prepare, therefore, to receive a letter, on what subject you will easily guess ; indeed, I should be wholly incapable of writing on any other. How happy am I — how supremely happy in Klopstock's love ! Yes, my whole soul is now poured forth — I can proceed no farther. I have an ineffable consciousness of felicity and af- fection ; but where find words to express such feelings — Klopstock himself has them not. I am, indeed, not quite so happy as I was a few weeks ago, when he was always with me ; he is now often absent. But I submit with patience to the occasional separation, for it is not inevitable — and do I not know that he will come to us again — and do I not feel that it is necessary to my health to keep my mind tranquil ? and how sacred is the motive to watch over my own welfare, when I KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 1$1 cherish myself for his sake ! Then I am rewarded for these efforts by his correspondence ; and though a letter is poor, compared with the ori- ginal, it is better than any thing else this world can give. Will you not soon write to me, Mr. Gleim, of some beloved maid, or do you persist in the idea, that a girl must have been created for you alone? Well, cherish that thought, and be as- sured you shall some day meet with the object of your pursuit ! Since Klopstock and I have dis- covered each other, I take it for granted that every one may find his proper counterpart. It is thus I encourage my female friends, who since they have known the author of the Messiah, seem to despair of ever meeting with another Klopstock. But how little did I think when I first heard of his existence from Giesecke, and knew him only by his odes and the Messiah — how little did I then believe he had the very heart I secretly aspired to possess — still less could I dare to hope that heart was destined to unite with mine. How widely were we separated, not only by place and con- nexion, but by peculiar circumstances, which seemed to form a gulph between us. Oh ! doubt not but I shall some day visit your home with Klopstock, when I shall find you, like him, happy and beloved. n3 182 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. Shall I confess I am half angry you did not ac- company your friend to Hamburgh ; for ought I not to have seen his Gleim, whom he perhaps holds almost as dear as Clara? And who knows but on the journey, or in our circle, you might have discovered your other self! We have in Ham- burgh many amiable girls, one of whom might have been selected for your love. Your are so much Klopstock's friend, and there- fore mine, that I do not hesitate to use with you as with him—the subscription of Your Clara to be Klopstock, KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 183 LETTER LIV. Schmidt to Gleim* 24th January, 1753. I cannot but admire our dear Klopstock's invin- cible propensity to love, having just learnt from his sister the new romance, which has led me into many sapient reflexions on his extraordinary des- tiny. Surely, he and I were born under the same planet ; we are both so liable to tender impressions, that we seem, in this respect at least, to have but one soul. Let me here whisper, that if I did not religiously abstain from pleasantry on the subject of love and marriage, I should be tempted to retaliate by a little raillery for the se- verity with which he has sometimes condemned my sportive sallies. But, hush — not one word of this mischievous impulse. I have written to Miss Moller with all the seriousness and propriety the occasion demanded, and shall hope to be favoured with an answer. What say you, dear Gleim, to this universal propensity to enter the conjugal pale. Here is Klopstock on the eve of marriage \ Schlegel too N 4 184 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. is already married, and to a girl with whom he has every reason to be satisfied. Shall we also, yourself from inclination, and myself from — really, I know not what sentiment — shall we look around us to discover a future helpmate ? Be assured, we shall not fail to meet with candidates for our affections. We poets are artists, and by the creative power of the imagination, can mould every object to our wishes ; and it seldom happens, but that our mis- tresses are indebted to us for their highest per- fections. You promised to bespeak for me Miss Moller's good opinion, and I shall expect you to keep your w r ord. Why did you not mention the name of the author of Chess, a poem that in style of composit- ion is incomparable. Let me know whether it is an imitation of Vida, or of the 15th canto of the Marino Adonis. Schmidt. KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 185 LETTER LV. Meta Moller to Gleim.. Hamburgh, 5th May, 1753. When you recollect how lately I expressed my desire to see you a happy lover, you will not doubt of my joy on finding my prayers accomplished; nor should I have had the patience to defer so long to offer you my heartfelt congratulations, and to wish you every possible felicity with your Ma- yerin Gluck, had not Klopstock insisted on our writing a, joint letter of friendship and gratulation ; but he, my poor Klopstock, is so much occupied in collecting subscriptions for the Messiah, that he has not a moment to call his own, and I am resolved to wait for him no longer, though I too, am in my way so overwhelmed with petty cccu- pation, that I am always expecting to be sum- moned from my pen. Even a short letter may, however, suffice to assure you of my cordial par- ticipation in your pleasure. As an accepted lover, you are intitled to look for- ward to an approaching union, and the only wish I can breathe for you is, that your happiness may be as permanent as it is now complete. Shall I tax you 186 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. with treachery to a certain damsel of your acquaint- ance ? 'Twas a trick for which I could almost be disposed to chide you. When you sent the odes, for which I am truly thankful, you told the bearer I was Klopstock's bride elect. Now this was mal-d-propos, for our engagement neither is, nor, for particular reasons, can be made public. Oh, pray whisper it not in future to any one who is not Klopstock's most intimate friend, and therefore mine of course. And now farewell. Meta Moller. LETTER LVI. Schmidt to Gleim. Langesalze, 19th May, 1753. What will you think of me for having so long delayed to wish you joy ? when from the time you were declared bridegroom elect, you assuredly re- ceived congratulations from all your other friends. Ibr myself, so singular is my character, that I have preserved sullen silence till you are on the very verge of the altar. I presume the object of your choice is a pretty lass, still in her teens — KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 187 (that lovely season of docility and innocence,) peace and purity, are imprinted on her brow; yet is she sufficiently intelligent to delight by her con- versation, as much as she captivates by her coun- tenance. At present she is your pupil, but doubt- less destined at some future period to revise and cor- rect your manuscripts—to inspire your songs — and preside like a tutelary angel over your poetical compositions. By heaven, you are a lucky man ! Yes, I plainly perceive you have engaged the fa- vour of the little winged deity, who perhaps from gratitude for your tributary lays, has thus show- ered on you his choicest joys. Since you are on such good terms with the capricious boy, let me beseech you sometimes in your orisons and thanks- givings, to breathe a few kind prayers for your poor solitary bachelor friend. I have a thousand questions to ask ; but you ought intuitively to anticipate and spontaneously to resolve them. You will easily conceive that I long for the story of your love from begin- ning to end, and that I do not authorise you to gloss over or omit a single passage in the whole interesting Iliad. I am possessed with the spi- rit of a critic to discover the real state of your heart, and shall spare no pains to become ac- quainted with all its multifarious feelings. Mar- riage, like death, produces an irrevocable change 188 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. in the condition of man. The bridal pledge involves as many mysteries as the grave. Whilst we are single, we speculate in a thousand ways on the joys and griefs of wedlock ; but the wed- ded are no less inscrutable than the dead. Not one of them returns to give any certain intelligence of the happiness or misery which exists beyond that state of probation. How gladly should I receive in a dream some intimation from your righteous spirit, to fortify my faith in this ideal felicity ! Is it not necessary to add, that I long for a minute description of your fair bride — not one line must be omitted — not one feature overlooked. Is she apprized of my existence, and in what shape am I presented to her mind ? Schmidt. KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 189 LETTER LVIL Schmidt to Gleim. Langesalze, 21st July, 1753. Truly I know not why, ungrateful as you are, I should take the trouble to arraign your silence. You are a vile heartless wretch, without either taste or feeling to embrace an opportunity to afford me pleasure. Be assured, I am so exasperated by your neglect, that all the expressions of indigna- tion I have hitherto used, are mild and tender in comparison with what I think, and what I keep in store against you. What say you to this vehement exordium, dear Gleim ?- Is it not enough to make you tremble for what may follow ? But come, to appease your terrors, I will graciously remit my wrath, and, perhaps, even resume with you something like the tone of cordiality and kindness. But seriously, what can be the reason that you have not deigned to return me some answer ? Was it that my sportive style was ill-suited to the se- 190 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIEND®. rious occasion ? In that case, you must frankly pardon the levity — it will be at least four or five years before I enter the married state. A period so far distant, that I see no necessity for as- suming the sombre looks appropriate to the solemn occasion. But admitting that the contemplation of marriage is no less awful than the prospect of death, (to pursue my old comparison between them,) still it is my intention whenever I shall re- ceive my doom, to exhibit rather the gaiety of the Emperor Adrian, then the stoical majesty of the patriot Cato. Both these men are celebrated for the manner in which they quitted life. I trust I shall not fall short of the graceful model I have chosen for imitation, and that in the trying mo- ment of my espousals, I may sing, with a smiling face, the appropriate invocation, Animula, vagula, blandula, Quo nunc abiris in locis. Pallida, tetrica, lucida, Nee ut ante dabis jocos. What think you of these reflections ? Will you take it amiss if I have sported with them in a former letter ? What will you say to my having taken the liberty to write to your young bride ? Will you not pronounce mean impudent fellow ? KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 191 will not your wife be ready to do the same ? and yet I fear not that such reproaches should fall from her lips, — ■ i Non is vultus in ilia, Non ea nobilitas animo est, ea gratia forms Ut timeam. I take it for granted, your marriage is over, other- wise what could have a more ridiculous sound than the title of madam with which I have greeted your beloved, a title which by every girl who deserves not the honourable distinction, must be considered as a reproach. Once more let me conjure you to send the his- tory of your love. You have so often derided the artifices of the little cunning boy, that I cannot doubt he has adopted some singular mode of making you sensible to his revenge. Little as he appears qualified to assimilate with warrior, it is impos- sible not to detect in his character, a striking re- semblance to that first of heroes, the impious, vin- dictive, inexorable Achilles. — I should not be sur- prised to find, that he had dragged you three times round your lady's dressing-room, and that, assisted by thirty or forty cupids, armed with cui- rass and buckler, he had inflicted on you some signally terrible chastisement. Terribilem que hostem, multa tellure jacenteni, Mirantes spectant. Nee jam contingere tutum Esse putant, sed tela tamen sua quisque cruentant. I 192 KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. Then all approach the slain with vast surprise, Admire on what a breadth of earth he lies ; And scarce secure, reach out their spears afar, And blood their points to prove their partnership in war. Dryden. Schmidt. LETTER LVIII. Schmidt to Madame Gleim*. Having at length ascertained that you are shortly to preside in my friend's house at Halberstadt, and that, consequently, I may hope to pay my re- spects to you, I conceived it might not be impro- per, previous to my intended visit, to furnish you with a description of my person, and thus prevent the surprise and consternation with which you might otherwise be overwhelmed by my sudden appearance. Imagine, then, on some early morn- ing between the hours of five and six precisely, at * It will appear that Gleim was never married — he was, how- ever, once on the eve of being united to a young lady whose caprice inflicted on him the pangs of disappointment. The nup- tial day was fixed, and Gleim actually received several letters of congratulation at the moment he was suffering the most cruel mortification. KLOPSTOCK AND HIS FRIENDS. 193 the happy moment when the most delicious visions are hovering over your pillow — imagine at this cri- tical moment, that a little strange figure suddenly enters your house, and audaciously penetrates to your apartment ; a little figure observe, not quite so tall as poets have described the tiny king of the fairies, who are seen by some privileged beings dancing by midnight in the yellow moon-beams ; — to return to the intruder — a brown periwig bounds a yet browner visage, which wears the full livery of night, perhaps purposely to conceal the traces of the small-pox with which it is cruelly disfigured. He is enveloped in a white riding coat, whilst an arch laugh draws his lean back into many folds. This little lean figure, with the pitted visage and long riding coat, is, with shame I confess it, alas ! no other than my poor unhappy self. And yet, is it my fault that I possess not a more engaging exterior ? I have at least a consolation from the thought, that being now perfectly aware of my de- formity and insignificance, you cannot possibly mistake me for some frightful phantom you had beheld in a dream, which really to one so perfectly conscious of human existence as myself, would be absolutely insupportable. The description of my character will be as con- cise as that of my person has been long and ela- o 1 r<«<.cc.ci_ CCCCC ccctcccc j4 cccc ccwcc cc 3K cc cc cc«c<: «c« Ccc cc^ccr cjiCjC; lece "*%.(X£LC : - ^«C«C- ■-:-« -rare*: i <-<-*- - v . <- c< SC ~«3CL«£. ; '■■- ' 3PaS#^"*l «CC CV-. «r C<£ - ^c :-> ^ c«r.^ ^^ Cf'CCCCiC'f-C C c -" ci .'<: •'■ - " cCC' <: c<< c « CI C^ C CXJI^ < cc^ (CCC cc > '-f* 1 v. HECKMAN i®mzR : J^°^ BINDERY INC OCT 85 £& n^, CONGRESS 022 012 368 6