BALLADEN UND ROMANZEN.* THIS little book supplies a long-felt want.
There are many anthologies of German verse, but they usually include the vast quantities of lyrical poetry with which the literature of that nation abounds, and are of necessity somewhat cumber- some. But Professor Buchheim's is a most handy volume, dealing only with Ballads and Rontanzen, an untranslateable word which is not fully rendered either by " romances" or " songs," but must be defined as lyrics telling or implying a story.
The ballad is a form of literature which has more popularity in Germany than in any other country. And whereas in England and France it has only survived, at best, as an imita- tion of a bygone form of literary art, in Germany it still flourishes, and only reached its highest expression at the end of the last century and at the beginning of this, with the ballads of Schiller, Goethe, and Uhland.
The able introduction, giving as it does a history of the development of the ballad up to our own time, is worthy of a careful perusal. It is full of interesting matter, much of which, though about well-known poets, will be new to English readers. We are especially grateful to Professor Buchheim for the charming little trait of Goethe's friendship for Schiller, not perhaps as familiar as most of the anecdotes about the former poet. The two friends were in the habit of collecting stories suitable for ballads, and dividing them. " The Cranes of Ibycus " having fallen to Goethe's share, he most generously handed over the subject to Schiller, and even assisted him to work it out. While speaking of Goethe, we must express our surprise that the author has not included " Burgschloss." It is not as well known as " Der Sanger," or many of Goethe's other ballads, but it has a weird, pathetic beauty of its own, which none, except perhaps the " Erlkonig," possess.
On the whole, the selection is very well made. In putting together a book of this sort, the difficulty is, of course, the summit de bonheur. There is so much that is beautiful, that it becomes very hard, if not almost impossible, to say whether one poem is a trifle finer than another. But we cannot help won- dering a little sometimes at the poems Professor Buchheim has chosen. For instance, he only puts in one of Theodor Korner's (p. 98), and that not a very good example, although he wrote several fine ballads, notably " Wallhaide," in which somewhat the same subject as Burger'si " Lenore" is taken. A lover and his mistress agree to fly together. To evade her relations, she is to disguise herself as the family ghost, who years before was murdered by her father in attempting to fly in the same clandestine way which her descendant wishes to imitate, and who haunts the postern-gate in constant expectation of her lover's coming. The knight reaches the trysting-place agreed upon shortly before midnight, and his lady appears and mounts behind him. They ride on, and he begins to notice how cold her hands are, and how little the horse seems to mind the double weight. The ballad ends with his death, from the horror of the discovery that the ghost has taken the place of his sweetheart. Of Julius Mosen (p. 201), again, he has left out the famous song, " Zu Mantua in Banden," dealing with the death of Andreas Hofer, and " Fahrwohl," a charming ballad. Neither does he include any of the poems of Moritz von Strachwitz. Surely " Das Lied von der armen Konigin" and " Furwahr, Ihr Longobarden " give him a right to a place in any book of German ballads.
But these omissions are slight, and very comprehensible when the enormous field of choice is taken into consideration. It is scarcely necessary to say anything about the larger num- ber of the poets from whose works ballads have been cited.
• BaUaden and Romanzen. By C. A. Buchheim, Ph.D, &c., Professor of German Literature in King's College, London. London : Macmillan and Co.
They are mostly names that must be familiar to any reader of German literature. Annette von Droste Hilishoff is little known, and the poem quoted (p. 183) is graceful. Kopisch also is a writer that few people read. " Der Grafensprung bei Neu Eberstein" is the best of the three, but the examples given are not very tempting. However, as the author quotes in his preface, "no man should be too confident that he can do absolute justice to poetry in a tongue that he was not born to." And it is difficult to do justice to slighter verse when it stands in close proximity to the masterpieces of Heine and Uhland. We must compliment Professor Buchheim on the delightful selection he has made from the latter poet. It must have been hard to decide to leave any out. But he has chosen all the best and most characteristic, both of those which are purely ballads, and of the Romanzen. inland is undoubtedly the greatest master of the art, with the exception of Schiller and Goethe, that Germany has produced. What could be more perfect in its way than "Die Viitergruft," combining as it does the narrative with the lyrical style, without losing either the force of the one or the sweetness of the other ?
Professor Buchheim includes several ballads which will pro- bably be new to many of our readers. "Die drei Zigeuner," of Lenau (p. 190), is not as well known as his famous " Postilion " (p. 192). MOrike's "Scholl Rothtraut " (p. 209), is familiar to every one who reads German; but we doubt if "Die Geister vom Minn melsee " has as many friends, and are glad to see it in this volume. The same may be said of " Die Begriizung auf dem Kynast " (p. 155), by Ruckert, which is much finer than Korner's treatment of the same subject. " Hans Euler," by Seidl, is also a striking and not very well-known ballad.
The third division of the book contains fewer beautiful things than the other two ; but this is not the fault of the compiler, but of the German poets of the latter half of the nineteenth century. The examples from Freiligrath are good (p. 239). Anastasius Griin is not at his best in ballad-writing ; both his political verses and his lyrics are superior ; but " Gastrecht," the poem on the unfortunate Alexander Ypsilanti, which is given in this collection (p. 250), is vigorous. Paul Heyse, though familiar to English readers as a novelist, is less so as a poet, and " Das Thal des Espingo " (p. 286), gives a good idea of his powers. We must mention a ballad of F. Dahn's on " Kriemhilde " (p. 288), which has merit ; and " Spartacus," by F. Lingg (p. 284),—both of which were new to us. But why, when selecting from Geibel's poetry, have left out "Wie die Geschwister Rath hielten " and " Wie KOnig Sigurd 'gen Alfheim kam "? It is true that they belong to the series " Konig Sigurd's Brautfahrt," but they can both be separated from the set of poems of which they form part, without losing any of the sense ; and they are far finer than anything Professor Buchheim has quoted.
We are very glad the author has given his work a reasonable title. A short time ago we were in Germany, and very anxious to obtain the beautiful old collection of ballads edited by Achim von Arnim and Clemens Brentano, Des Snaben Wunderhorn. After many disappointments, we were finally told by a bookseller at Basle that he had what we required. Being pressed for time, and having seen that the title was correct, we very rashly paid for the book and took it home, imagining that we had got hold of a new edition of the old work. To our dismay, we found on farther investigation that it was a collection by a person called Theodor Colshorn, a writer of verse, who had prefixed the famous old title to a selection of ballads and songs,—some old, and some modern, but many of a very inferior character.
The last cannot be said of Professor Buchheim's anthology. In the main, there is wonderfully little not up to the highest mark. The notes are written with judgment and attention, and are scholarly and full of useful information. The selections have been made with great care and taste, and the book makes a charming addition to the " Golden Treasury Series." It will be welcome to all lovers of German literature.
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