But blank verse is after all the metre _par excellence_ of the Renaissance, that is of the revival of Greek influence, and Goethe chose it for this reason. Now the Watchman Lynceus ('the keen-eyed,' as the word means--and you perhaps remember him as the watchman of the Argonauts on the good ship Argo) represents here the early pre-Renaissance poets of Italy and Provence and Germany--the Troubadours and Trouvères and Minnesinger, who were so surprised and dazzled by the sudden sunrise of the Renaissance with its wonderful new apparition of Greek art that they (as Lynceus in _Faust_) failed to announce its coming; and therefore Lynceus here speaks in a kind of early Troubadour metre, with _rime_. In classical poetry there is no rime. They did not like it; they even ridiculed it. For instance Cicero, the great orator, once tried to write poetry, and produced a line that said 'O fortunate Rome, when I was consul!' This was not only conceited of him but unfortunately the line contained a rime and this rime brought down an avalanche of ridicule on his head. 'O fortunatam natam me consule Romam' was this unfortunate line. Rime was probably first adopted by the monks in their medieval Latin hymns and was used by the Troubadours and early Italian poets when they began to write in the vulgar tongue. Dante uses it in his canzoni and sonnets and ballads, as well of course as in his great poem. So it is quite right to make Lynceus speak in rime. Helen of course has never heard rime before, and she turns to Faust and asks him what it is that sounds so strange and beautiful in this song of Lynceus; and she wants to know how _she_ too can learn the art. So Faust tells her just to try and the rimes will come of their own accord. But I will quote the passage, for it is very pretty; and I will add a rough translation. Doch wünscht' ich Unterricht warum die Rede Des Manns mir seltsam klang, seltsam und freundlich-- Ein Ton scheint sich dem and'ren zu bequemen; Und hat ein Wort zum Ohre sich gesellt, Ein andres kommt, dem ersten liebzukosen.... So sage denn, wie spräch' ich auch so schön. FAUST. Das ist gar leicht--es muss vom Herzen geh'n. Und wenn die Brust von Sehnsucht überfliesst Man sieht sich um, und fragt.... HELEN. wer mitgeniesst. FAUST. Nun schaut der Geist nicht vorwärts, nicht zurück-- Die Gegenwart allein ... HELEN. ist unser Glück-- FAUST. Schatz ist sie, Hochgewinn, Besitz und Pfand. Bestätigung, wer gibt sie? HELEN. Meine Hand. (HELEN. I fain would ask thee why the watchman's song So strangely sounded--strange but beautiful. Tones seemed to link themselves in harmony. One word would come and nestle in the ear, Then came another and caressed it there. But say--how can I also learn the art?