1. 10. es sei, concessive = ' be it,' or, 'whether it be.' dass die Liebe den ersten Versuch in den bildenden Künsten gemacht habe, 'that love niade the hrst attempt in the plastic arts.' Lessing alludes to the stör)' told by Pliny [xxxv. 151]: Dibutades, a potter of Corinth, had a daughter who loved a Corinthian youth. She was sitting by his side the evening before his departure for a long joumey. Whenshe saw the shadow of his face reflected on the wall by the üght of a lantt-ni, she quickly tiaced the outline of the shadow, in order to kcep a rtmembrance of her lover. Dibutades covered the picture with clay, and fixed it with fire on an earthen jar.
P. 14, 1. 3. das gemeine Schöne,' the commonly (vulgarly, beautiful,* ' the beauty of inferior types ' (mean soits of things.
1. 4. sein zufälliger Vorwurf, 'bis accidental subject,' i.e. was only incidentally his subject.
1. 6. musste in seinem "Werke entzücken, ' was intended to charm in his work.'
1. 9. welches aus der getroffenen Aehnlichkeit...entspringt, ' which arises from a successful re-emblance.' Cp. ' Der Maler hat diese Dame gut getroffen,' the painter has produced a good likeness of this lady.
1. 17. Mag dich schon niemand gern sehen; 'schon' has a con- cessive force; if complete, the sentence would mn, 'wenn schon,' or ' obschon dich Niemand gern sehen mag: ' in conditional and concessive sentences ' ob ' or ' wenn ' are frequently omitted, and subject and pre- dicate placed in the inverted order. Eve, G. G. §§ 485 and 579.
1. 20. die ein solches Scheusal so ähnlich nachzubilden weiss, 'which knows how (i. e. is able to delineate so faithfully so hideous an object.'
1. 22. der Hang zu dieser üppigen Prahlerei mit leidigen Ge- schicklichkeiten ' the tendency to this wanton display of pitiful dexterity.' 'Zu dieser Prahlerei' foUows 'der Hang' and 'mit' is iised with ' Prahlerei,' as in the verbal constniction. ' mit etwas prahlen,' ' to make a display with ' = ' to show off something,' ' mir ihren Edel- steinen prahlen ' ' to show off her jewels/ 1. 24. der Hang...ist zu natürlich, als dass nicht auch die Griechen...sollten gehabt haben, ' is too natural for even the (jreeks (' auch ' = ai well as uthers^ not to have had,' etc. als dass' corresponds to the English infmitive after 'too...for.' Cp. 'Diese Nachricht ist zu gut, als dass ich sie glauben könnte,' this news is too good for nie to believe. It is sometimes foUowed by the subj., and sometimes by the pf. or ppf. of ' sollen.' See Eve, G. G. § 438.
1. 25. ihren Pausen; an Athenian painter, contempo-'ary of Poly- gnotus, about 420 B. c. Aristoteles says (Poet. 2) that Pauson repre- sented men xd'pous, viz. below reality; Polygnotus made them Kpürrovs, viz. above nature. Pyreicus (Piraeicus) is mentioned by Pliny, xwcv. 112; we do not know when he lived, probably not before the lime of Alexander the Great; he painted scenes from low life, as it seems in the style of the Dutch school.
1. 26. aber sie Hessen ihnen strenge Gerechtigkeit widerfahren, literally, ' but they let strict justice happen to them '; widerfahren, ' to happen,' is used only of unfortunate or disagreeable occurrences. ' NVas LAOKOON. IL 223 ist Ihnen widerfahren?' what has happened to you? Translate ' but they rendered them strict justice.'
1.28. hielt sich unter ='kept even below ' the class of things commonly beautilul.
P. 15, 1. 7. des Ehyparographen, a Greek word, translated by Kotlimaler, the dirt painter.
1. 8. seine Werke mit Gold aufwog, i. e. ' paid for his works iheir wcight in t;üld.' um ihrer Nichtigkeit auch durch diesen einge- bildeten Werth zu Hülfe zu kommen, " in uider to (or, as if to) assist theirintrinsic woithlessness even by this iinaginai-y value (i. e. by impres- sing upon them a tictilious value V 'sich einbilden,' 'to fancy,' cp. 'er bildet sich ein, ein grosser Mann zu sein.'
1. 14. die Nachahmung in's Schönere, = imitation whicli aimed at producing something more beautiful than the original (idcalisation); 'die Nachahmung in's Hasslichere,' is the contrary of this. viz. caricature. Translate ' comnianded him to make his copies more beautiful than the original, and forbade him under penalties to make them uglier.' In das Schönere, in das Hässlichere, are imitations of ciassical constructions; cp. in peius iinitari, km to yal^ov Koa^iffuai.
P. 16, 1. I. wider den Stümper, 'against the bungler '; * die Stüm- perei,' bungling, from the Middle High German 'stumben' (verstüm- meln), to mutilate; cp. the English ' stump.'
1. 2. Junius; Francis Junius, a German scholar, born at Heidelberg about 1589, came to England in 1620, where he wrote his work De Pictura Veterum; living in the household of the Earl of Arundel and Surrey; he died at Windsor in 167S. die griechischen Ghezzi; Count Pietro Leone Ghezzi was a painter and engraver who excellcd in caricature (1674-1755). Italians frequenlly call caricatures after his name.
1. 3. Kunstgriff, a trick peculiar to any particular art; therefore in a general sense, ' device.'
1. 6. das Gesetz der Hellanodiken, the law proclaimed by the judges at the Olyinpic games [iWavohUai]. A fine bronze portrait head of a boxer was discovered at Olympia during the German excavations, 1879; see Murray, Hist. Gk. Sculpt. vol. ii. p. 344.
1. 8. eine Ikonische, a portrait statue [a-yaKfia ukoüviküv].
1. 9. Der mittelmässigen Portraits sollten...nicht zu viel werden, ' the intention was to prevent the increase of indifferent portraits amung the works of art.' 'Der Portraits' is genitive after 'zu viel.' Toucliing what follows, it is certain that the Greeks allowed themselves more latitude in idealising portraits than is consonant with cur modern notions.
1. 18. keine Gewalt anmaassen, and a little lower down, den ge- ringsten Zwang anzuthun, ' to exercise a constiaint.'
224 Ä'OTES.
1. 30. Erzeugten schöne Menschen, instead of ' wenn ' or ' wie schöne Menschen schöne Statuen erzeugten.' ' In the same way as beautiful men produced beautiful statues,' etc.
P. 17, 1. 2. mit zu verdanken; ' mit ' is frequently used elliptically as an adverb; it Stands here instead of ' mit ' or ' ausser andern Grün- den,' besides other reasons, or aUo; cp. ' Ich habe meine Stellung meinem Freunde mit zu verdanken,' I am indebted for my Situation also to my friend. See below, 1. 24. Note the construction ' einem etwas verdanken ' to owe a thing to some one, to have lo thank him for it. For the thought, Shelley too, in his Prometheus Unbound, Act. ii. scene 4, plays with the fancy: — ' Till maible grew di^^ne, And mothers, gazing, drank the love men see Reflected in their race.'
1. 3. nur in Ungeheuern, ' only in producingmonsters.'
1. 5. die man geradezu als Lügen verwirft, ' which are promptly repudiated as lies.'
1. 6. Aristomenes; the liero of the second Messenian war.
1. 7. Ajistodamas; a mistake of Lessing; the passage alluded to (Pausanias, iv. 14. 5) can only refer to the famous statesman Aratus of Sicyon, the founder of the Achaean league (271-213 B.c.). whose mother was called Arislodama.
1. 8. Den Müttern...träumte in ihrer Schwangerschaft allen, als ob sie mit einer Schlange zu thun hätten, ' the mothers..., all of them I say, dreamed during their pregnancy that they had intercourse with a snake.' ' Träumen ' is used impersonaily, without ' es,' as ' mir träumt als ob ' or ' dass,' I dream that.
1. 1 3. hatten des Tages ihre Augen an dem Gotte gew^eidet, ' had feasted their eyes on tlie god during daytime '; ' weiden,' literally, to jiasture, from ' die Weide,' the pasture. ' des Tages,' Eve, G. G.
1. 15. So rette ich den Traum. ' Thus I save the drcam '; that is to say: 'thus I establish for myself the authenticity of the dream.' und gebe die Auslegung Preis, ' and sacritice the Interpretation '; ' Preis ' in ' Preis geben ' is derived from the French prise, Italian fnsa, the capture, the booty; cp. dare presa. It means ' zur Beute geben,' to abandon to plunder.
1. 18. musste es haben; es hat = ' there is,' like il y a, as * es hat keine Gefahr.'
1.23. dieses festgesetzt, part. abs. so p. 21, 1. 11, ' bei Seite gesetzt.'
1. 25. wenn es sich mit der Schönheit nicht verträgt, ' if it is in- LAOKOON. IT. 225 compatible with beauty '; cp. ' ich vertrage mich mit meinem Bruder sehr gut;' my brother and I live on excellent terms.
1. 25. ihr gänzlich weichen •.. ihr wenigstens untergeordnet sein müssen; ' müssen ' Stands for the participle, and the auxiliary 'hat' before 'weichen' and 'untergeordnet sein' is omitled. See ref. on p. 5, 1. 31. Translate ' necessarily gave way to it entirely,' 'was at least subordinate to it.'
1. 28. Ich will bei dem Ausdrucke stehen bleiben, 'I will dwell for a moment on expression.' Stehen bleiben = (i) 'to dwell upon a thing' (2) 'to confine oneself to a thing'; for the second sense see p. 112, 1. II 'ich will bei den Gemälden bloss sichtbarer Gegenstände stehen bleiben.'
P. 18, 1. 5. dieser, sc. Leidenschaften, genitive after 'enthielten sich.'
1. 6. setzten sie auf geringere Grade herunter, in welchen, etc. 'softened them down to such a degree that they,' etc.
P. 19, 1. 6. verkleinernd, 'lowering.' Timanthes; this famous painter flourished at Sicyon about 400 B. c. His most celebrated picture was the sacrifice of Iphigenia; it was carried to Rome. A Pompeian fresco is supposed by some critics to be a copy of it. See Gell's Pompeiana.
1. II. viel artige Dinge, 'many clever (or pretty) things.'
1. 15. Das Hässliche wäre er gern übergangen, 'he would fain have passed over what was ugly.'
1. 18. liess er errathen, ' he left to conjecture.'
1. 24. dieses...angewendet, participle abs., ' apply this to the Laocoon, and,' etc.
1.25. arbeitete auf die höchste Schönheit; i. e. the artist aimed in his work at the highest beauty.
1. 26. unter den angenommenen Umständen, ' under the given conditions.'
P. 21, 1. 2. Denn man reisse dem Laokoon in Gedanken nur den Mund auf, ' for only imagine tiic mouth of Laokoon to be forced open.'
1. 13. verschoben (from ' verschieben,' to dislocate), ' distorted.'
1. 15. die widrigste "Wirkung von der "Welt, 'the most repulsive effect possible.' Montfaucon; a famous French antiquarian (1655- 1741). His 'Antiquite expliquee' appeared in 1719-24 in fifteen volumes.
1. 17. für einen Orakel ertheilenden Jupiter ausgab, 'declared...to be a Jupiter uttering oracles.' Cp. ' Er gibt sich für einen Engländer aus.'
1. 20. Auch glaube ich es dem Valerius nicht, dass, ' nor do I Q believe Valerius when he says that,' etc. Valerius Maximus, Roman historian, who lived in tiie first Century.
1. 21. in dem nur gedachten Gemälde, 'in the picture which we can only represent in fancy.'
P. 22, 1. 8. des Pythagoras Leontinus; Greek sculptor from Rhegium, between 480 and 420 B. c.
1. 10. der geringste grässliche Zug; 'a feature in the slightest degree suggestive of horror.'
1. 13. die meine Verbesserung...'which ought not to have waited for my emendation, so palpably is it comipted or mutilated.'
III.
Note. On the matter of this important and very difficult chapter the reader should consult some notes by De Quincey, ' Works,' vol. xii.
P. 23, 1. I. wie schon gedacht worden ist), 'as has been already mentioned.'
1. 2. Ihre Nachahmvmg erstrecke sich, and the following sub- junctives are in oblique narration, dependent upon 'sagt man;' ' dass' being omitted, the subjunctive is used, and the verbs follow the English Order. Eve, G. G. § 519.
1. 7. seiner allgemeinen Bestimmung, 'to his general design.'
1. 8. und ihr nicht weiter nachgehen ^' ihr ' refers to ' Schönheit '), ' and pursue it no further.'
P. 24, 1. I. Gesetzt, man wollte.. lassen, ' granted that ' = ' sup- pose we allow.' vors erste, ' for the present,' ' for the moment; ' we now say 'für's erste.' vmbestritten, ' unchallenged.'
1. 2. in ihrem Werthe oder Unwerthe, i.e. for what they are worth, whether they are good or bad.
L 3. von ihnen unabhängige, 'independent of them (the ideas).'
1. 5. ihn (den Ausdruckt nie aus dem höchsten Punkte der Handlung nehmen müsse; note that ' to choose the expression from the highest point of an action,' is a Condensed way of saying 'to make the culminating point (crisis) of an action the subject of a work of art representing expression.* 1. 7. der einzige Augenblick. For the sense compare Sir Joshua Reynolds' Discourses; ' A painter has but one sentence to utter. but one moment to exhibit.' ' \\'hat is done by painting must be done at one blow; curiosity has received at once all the satisfaction it can have ' (4th and Sth Discourses, quoted by Sir R. Phillimore).
1. 10. Kann der Kiinstler, and lower down, sind aber ihre "Werke, are conditional sentences, ' if the artist,...and if there works.' etc.
1. 14. nicht bloss erblickt, sondern betrachtet zu werden; ' erblicken ' represents the unintentional action of the eye; ' betrachten ' LAOKOOiV. III. iiy the intenüonal contemplation of an object; 'voir, regarder,' 'to see, to contemplate.'
1. 15. wiederholtermassen, ' repeatedly.' Cp. ' dermassen,' ' sol- chermassen,' ' gewissermassen,' 'dermalen.'
1. 17. jener einzige Augenblick.,. nicht fruchtbar genug gewählt werden kann, ' this single moment cannot be chosen fruit- fnl enoiigh ' = must be so choscn as to be as fruitful in effect as possible.
1. 20, hinzudenken, to ' think into ' the work = 'to add to it in thought;' same as 'dazudenken' in next line. For 'zu sehen' after ' glauben,' Eve, G. G. § 454, Obs. i.
1. 22. AfFect is the Latin 'afifectus,' Greek -näBos, a neutral word, nieaning any ' emotion ' or ' passion ' exhibited in action, e. g. joy, pain, love, hate. The ' sequence ' (course or progress, Verfolg) of a passion is the gradual exhibition of it in a series of moments culminating in a decisive action, called the ' crisis ' or 'climax' (die höchste Staffel, properly the highest degree of a ladder).
1. 24-29. Ihr refers to die höchste Staffel. In the following sen- tence the Infinitive zeigen is the subject of heisst, and binden, nöthigen are the appositive complements (Eve, G. G. § 452).
Der Phantasie die Flügel binden, der Phantasie is dative.
For the sense, notice that the main thought is ' fancy cannot go bcyond the Impression on the senses' (über den sinnlichen Eindruck nicht hinaus kann) if the object contemplated already expresses the uttermost we can think. To show us this uttermost, Lessing add?, is ' to compel fancy to employ herseif with less forcible images bcloiu the impression on the senses.' For example — to take the case of Medea, adduced later in the chapter — if Medea is shown us hesitating before the murder of her children, we can picture to ourselves the murder; it we are shown the actual murdering, our fancy must fall back on the feebler image of previous self-debate.
In the relative clause über die...scheuet, die refcrs to Bildern; sie is die Phantasie; die sichtbare Fülle des Ausdrucks, * the visible fulness of the expression,' is a Condensed phrase for ' the expression which we can see realised in its most complete aspect.' In saying that ' fancy shuns this as her limit,' Lessing repeats the first thought (über ihr ist weiter nichts). The whole antithesis is far-fetched and depends upon a play on the word ' über ' = ' above' in the sense of 'beyond.' Keally in either case fancy goes beyoiid the work and cannot be said to go below it, except by an over-strained metaphor.
P. 25, 1. 5. was sich nicht anders als transitorisch denken lässt, 'which we can only represent to ourselves as transitory.' See 228 NOTES.
1. 6. zu dersn "Wesen wir es nach unsern Begriffen reolmen, dass, ' to whose very being it is essential, according to our notions, that,' etc. ' Es ' anticipates ' dass.'
1. 9. Sie mögen, concessive.
1. 10. durch die Verlängerung der Kunst, 'through the Pro- longation which art gives them.'
I. 12. und uns endlich vor dem ganzen Gegenstande ekelt oder graut; ' mir ekelt ' and ' mir graut vor etwas,' I feel disgust, I feel horror at anything.
1. 13. La Mettrie; a French freethinker of the eighteenth Century; his ambition was to be compared with Democritus, the laughing philosopher.
1. 14. der sich...malen und stechen lassen ('hat' is to be iinderstood), ' who had himself painted and engraved,' see note on p. 3, 1. 9, 'anwenden lassen.'
1. 16. aus, 'instead of,' 'in place of,' like Latin e, Greek in. Eve, 1. 22. dieses scheinbare TJnablässliche, ' this apparent perpetuity."
1.24. zu kindischer Unleidlichkeit, 'childish petnlance.' For 'zu' 1. 26. hätte schon..., wäre auch..., concessive sentences instead of ' wenn schon das Schreien der Schönheit nicht geschadet hätte, und wenn es auch seiner Kunst schon erlaubt gewesen wäre,' etc.
1. 29. Timomachus was a celebrated Greek painter, probably in the time of the successors of Alexander; Caesar bought his most famous pictures, his Ajax and his Mcdca, and dedicated them to the temple of Venus Gcnetrix (Plin. vii. i. 261). Medea murdered her children when her husband Jason forsook her for another bride. Ajax was defeated by Ulysses in a contest for the arms of Achilles, and issuing forth by night to wreak vengeance upon the Grecian captains who made the award, was Struck with madness and feil upon the flocks and herds. On Coming to his senses, he determined upon suicide.
P. 26, 1. I. nicht sowohl erblickt, als hinzu denkt, 'rather adds in his Imagination than sces it in reality.'
1. 2. des Transitorischen, adj. for subst, as in English, 'theidea of the transitory.'
1. 9. voraus, ' beforehand,' 'by anticipation.'
1. 10. bloss die grausame Medea, ' merely the savage Medea ' = Medea with her motherhood forgotten.
1. II. gehet weit...'far surpasses all that,' etc., compare p. 4, 1. 29.
1.!_:;. es wäre in der Natur selbst dabei geblieben, 'that there had been no change in the aclual evcnt,' i. e. that the irresolution had coatinued. So ' es bleibt dabei,' things remain in the same State.
LAOKOON. IV. 229 1. 17. hätte angehalten; ' had lasted' or 'continued.'
1. 18. entkräften...versichern können; * hätte' is omitted.
1. 21. zugezogen, ' procured '; from ' zuziehen,' to draw upon. Cp. ' Du wirst dir durch deine Trägheit den Tadel deiner Eltern zuziehen.'
P. 27, 1. I. zum Henker mit dir, the Greek means 'away with you.'
1. 3. lässt sich...virtheilen, ' an opinion can be formed.' See note 1.4. des Philostrats; Philostratus, about 250 a.D., wrote among various other books a life of ApoUonius of Tyana.
IV.
P. 28, 1. T. Ich übersehe, here, ' I sur\-ey,' not ' I overlook.' On p. 38, 1. 29, ' übersieht ' = ' overlooks.' die angeführten Ursachen; 'anfüh- ren' means — i. to lead; 2. to adduce, to allege; 3. to cheat; here, to allege, or adduce.
1. 4. imd von derselben nothVendigen Schranken und Be- dürfnissen hergenommen sind; 'and from the necessary limits and requirements of the same (of Art).'
1. 7. irgend eine derselben, refers to ' Ursachen,' line i. sich anwenden lassen, see note on p. 3, 1. 11; dürfte, see p. 8, 1. 29.
P. 29, 1. 4. diese sichtbare Hülle, ' this visible covering; ' what is meant is the material and outward form of persons or bodies in general.
1. 8. versichert, dass, ' being convinced that.' The subject of the clause which follows is 'dessen edlere Eigenschaften,' and the verbs = 'entweder beschäftigen, oder bestechen,' each with its adverbial 'so dass,' and the second further qualified by ' wenn...denken.'
1. 13. wo nicht eine schöne, doch eine gleichgültige, ' if not a beautiful one, at any rate an indifferent one;' ' Gestalt' is to be under- stood. By 'indifferent' he means ' modcrately beautiful,' 'not un- beautiful.'
1. 13. The sense is, when the poet puts in a touch (stroke, trait) not primarily intended to appeal to our sense of sight, he will not be com- pelled to think Ijow it looks. Gesicht is the ' sight,' ' eye; ' Rücksicht nehmen, ' have regard to,' ' think of.' Zug is a difficult word to render; the English XVIIIth Century essayists use the term 'stroke.'
1. 17. wem fällt es dabei ein, ' to whom does it occur on this occasion ' (i. e. ' bei seinem Schreien ') = ' who stops to think 1 ' 1. 18. Maul, used in a contemptuous sense for ' Mund.'
1.19. hässlich lässt, 'offers a hideous spectacle,' ' is hideous.' ' Lassen ' is used here in the sense of ' einen gewissen Anblick gewähren.' So Geliert, Fables, i. 8: ' Nun lässt der Hut erst schön; ' 'now at last 230 NOTES.
the hat looks nice.' With the dative of the person it is synonymous with 'stehen' in the sense of 'to become;' e. g. 'Ich muss sehen, ob mir das Halsband gTit lässt ' or ' steht; ' * I must see if the necklace becomes me well.'
clamores, etc. ' He raises horrid shouts to the skies.'
1. 20. mag er, concessive.
1. 22. auf den hat der Dichter seinen ganzen Eindruck ver- fehlt, ' with him the poet has missed bis effect entirely.'
1. 28. Stück, piece of work, i. e. ' pictnre ' or ' statue.'
1. 29. würde, concessive 'even thongh.' Er, in what follows, is ' dieser Zug,' not ' der Zuhörer.'
P. 30, 1. I. Wäre es also auch, concessive. ' Thus, then, if it werc, indeed,' etc.
1. 3. was kann.. eingenommen haben? Translate: ' what pre- judice can this slight and transitory impropriety e.xcite in us against one whose other virtues have already prepossessed us in his favour? ' The more usual order is, 'Was für Nachtheil kann diese kleine'.. &c.
1. 12. sinnlich machen, 'makc it sensible to us' = ' make us sensible of it.'
1. 18. mit begriffen, ' included.' Now always ' mit inbegriffen.'
I. 19. einen andern, ' one sort,' einen andern, ' another sort.'
1. 22. dürfte...müssen, ' is perhafs obliged.' Eve, G. G. § 484.4. and p. 8, 1. 29. sich an die Gesetze der materiellen Malerei strenger halten, 'to hold more strictly to,' i.e. 'to obey more strictly, the laws of material painting.'
1. 31. des Mitleidens fähig, ' susceptible of sympathy,' for 'capable oi aiuakcni}2g sympathy.'
1. 32. zu wenig..., als dass die blosse Erblickung desselben etwas von einem gleichmässigen Gefühl in uns hervorzubringen vermöchte, 'too little..., to allow the mere sight of it to produce in US anjthing of a corrcsponding feeling.'
P. 31, 1. 2. Könnte leicht goes with übertreten haben, ' might easily have overstepped' = ' yuu might easily think he did so.' nicht einen bloss willkürlichen, sondern in dem Wesen unserer Empfin- dungen selbst gegründeten Anstand, 'not only a merely conven- tional sense of propriety, but one which is based on the very natura of our feelings.'
1. 6. die Umstehenden = ' the bystanders' in the play, on the stage.
1. 9. und dennoch können wir ihr Mitleiden nicht wohl anders, als wie das Mass des unsrigen betrachten, ' and yet we caniiot hclp regarding their sympathy as the nieasure of our own.'
1. i6. oder doch nur mit einem leichten Kahne umfahren haben, ' or at least have coasted round it in a light skilT."
LAOKOON. IV. 231 1. 19. das "Widerspiel, literally, ihe counterplay; here syn. with ' das Gegentheil,' ' the contrary.'
1. 21. nicht ungegründet, ' not wilhout some foundation.'
1. 23. und nur indem er sich über den andern Theil hinweg- setzet, 'and only by ignoring the other jjart.' Cp. 'Ich setze mich über diese Vorurtheile hinweg,' literally, I place myf elf away over or beyond these prejudices; i.e. 'I rise superior to,' 'I ignore these pre- judices.'
1. 25. von welchen dem furchtsamen Kunstrichter nie träumen würde. We may say, ' Ich träume von dir,' or ' es träumt mir von dir.'
P. 32, 1. 3. wenn sie auch noch so schmerzlich ist, 'however jjainful it (the malady) may be.'
1. 4. welche den Meleager verzehrte. When Meleager had killed the Calydonian boar, a quarrel arose about the head and the skin of the animal, in which the hero slew his mother's brother. Thcn his mother cursed him and threw a piece of wood into the fire, npon the preserva- tion of which hjs life depended. Meleager then suffered sympathetic pains whilst the wood was buming, and when it was consumed he died. The story forms the subject of Swinburne's Atalanla in Calydon.
1. 5. in dem fatalen Brande; 'fatal' is used here in the original sense of bringing death, ' fatal.'
1. 15. "Was kann man sich von einem so gewöhnlichen Zufalle ausserordentliches versprechen? 'what extraordinary result can be expected from such a common occurrence? ' Cp. ' Ich verspreche mir wenig gutes von dem neuen Ministerium.'
1. 20. noch dazu, ' besides.' das fabelhafte Wunderbare, ' the fabulous wonders.'
1. 19. ganzer Jahre; a partitive genitive dependent upon 'neun;' nine of all the entire years which exist. It is more usual to say ' neun ganze ' or ' neun volle Jahre.'
1. 29. Anstrich, 'colouring;' from ' anstreichen,' to paint.
1. 30. hinwiederum, ' in their turn.'
P. 35, 1. 3. unter der Vorstellung, ' combined with,' or, ' if we add the idea,' 'notion.'
1. 10. unverhohlen, from verhehlen, 'to hide,' = 'freely.'
1. 12. in die Länge, — syn. ' auf die Dauer,' 'for any length of time.' verweisen ihn zur Geduld, lit. refer him to patience = ' advise him to be patient.'
1. 14. seines Körpers nicht mächtig ist; ' mächtig ' with a geni- tive, like the Lat. conipos. Translate: 'posscsses no contiol over his body.'
1. 27. des einzigen, was...musste, 'the only thing that could.'
232 NOTES.
1. 28. O des Franzosen; ' O this Frenchman! ' Chäteaubrnn is meant. The interjection ' O ' is used either with the genitive or with ' über; ' e. g. ' O des Unglücklichen,' or ' O über den Unglücklichen,' O the unfortunate man 1 Eve, G, G. § 372, Obs. 2.
1. 31, klein, nsed in the sense of ' kleinlich,' ' mean.'
1. 33. eine Prinzessin Tochter, ' a maiden princess.'
P. 36, 1. 2. Hofmeisterin, ' lady of honour.' ein Ding...ge- braucht hat, ' a thing quite as necessary, I suspect, to the poet as to tbe princess.' The lady-in-waiting, as a confidante, was a stock personage in French tragedy.
1. 5. Dafür lässt er schöne Augen spielen, ' for this he Substitutes the play of bright eyes.'
1. 6. würden sehr lustig vorgekommen sein, 'would have ap- peared a merry sport' = * they would have made merry over them.'
1. 9. mit der gräulichen Besorgung, ' with the horrible anxietv-' ' Besorgung ' is here used in the sense of ' Besorgniss,' from ' besorgen,' to fear. It is now generally used in the sense of the commission any one undertakes; from 'besorgen,' to take care that anything is done, to procure, to get.
1. 13. abziehen, ironical, 'to march off.'
1. 14. dieses hiessen...triumphiren, 'this is what the Parisian critics called triumphing.'
1. 17. Nach der "Wirkung des Ganzen, 'having considered the effect of the whole piece.'
1. 24. Es ist ein Engländer; Adam Smith is here alluded to, the famous author of the Wcalth of Nations.
1. 26. argwohnen, 'to suspect; ' = modern 'argwöhnen.' The Middle High German form is ' arcwaenen,' O. H. G. ' arcwänan,' i.e. 'arges wähnen,' to fancy evil.
1. 27. Wie schon berührt, 'as already touched upon,' i.e. 'men- tioncd.' so giebt er ihm auch einen sehr guten Grund; ' ihm ' refers to 'Einwurf.' Translate: 'he alleges a very good reason for it.'
P. 37, 1. 6. so fahren wir natürlicherweise zusammen, 'we naturally shrink ' (pull ourselves together\ 1. 12. ein heftiges Geschrei erregt; 'erregen' is to stir np, to rouse; we should expect here the verb ' erheben,' to raise.
1. 16. Ihr Gewebe ist so fein und verwickelt, ' their texture is so delicate and complicated.'
1. 19. Gelingt es ihr aber auch schon, — concessive sentence; ' ihr' refers to Speculation, — ' but even if it succeeds.'
1. 22. die Grundempfindung, ' the original Sensation.'
LAOKOON. IV. 233 P. 38, 1. 1 1, dass sie.. gewähren könnten, ' that they (bis eyes) could not procure him tears ' = ' had no tears to shed.' mürbe gemacht, ' made soft, enervated.' um ihn los zu werden, ' in order to get rid of it ' (Schmerz). Los werden, may take gen. er acc.
1. 16. Und diesen Felsen von einem Manne hätten die Athe- nienser verachten sollen? * And were the Athenians to despise this rock of a man? ' 1. 19. Cicero's philosophical works were mostly populär adaptations from Greek Originals; he said himself ' I have only to find the words.' The ' Tuscnlan Dispntations ' were (i) On the Contempt of Death; (ii) On the Endurance of Pain; (üi) On the Alleviation of Misery, and so on.
1. 22. auskramet; from the root-word 'der Kram,' the shop; ' auskramen ' to spread the contents of the shop on the counter, to display ostentatiously (cp. the P'rench debiter).
1. 23. er wolle einen Gladiator abrichten, ' that he meant to train a gladiator;' ' abrichten ' is said of the Iraining of animals; here used of persons in a contemptuous sense. so sehr eifert er wider den äusserlichen Ausdruck des Schmerzes; 'so violently does he in- veigh against the external expression of pain.'
1. 26. Nichts weniger als = least of all, ' by no means.' The English phrase, 'nothing less than,' has offen the opposite sense = ' entirely.'
1. 30. "Wo hätte er auch...hergenommen? ' But where eise would he have found occasion for bis rhetorical sally against the poets? ' 1. 31. Sie sollen uns weichlich machen; ' sollen ' denotesthat the sentence is meant to be the expression of the adversary's opinion. ' They would make us effeminate (he says).* P. 39, 1. I. Dem verdammten oder feilen Fechter kam es zu;.. es kommt mir zu, ' it is becoming to me,' it is my duty, my business. ' Feil,' adj.: anything that may be bought or sold (akin to the Grcek -naiKüv); ' venal,' ' hireling.'