An anthology of German literature Part 1

An anthology of German literature.

by Calvin Thomas.

PREFACE

This book is designed to accompany an introductory study of the history of German literature. It is a.s.sumed that the history itself will be learned, so far as necessary, either from lectures or from some other book devoted to the subject. As the selections were made, for the most part, while I was writing my own short history of German literature for the series published under the general editorship of Mr. Edmund Gosse and known as "Literatures of the World," it was natural that the Anthology should take on, to some extent, the character of a companion book to the History. At the same time I did not desire that either book should necessarily involve the use of the other. Hence the absence of cross references; and hence also, in the Anthology, the brief introductory notes, giving important dates and summary characterizations. These are meant to enable the student to read the selections intelligently without constant recourse to some other book.

In preparing Part First, I have had in mind the student who has learned to read the language of Goethe and Schiller with some facility, and would like to know something of the earlier periods, but has not studied, and may not care to study, Old and Middle German. On this account the selections are given in modern German translations. The original texts are omitted because s.p.a.ce was very precious, and because the book was intended as an aid to literary rather than linguistic study. In making the selections, my first principle was to give a good deal of the best rather than a little of everything. I wished to make friends for medieval German poetry, and it seemed to me that this could best be done by showing it in its strength and its beauty. So I have ignored much that might have had a historical or linguistic interest for the scholar, and have steadily applied the criterion of literary worth.

My second principle was to give preference to that which is truly German, in contradistinction from that which is Latin, or European, or merely Christian. The Latinists of every epoch are in general disregarded, as not being of German literature in the strict sense; yet I have devoted eight pages to _Waltharius_ and three to _Rudlieb_, on the ground that the matter of these poems is essentially German, albeit their form is Latin. On the other hand, Hrotswith is not represented at all, because, while an interesting personage in her way, she belongs to German literature neither by her form nor by her matter. The religious poetry of the twelfth century receives rather scant attention, partly because it is mostly pretty poor stuff--there is not much else like the beautiful Arnstein hymn to the Virgin, No. XIII--and partly because it embodies ideas and feelings that belonged to medieval Christianity everywhere.

For each selection I have given the best translation that I could find, and where nothing satisfactory could be found in print I have made a translation myself. Where nothing is said as to the authorship of a translation, it is to be understood as my own. In this part of my work I have tried to preserve the form and savor of the originals, and at the same time to keep as close to the exact sense as the constraints of rime and meter would allow. In Nos. XI to XVII a somewhat perplexing problem was presented. The originals frequently have a.s.sonance instead of rime and the verse is sometimes crude in other ways. An attempt to imitate the a.s.sonances and crudities in modern German would simply have given the effect of bad verse-making. On the other hand, to translate into smooth tetrameters, with perfect rime everywhere, would have given an illusory appearance of regularity and have made the translation _zu schon_. (I fear that No. VII, the selections from Otfried, for the translation of which I am not responsible, is open to this charge.) So I adopted the expedient of a line-for-line prose version, dropping into rime only where the modern equivalent of the Middle German took the form of rime naturally. After regular rime becomes established--with Heinrich von Veldeke--I have employed it in all my translations. For my shortcomings as a German versifier I hope to be regarded with a measure of indulgence. The question of inclusion or exclusion could not be made to turn on the preexistence of a good translation, because too much that is important and interesting would have had to be omitted. I should have been glad to take the advice of Mephisto,

a.s.sociiert euch mit einem Poeten,

but I was unable to effect a partnership of that kind.

Beginning with No. XL, the selections are given in their original form without modernization. While Part Second, no less than Part First, looks to literary rather than linguistic study, it seemed to me very desirable that the selections from writers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries should represent the literary language of that time. By modernizing I could have dispensed with many a footnote and have made the texts somewhat easier to read; but that gain would have entailed a very unfortunate loss of savor, and have deprived the selections of all incidental value as _Sprachproben_. On the other hand, I could see no advantage in a scrupulous reproduction of careless punctuation, mere mistakes, or meaningless peculiarities of spelling. As there is no logical stopping-place when an editor once begins to retouch a text, I finally decided to follow, in each selection, either a trustworthy reprint or else a good critical edition, without attempting to harmonize the different editors or to apply any general rules of my own. The reader is thus a.s.sured of a fairly authentic text, though he will find inconsistencies of spelling due to the idiosyncrasy of editors. Thus one editor may preserve _vnd_ or _vnnd_, while another prints _und_; one may have _itzt_, another _jtzt_, and so on.

Finally, I desire to call attention here to the fact that, while a few selections from Lessing, Goethe, and Schiller are given, by way of ill.u.s.trating their early work in its relation to the literary renascence, no attempt is made to deal adequately with the cla.s.sical literature of the eighteenth century. The book extends _to_ the cla.s.sics. I must admit that the limit thus set is a little vague, and from a theoretical point of view not quite satisfactory; but practical considerations decided in favor of it. To have done justice to the cla.s.sics, on the scale adopted for the rest of the book, would have required an additional hundred pages, devoted to long extracts from works which, for the most part, have been carefully edited for American students, are commonly read in schools and colleges, and could be presumed to be familiar to most users of the Anthology. As the additional matter would thus have been largely useless, it seemed to me that the ideal gain in symmetry would be more than offset by the increased bulk and cost of the book, which was already large enough.

I hold of course that anthologies have their use in the study of literary history; but it would be a mistake, in my judgment, for any student to take up a volume of selections without having first read the more important works of Lessing, Goethe, and Schiller.

CALVIN THOMAS.

Columbia University.

PART I

FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY

In Modern German Translations

I. THE LAY OF HILDEBRAND+

The only surviving remnant, in the German language, of the ancient heroic poetry cultivated by the Germanic tribes prior to their Christianization. The precious fragment consists of 69 alliterating verses, which are preserved in a Ka.s.sel ma.n.u.script of the 8th or 9th century. The language shows a mixture of Low and High German, there are gaps in the text, the meaning of several words is doubtful, and the versification is here and there defective. All this, which some account for by supposing that the ma.n.u.script was copied from a version which had been written down from memory and not perfectly recalled, makes translation difficult and uncertain. The poetic version here given is that found in Botticher and Kinzel's _Denkmaler der alteren deutschen Literatur_, 9th edition, 1905, which in the main follows Mullenhoff's text and theories with regard to gaps, transpositions, etc. For a careful prose version by a very competent scholar see Kogel's _Geschichte der deutschen Literatur_, I, i, 212.

Das hort' ich sagen ...

Da.s.s zwei Kampfer allein sich kamen entgegen, Hildebrand und Hadubrand, zwischen zwei Heeren.

Sohn und Vater besorgten ihre Rustung, Bereiteten ihr Schlachtkleid, die Schwerter fest sie gurteten, 5 Die Recken uber die Ringe;[1] dann ritten sie zum Kampfe.

Hildebrand erhob das Wort; er war der hehrere[2] Mann, In der Welt erfahrener. Zu fragen begann er Mit wenigen Worten, wer sein Vater ware Von den Helden im Volke ... 10 ... "oder welcher Herkunft bist du?

So du mir einen nennst, die andern weiss ich mir, Kind, im Konigreiche: kund sind mir alle Geschlechter."

Hadubrand erhob das Wort, Hildebrands Sohn: "Das sagten langst mir unsere Leute, 15 Alte und weise, die fruher waren, Da.s.s Hildebrand hiess mein Vater; ich heisse Hadubrand ...[3]

Vorlangst zog er ostwarts, Otakers Zorn floh er, Hin mit Dietrich und seiner Degen vielen.

Er liess elend im Lande sitzen 20 Das Weib in der Wohnung, unerwachsen den Knaben, Des Erbes beraubt, da ostwarts er hinritt.

Dem machtigen Otaker war er ma.s.slos erzurnt, Der beste der Degen war er bei Dietrich; Seitdem entbehrte Dietrich den Beistand 25 --Er war so freundlos[4]-- meines Vaters: Der war dem Volke voran stets; fechten war immer ihm lieb.

Kund war er manchen kuhnen Mannen.

Nicht wahne ich mehr, da.s.s er wandelt auf Erden."

Hildebrand erhob das Wort, Heribrands Sohn: 30 "Das wisse Allvater oben im Himmel, Da.s.s nimmer du Worte bis heute gewechselt Mit so nah gesipptem Mann." ...

Da wand er vom Arme gewundene Ringe, Aus Kaisermunzen[5] gemacht, wie der Konig sie ihm gab, 35 Der Herrscher der Hunnen: "Da.s.s ich um Huld dir's gebe!"

Hadubrand erhob das Wort, Hildebrands Sohn: "Mit dem Ger soll man Gabe empfahen,[6]

Spitze wider Spitze. Ein Spaher bist du, Alter Hunne, (heimlich)[7] lockst du mich 40 Mit deinen Worten, willst mit dem Speer mich werfen, Bist worden so alt nur immer Trug sinnend.

Das sagten mir Leute, die zur See gefahren Westwarts uber den Wendelsee:[8] Hinweg nahm der Krieg ihn, Tot ist Hildebrand, Heribrands Sohn." 45 Hildebrand erhob das Wort, Heribrands Sohn: ...[9]

"Wohl hor' ich's und seh' es an deinem Harnisch, Da.s.s du daheim hast einen Herrn so gut, Da.s.s unter diesem Fursten du fluchtig nie wurdest." ...

"Weh nun, waltender Gott, Wehgeschick erfullt sich! 50 Ich wallte der Sommer und Winter sechzig, Da stets man mich scharte zu der Schiessenden Volk: Vor keiner der Stadte zu sterben doch kam ich; Nun soll mit dem Schwerte mich schlagen mein Kind, Mich strecken mit der Mordaxt, oder ich zum Morder ihm werden! 55 Magst du nun leichtlich, wenn langt dir die Kraft, An so altem Recken die Rustung gewinnen, Den Raub erbeuten, wenn du Recht dazu hast!

Der ware der argste aller Ostleute,[10]

Der den Kampf dir weigerte, nun dich so wohl l.u.s.tet 60 Handgemeiner Schlacht! Es entscheide das Treffen, Wer heute sich durfe der Harnische ruhmen Oder der Brunnen beider walten!"

Da sprengten zuerst mit den Speeren sie an In scharfen Schauern; dem wehrten die Schilde. 65 Dann schritten zusammen sie (zum bittern Schwertkampf),[11]

Hieben harmlich die h.e.l.len Schilde, Bis leicht ihnen wurde das Lindenholz, Zermalmt mit den Waffen....

[Notes: 1: 'The rings' of their corselets.

2: Instead of _altere_, for the sake of the alliteration.

3: The translator here a.s.sumes (unnecessarily) that there is a gap in the text, with loss of a speech by Hildebrand.

4: 'Friendless,' i.e. separated from his kin. Hadubrand is giving reasons for thinking that his father is dead.

5: 'Imperial gold' from Constantinople.

6: Hadubrand suspects treachery and poises his spear.

7: Inserted by the translator for the alliteration's sake.

8: The earth-encircling sea--_ocea.n.u.s_; here the Mediterranean.

9: The supposition is that Hildebrand's speech is missing, and that lines 47-50 form part of a reply by Hadubrand, ending with a taunt so bitter that the old warrior could not brook it even from his own son. He sees that he must fight.

10: East Goths.

11: A guess of the translator; the meaning of the original being quite uncertain.]

+II. THE MERSEBURG CHARMS+

Two incantations that date back to pagan times, albeit the ma.n.u.script, discovered at Merseburg in 1841, is of the 10th century. The dialect is Frankish. No. 1 is for loosening a prisoner's fetters, the other for curing the sprained leg of a horse. The translation is Botticher's.

1

Einst sa.s.sen Idise,[1] sa.s.sen nieder hier und dort.

Die hefteten Hafte, die hemmten das Heer, Die klaubten an den Kniefesseln:[2]

Entspring den Banden, entfleuch den Feinden!

[Notes: 1: 'Idise' means 'women'; here battle-maids similar in character to the Northern valkyries.

2: 'Knee-fetters' for the sake of the alliteration; the original means simply 'fetters.']

2

Phol[3] und Wodan ritten zu Walde.