SEARCH
0-9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Prev | Current Page 189 | Next

Various

"Masterpieces of German Literature Translated into English"


As the earlier men centred in Jena, so the later Romanticists
flourished in Heidelberg, that city which Eichendorff called "itself
a magnificent Romanticism." The earlier group was largely North German
and brought with it clear perception and a certain power of analysis,
an ability to dissect and to reason. With the Heidelberg group the
South begins to play a larger part, though there were a number of
North Germans in it. The richer fancy, the longer literary tradition,
now add color to their productions. It is significant, too, that
though "castle Romanticism" does not die out, a new note is struck
with the celebration of the Rhine in song, story, and legend. The
river begins with Romantic tradition and in a Romantic _milieu_, but
rises to political significance as "Germany's stream and not Germany's
boundary." The southward tendency of the movement reached its climax
when its centre shifted to Munich, with a culture-loving king, an
Academy of Sciences and a new University. Munich was fortunately not
destined to become like Vienna, that other South German city, "a Capua
of the spirit."
Though certain members of the later Romantic group were closely
associated with each other in a way that was unknown to the older set,
Arnim and Savigny having each married a sister of Brentano, there was
less real solidarity among them than in their forerunners. By no means
all the men treated within the confines of the present article had the
close personal association which, when combined with intellectual or
literary activity, goes by the rather loose name of a "school.


Pages:
177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201