A SWABIAN BARD. The Swabian school of poetry, of which Uhland was the
leader, was the chief representative of German Chauvinism in Heine's
day. W. Menzel, the critic who denounced "Young Germany" to the
Government, belonged to this school. Börne answered him in his "Menzel
der Franzosenfresser" ("The Gallophobe"), and Heine mocked at him in his
paper "The Denunciator." Gustav Pfizer (who had provoked Heine) and Karl
Meyer were members of the Swabian school, and prided themselves
particularly upon their morality and religiosity, for which reason they
set themselves in antagonism to the "heathen" Goethe. Goethe, on his
part, estimated this school as little as did Heine. In a letter to
Zelter dated October 5, 1831, Goethe writes thus of Pfizer: "...I read a
poem lately by Gustav Pfizer ... the poet appears to have real talent
and is evidently a very good man. But as I read I was oppressed by a
certain poverty of spirit in the piece and put the little book away at
once, for with the advance of the cholera it is well to shield oneself
against all debilitating influences. The work is dedicated to Uhland,
and one might well doubt if anything exciting, thorough, or humanly
compelling could be produced from those regions in which he is master. I
will therefore not rail at the work, but simply leave it alone. _It is
really marvellous how these little men are able to throw their
goody-religious-poetic beggar's cloak so cleverly about their shoulders
that, whenever an elbow happens to stick out, one is tempted to consider
this as a deliberate poetic intention_."
METZEL-SOUP. A Swabian soup of the country districts, glorified in the
poetry of Uhland. It is usually prepared from the "insides" of pigs.
CHRISTOPHER FRIEDRICH K. VON KÖLLE (1781-1848). A Privy Councillor of
the Legation of Würtemberg--composer of many poems and political
pamphlets.
JUSTINUS KERNER (1786-1862) was also a poet of the Swabian school. He
believed in spirits, and made many observations and experiments in his
house at Weinsburg in order to obtain some knowledge of the
supernatural world. Thousands of those who believed, or wished to
believe, came to his "séances." He worked in conjunction with a
celebrated medium of his time, and later published a very successful
book about this lady. Heine, no doubt, had this medium in mind when he
mentioned Kerner.
CANTO XXIII
BALDOMERO ESPARTERO (1792-1879). A celebrated Spanish general who fought
against Don Carlos on the side of Maria Christina. He was later given
the title of Duke of Vittoria.
EMILIA GALOTTI. This refers to the heroine of Lessing's drama of the
same name, in which old Odoardo Galotti slays his daughter in order to
protect her from dishonour. The theme is derived from the story of
Virginia and Tarquin.
"NO ROSE WOULD HE PLUCK, ETC." Lessing's drama closes thus: "_Odoardo_:
'God! what have I done!' _Emilia_: 'Thou hast merely plucked a rose ere
the storm reft it of its petals.'"
CANTO XXIV
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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