But since in our modern times, especially in Germany, nothing seems to exist or to have any effect unless it is written about again and again, adjudged and made a bone of contention, a few remarks may not improperly be introduced here about this collection,--a few observations which may not enhance our enjoyment of the book, but at least will not impair or destroy it. What may at the outset be said unreservedly in praise of the collection is that it is thoroughly varied and characteristic. It contains more than two hundred poems of the last three centuries, all of them differing so much from one another in sense, conception, sound, and manner that the same criticism cannot apply to any two of them. We shall therefore assume the agreeable task of characterizing [some of] them in order as the inspiration of the moment may prompt us: _The Wunderhorn._ Fairy-like, childlike, pleasing. _The Sultan’s Little Daughter._ Tender Christian feeling, charming. _Tell and His Child._ Honest and solid. _Grandmother Snake-cook._ Deep, enigmatic, dramatic, admirably handled. _Isaiah’s Face._ Barbaric grandeur. _Fire Incantation._ Appropriate and true to the spirit of the brigand. _Poor Schwartenhals._ Roguish, whimsical, jolly. _Death and the Maiden._ After the manner of the Dance of Death; like a woodcut; admirable. _Nocturnal Musicians._ Droll, extravagant, inimitable. _The Stubborn Bride._ Humorous, somewhat grotesque. _Cloister-shy._ Capriciously confused, yet to the purpose. _The Braggart Knight._ Very good in the realistic-romantic manner. _The Black-brown Witch._ Rather confused in transmission, but the theme of inestimable value. _Love Without Caste._ Romantic twilight. _The Hospitality of Winter._ Written with a great deal of elegance. _The High-born Maiden._ Christian pedantry, but not wholly unpoetical. _Love Spins no Silk._ Charmingly confused and therefore rousing the imagination. _The Faith of an Hussar._ Swiftness and lightness expressed in a wonderful way. _The Ratcatcher of Hameln._ Tends toward the manner of the ballad-monger, but not coarse. _Tuck Your Dress, Gretlein._ After the manner of vagabond poets; unexpectedly epigrammatic. _The Song of the Ring._ Romantic tenderness. _The Knight and the Maiden._ Romantic twilight; powerful. _Harvest Song._ A Catholic funeral hymn; good enough to be Protestant! _A Surfeit of Learning._ A gallant piece; but the pedant cannot get rid of his learning. _The Fight at Murten._ Realistic, probably modernized. _The Haste of Time in God._ Christian, somewhat too historical, but quite suited to its subject, and very good. _Reveille._ Priceless for any one who has the imagination to understand it. _Drought._ Thought, feeling, presentation everywhere right. _The Drummer Boy._ Lively presentation of a distressing incident. A poem which the discriminating will find it difficult to match.