[136] G. Saint-Yves (“La Littérature Amoureuse,” Paris, 1887, p. 25) also sees in the æsthetic contemplation of the beloved person the fundamental root of individual love. It has gradually developed out of the ordinary æsthetic contemplation of nature. An interesting proof of this connexion is the Song of Solomon, in which the æsthetic stimuli of the beloved one are compared with every possible animate and inanimate natural object. [137] _Cf._ regarding the numerous variations of this ancient couplet, the interesting account given by Arthur Kopp, “Old Proverbs and Popular Rhymes for Loving Hearts,” published in the _Zeitschrift des Vereins für Volkskunde_, Heft i., pp. 8, 9 (Berlin, 1902). [138] _Minne_ is an old German word (now obsolete) for _love_, “the love of fair women.” The _minnesinger_ were love-singers who sang their own compositions to the accompaniment of the music of harp or viol--in fact, they were lyric poets. The most flourishing years of this art were from about 1170 to 1250; thus the minnesinger were contemporary with and closely akin to the Provençal troubadours. But the German development was essentially native, and the minnesinger’s treatment of love was characterized by a more ideal note than was usually attained by the troubadours. A good, though brief, account (with a list of authorities) is given of the minnesinger in “Chambers’s Encyclopædia.”--TRANSLATOR. [139] Jacob Falke, “The Society of Knighthood in the Epoch of the Cult of Women,” p. 49. [140] In her letters (“Letters of Ninon de l’Enclos,” with ten etchings by Karl Walser, Berlin, 1906), the deep spiritual relationships of love found a classical representation. [141] _Cf._ Harald Höffding, “Rousseau and his Philosophy,” pp. 86, 89 (Stuttgart, 1897). [142] Emil Du Bois-Reymond, “Frederick II. and Jean Jacques Rousseau.” [143] H. Buffenoir, “Jean Jacques Rousseau and Women” (Paris, 1891). [144] Erich Schmidt, “Richardson, Rousseau, and Goethe” (Jena, 1875). [145] H. Meyer-Benfey, “Lucinde,” published in _Mutterschutz--Zeitschrift zur Reform der sexuellen Ethik_, 1906, No. 5, pp. 173-192. Edited by Dr. Helene Stöcker. [146] Felix Poppenberg, “Jean Paul Friedrich Richter’s Liebe und Ehestand,” in “Bibelots,” p. 214 (Leipzig, 1904). [147] Carl Joel, “Nietzsche und die Romantik,” pp. 13-16 (Jena and Leipzig, 1905). [148] _Cf._ also Helene Stöcker, “Nietzsche und die Romantik,” in _Kölnische Zeitung_, No. 1127, October 29, 1905.