1. 29. haben sich zu eigen gemacht, ' have appropriated.'
P. 105, 1. 3. sich mit Thätigkeiten gegen den Agamemnon au vegehen, ' to insult Agamemnon with actual blows.' ' Thätigkeit ' is now only used in the sense of activity or occupation; in the sense in which Lessing employs the word, we should now say ' Thätlichkeit; ' e. g. ' es kam zwischen den beiden Herrn zu Thätlichkeiten,' the two gentlemen came to blows. ' Sich vergehen ' is to offend, properly to 'go wrong.' 'Er hat sich gegen das Gesetz vergangen.' ' Er hat sich gegen seine Eltern vei gangen.'
1. 9. es bedarf keiner...gesehen werden sollen; translate: ' no blindfolding, no Interruption of the rays of light is needed to prevent them from being seen; but an enlightenment, an enlargement of mortal Vision is required, if they are intended to be seen.'
XIII.
P. 106, 1. 6. dergleichen, ' such as;' used as a relative. 1. 7. sie sollen, concessive, like mögen, see p. 4, I. 30; p. 7, 1. 7, etc. 1.12. mit dem ersten dem besten Stücke, ' with the first piece we chnnce upon.'
1. 17. des Dichters, in English ' in the poet.'
' Along Olympus' heights he passed, his heart Burning with wrath; behind his Shoulders hung His bow, and ample quiver; at his back Rattled the fateful arrows as he moved; Like the night-cloud he passed; and from afar He bent against the ships, and sped the holt; And fierce and deadly twanged the silver bow. First on the mules and dogs, on man the last, Was poured the arrowy storm; and through the camp, Constant and numerous, blazed the funeral fires.'
Lord Derbv.
1. 15. So weit das Leben...Maler. Lessing uses 'über sein' with the accusative in the sense of ' übertreffen, erhaben sein über ' with 200 KOTES.
accusative; 'höher stehen als,' or ' über stehen,' with the dative. This is a very tinusual construction. Translate: ' As far as life transcends the picture, so far the poet here transcends the painter.'
1. 17. von den Zinnen, ' from the pinnacles ' = ' peaks ' of Olympus.
1. 20. gegen den Schiffen über; wesaynow 'den Schiffen gegenüber.'
1. 26. welche, acc. after hören lassen = ' allow to be heard ' = produce; mit= besides the sense of the words.
1. 27. überzutragen, — contrary to the present use, according to which ' über ' is inseparable when used figuratively. We should say ' zu übertragen,' in the sense of ' zu übersetzen.'
1. 30. vor selbigem instead of ' demselben; ' \-iz. ' dem materiellen Gemälde.'
1. 31. zu dem, was das materielle Gemälde aus ihm {\iz. aus dem Dichter) zeiget, ' to the scene which the material painting borrows from the description of the poet.'
P. 108, 1. 3. Die rathpflegenden trinkenden Götter, ' the gods deliberating at the banquet.' ' Pflegen ' may be used as a weak or as Ji strong verb. As a weak verb (' pflegte, gepflegt ') it is eilher transitive and governs the accusative = to foster, to tend, to nurse; e. g. 'Meine Mutter pflegte mich in meiner Krankheit;' or it is neuter = to be accus- tomed to; e. g. ' Goethe pflegte früh aufzustehen.' As a strong verb ('pflog' or 'pflag, gepflogen') it has a wide meaning, which it is difficult to define, — to take care of, to look after, to carry on. In this sense it generally governs the genitive case, though a few phrases occur in which an accusative is govemed by it; it is to be noticed that also in this sense ' pflegen ' is now sometimes used as a wcak verb. ' Er pflegte seiner Gesundheit,' he took care of his health; ' er pflog Unterhand- lungen mit dem Feinde,' he carried on negotiations with the enemy. Cp. ' Rath's,' or ' Rath pflegen,' to take counsel; ' Umgang pflegen,' to have intercourse; ' seines Amtes pflegen,' to perform the duties of one's Office; ' der Jagd pflegen,' to indulge in the pleasures of the chase.
1. 4. willkürliche Gruppen, ' arbiträr)- groups,' i.e., groups arranged according to the pleasure of the artist.
1. 6. von Heben, der ewigen Jugend, 'by Hebe, the personifica- tion of etemal youth; ' we should now prefer to say, ' von Hebe.* I. II. Ich schlage ihn auf, i. e. I open his work.
II. 15-18. 'On golden pavement, round the board of Jove, The Gods were gathered; Hebe in the midst Poured the sweet nectar; they, in golden cups, Each other pledged, as down they looked on Troy.'
Lord Derby.
1. 19. Apollonius, of Rhodes, a Greek rhetor, bom about 230 B.c., LAOKOON. XIV. 261 author of the Argonautica, a work more learned and elaborate than poetical.
1. 23. Woch dazu, ' add to this that.'
1. 25. So sehr sich...zeiget; 'however greatly,' he says, 'the fouith book is dislinguished by various exhortations to attack, by the abundance of brilliant and strongly contrasted characteis, and by the art with which the poet paints the multitude which he is abont to set in motion.' ' Sich ausnehmen' is used here in the sense of 'sich auszeich- nen '; its present meaning is ' to appear,' ' to look.' Cp. ' Sehr gut nimmt das Kütschchen sich aus,' 'the little carriage looks very nice ' (Goethe's Hermann und Dorothea, i\ Lessing says, 'Fruchtbarkeit glänzender und abstechender Charaktere,' where we should expect 'Fruchtbarkeit an,' etc.; 'abstechen' is used here in the sense of 'sich abheben,' 'to stand out in relief.'
P. 109, 1. I. es kommen derer...einem andern; 'there occui of these (viz. poetical pictures) in the fourth book as numerous and as perfect ones as might be found in any of the other books.'
1. 3. ein ausgefiihrteres, täuschenderes Gemälde, * a more elaborate, more illusive picture.' Pandarus, a famous Trojan archer.
1. 9. seines Leucus; Leucos, a Greek hero before Troy, the valiant friend of Odysseus, who was killed in battle by Antiphos, son of Priam; Iliad iv. 490.
1. 15. "Was sonst, als die Verneinung meiner obigen Frage? ' What other conclusion can we draw from it bat the negation of the question I put above?' Lessing refers to the question put in the beginning of the chapter: If Homer's works were lost, if nothing remained of them but the pictures which Caylus recommends to the artists, could we form a conception of Homer's descriptive talent?
1. 16. Dass, depending upon ' es folgt daraus.'
1. 19. sich dennoch...lässt, ' we could come to no decision in regard to the descriptive talent of the poet; ' ' es lässt sich schliessen,' such a reflective form is frequently used instead of a passive: ' a con- clusion can be arrived at; ' ' Das lässt sich thun,' ' this can be done.' So 'sich denken lässt,' p. 25, 1. 5; ' lässt sich urtheilen,' p. 27, 1. 3. Lange, XIV.
P. 110, 1. I. Ist dem aber so, 'but if this be the case;' ' dem' is neuter gender, and refers to the result arrived at in the preceding chapter. ergiebig, ' suggestive.'
1. 4. so ist es auch iim den Einfall des Grafen Caylus gethan, ' there is an end of the fancy of Count Caylus.' ' Es ist um mich gethan,' or ' geschehen,' actum est Je me.
252 NOTES.
1. 5. welcher...wollen; 'hat ' is to be nnderstood before 'be- stimmen.' Translate: ' who woulcl make the usefulness (of the poets) to tlie painter the touchstone of the merit of poets, and settle the question of superiority according to the number of paintings which they furnish to the artist.'
1. 9. diesem Einfalle...gewinnen zu lassen; ' even by our silence to suffer this faiicy to obtain the appearance of a law.' Lessing uses the dative ('diesem Einfalle') after 'lassen,' with an infinitive dependent on it, wheie now the accusative is usual; e. g. ' Ich werde dich das Spiel gewinnen lassen.' Compare the French construction: 'Je lui ferai apprendre un metier.' Eve, § 486, i. Obs.
1. 13. Nationalgeschmack, the consequence of national taste, or rather prejudice.
I. 17. Aber müsste...legen; ' but if the ränge of my bodily eye, so long as I enjoy it, must also be the ränge of my inner eye, I should put great value on the loss of the former 'the bodily eye) in order to be free from this restraint.' Lessing is thinking of Milton's own lines (P. L. bk. 3, introd.). After speaking of his loss of outward vision, he adds: — 'So much the rather thou, celestial Light, Shine inward, and the mind through all her powers Irradiate; there plant eyes.'
II. 22-26. Paradise Lost furnishes few subjects to the artist, and yet it is the finest epic poem after the Iliad; the story of the passion and the death of Christ has furnished countless subjects to the painter, and yet we should not call it a poem on that account.
P. 111, 1. I. hätte is subj. because the adjectival clause ' die...hätte ' is really consecutive ( = ' of such a kind that ') after a negative principal sentence; Eve, § 537.
1. 8. vermögend ist, synonymous with ' vermag,' ' is able.' 1. 16. weil...abstrahiren lassen; ' because it brings us nearer that degree of Illusion which the material (as opposed to the verbal) picture is particularly able to excite, that degree of Illusion which can most readily and easily be drawn from the material picture ' i. e. which we most readily experience, which makes itself feit most reatlily, on looking at an actual picture. ' Dessen ' agiees with ' dem Grade.' With ' lassen ' understand ' hat.'
XV.
P. 112, 1. 3. müssen...abgehen, ' must be beyond the reach of the artist' ' Diese Gabe geht mir ab,' ' this talent is wanting to me.'
1. 5. die der Dichter vor ihm voraus hat; ' in which the poet has the advantage over him,' lit. 'which the poet has as an ad%-antagc (voraus) over him.' ' Ich habe diese Gabe vor dir vorau5,' ' I have an LAOKOON. XV. 263 advanta^e over you through the possession of this talent.' Drydens Ode auf dea Cäcilienstag, Dryden's Ode for St. Cecilia's Day, geneially called Alexander's Feast, was wriUen in praise of music; it was set to music by Händel in 1725. Voller, see Eve, § 370, i.
1. II. Ich will...stshen bleiben, ' I will confine myself to the consideralion of pictures of visible objects only.' Comp. p. 17, 1. 13. Woran liegt es, ' what is the reason.' To illustrate the use of the imperäonal verb 'es liegt an jem.,' or 'etwas ' compare the follow- ing sentences: ' Woran liegt es. dass der Zug so langsam geht? ' ' What is the reason, that the train goes so slowly V 'Es lag an mir, dass wir zu spät kamen,' ' It was my fault that we were late '; ' Es liegt mir viel daran, dass Sie diese Stelle bekommen,' ' It is important to me that you get this place '; ' Was liegt daran! ' ' What does it matter! ' 1. 15. eigentliche, pictures proper — in the proper sense of the word, not word-pictures.
1. 19. täuschendsten, 'most graphic,' 'natural.' lit ' illusive,' i.e. carried to the highest point of Illusion.
1. 21. und alle diese Augenblicke...angenommen, 'and all these moments have been chosen as being so near one another and yet so distinct.'
P. 113, 1. I. wie mit dem Bogen umzugehen wäre, 'how a bow ought to be handled.' ' Umgehen mit einer Sache,' ' to manage a thing,' ' to handle,' ' to use it properly '; ' umgehen mit einer Person,' ' to deal with a person,* ' to treat him.'
1. 3. zieht...hervor, = ' takes it out of the bow-case,' as the Greek shows. Legt die Senne an, 'strings it.'
1. 5. mitsammt governs dem Pfeile, unten is 'at the lowerend' of the arrow, an dem Einschnitte, ' at the notch;' the Greek has ' he took hold of the notch and the ox-hide string and drew them back together.'
1. 8. ' The rounded bow starts asunder with a clang,* Condensed phrase for ' the ends of the bow part asunder.'
1. 19. For undcrstanding what follows, note the antitheses: Fortschreitend: stehend ( = progressive: stationary). Nacheinander: neben einander ( = in succession, consecutive: side by side, coexistent). In der Zeit: im Räume f = in Time: in Spnce).
For the doctiine, compare the works of James Harris, p. 36, 'The subjecls of poetry, to which the genius of painling is not adapted, are all actions, whose whole is of so lcngthen<.d a duratioii, that no point of time, in any part of that whole, can be givcn fit for painting; neither in its beginning, which will teach what is subsequent; nor in its end; which will teach what is previous; nor in its middle, which 264 NOTES.
•will declare both the previons and the subsequent.' (Quoted Sime's P. 114, 1. 6. gehören unter, ' belong to,' 'are of the number of.' 1. 6. sondern sie...begnügen, ' but it must be satisfied with coexistent actions or with mere bodies which, by their posture, suggest an action.'
XVI.
P. 115, 1. 3. -wenn es -wahr ist...* From hence it mav be seen how these arts [painting, mnsic, and poetrj'] agree and how they differ. They agree by being all mimetic or imitative. They differ as they Imitate by different media: painting by figure and colour; mnsic by sound and motion; painting and music by media which are natural; poetry, for the greatest part, by a medium which is artificial.' (Works of James Harris, p. 28, quoted in Sime's Lessing, vol. i. p. 254.)
1. 7. wenn unstreitig...haben müssen; ' if these signs must indisputably bear a suitable relation to the thing signified.'
1. 8. neben einander geordnete Zeichen, signs arranged side by side (coexisting signs); opposed to the following ' aufeinander folgende Zeichen,' signs that follow one another (consecutive signs". In the langiiage of German philosophy Space is called ' das Nebeneinander der Dinge,' the coexistence of things, Time is called ' das Nacheinander der Dinge,' the succcssion of things.
1. 22. Sie dauern fort, 'they endure,' ' continue.'
P. 116, 1. 5. andeutungsweise, ' by way of Suggestion.'
1. 7. müssen gewissen "Wesen anhängen, ' must be joined to,' 'belong to,' certain existing things, i.e. agents.
1. 17. und muss daher...braucht, ' must choose that property (of the body) which awakens the most vivid image of the body from the point of view from which it (poetry) uses it the body" '; i. e. most vivid relatively to its special point of view, and the special sense appealed to at the moment.
1. 20. Hieraus fliesst...Beiwörter ' from this results the rule of the singlencss of picturesque epithets,' i.e. the use of singledescriptive epithets for single objects, such as Homer's ' rosy-fingered dawn,' ' wine-dark sea,' and so on.
1. 27. hätte, by attraction, dependent on wäre. Nur aus...überwTinden werden müssen, ' only on these principles can the grand style of the Greek be defined and explained, and only thns can its proper position be assigned to the opposite style of so many modern poets, who endeavour to rival the painter in a department in which they must necessarily be surpassed by him.' Understand ' lässt sich ' again with ihr Kecht ertheilen. The modern poets allnded to are Lessing's LAOKOON, XVI. 265 LAOKOON, XVI. 265 contemporaries of the descriptive school of German poetry. Eodmer and iireitinger laid down the theoretical principles which were carried into practice by Haller in his ' Alps,' and by Kleist in his ' Spring.'
P. 117, 1. 5. die Geschichte, the story which forms the subject of the artist.
1. 8. der Dichter selbst mag...als er will; a concessive sen- tence: though the poet himself may paint these bodies, tliese attitudes, this Space as little as he likes = ' however little the poet,' etc., or ' whether or no the poet,' etc.
1. II. Stück vor Stück, 'piece by piece'; 'vor' here obsolete for * für.' Compare ' Mann für Mann,' ' Schritt für Schritt.'
1. 13. den Farbenstein, 'the palette,' prop. the stone on which the painter grinds his colours. More usually ' die Palette.'
1. 19. Weiter lässt er sich...ein, *he does not enter further into the description of the ship.'
1. 2g. diesen einzeln Gegenstand in eine Folge von Augen- blicken zu setzen, ' to place this single object in a successive series of moments,' in each of which it appcars different, while only in the last can the painter expect (wait for it = ' den Gegenstand ') to show us in completion what the poet has shown us in the making.'
P. 118, 1. 4. nicht sowohl wie es beisammen ist; the 'es' is used here in a collective sense, referring to the parts of the chariot mentioned before, ' not as these parts are when fitted together.'
1. 7. die Felge, the ' felloe ' (or felly) of a wheel is the rim round the spokes, outside which is die Schiene, the ' tire.' Die Nabe is the 'nave,' i. e. the axle-box.
I. 9. Man sollte sagen...erforderte; translate: ' One might (almost) say that, as there was more than one wheel, in the description e.\actly as much time more had to be devoted to them, as their separate fastening required more time in the actual Operation.' 'Deren' (1. 28) refers to ' Zeit.' Lessing means to say: As Homer described only one wheel, he feit bound to devote as much time to the description as it would have taken to fasten all the whcels to the carriage.
Hebe the circling whecls of brass attached, Eight-spoked, that on an iron axle tumed; The felloes were of gold, and fitted round W'ith brazen tires, a marvel to behold; The naves were silver, rounded every way: The chariot-board on gold and silver bands Was hung, and round it ran a double rail: The pole was all of silver; at the end A golden yoke, with golden yoke-bands fair.'
Lord Derby.
266 NOTES.
' He donned his vest of texture fine, new-wrought. Then o'er it threw his ample robe, and bound His sandals fair around his well-tumed feet; And o'er his Shoulders flung his sword, adorned With silver studs; and bearing in his hand His royal staff, ancestral, to the ships Where lay the brass-clad warriors, bent his way.'
Lord Derby. 1. 8. ihm. i. e. ' dem Homer,' the so-called ' Ethic ' dative, ' for him,' in his eyes, according to his description.
1. 9. das mit goldenen Stiften beschlagene Scepter, ' the sceptre gamishcd with golden studs.'
1. 13. Ja, wenn...sollte; ' of course he -would do so, if the de- scription was intended for a handbook of heraldic arl.' With sollte, some Word like 'gehen' must be understood. Eve, § 481 (6); Lange, 1. 17. eine solche "Wappenkönigsbeschreibung, ' a description as a king-at-arms (herald) would makc' 1. 18. in der treuherzigen Meinung = naively believing that —; ' treuherzig' is ' piain and honest,' ' unsophisticated.' 1. 22. unter der Arbeit, as above. ' unter den Händen.' 1. 24. bemerkt es die "Würde Merkurs; ' it betokens the dignity of Mercury;' 'bemerken' is very rare in the meaning of ' markiren,' 'kennzeichnen,' to mark, to betoken. It is used now in the sense of ' to remark.'
L 27. — 'Then np rose The monarch Agamemnon, in his hand His royal staff, the work of Vulcan's art; Which Vulcan to the son of Saturn gave; To Hermes he, the heavcnly messenger; Hermes to Pelops, matchless charioteer; Pelops to Atreus; Atreus at his death Bequcathed it to Thyestes, wealthy Lord Ol' nuinerous herds; to Agamemnon last Thyestes left it; token of his sway.'
Lord Df.rky.
P. 120, 1. 7. einer von den alten Auslegern, ' one of the ancient commentators.'
1. IG. Beerbfolgung, ' hereditary succession'; the word commonly used is ' Erbfolge.'
1. 12. als das Feuer, as the personification of fire.
1. 14. die Abstsllang der Bedürfnisse überhaupt anzeige.
LAOKOON. Xl'I. 267 welche...bewogen, ' typified in general the alleviation of those wants which induced the first men to submit to a Single being.'
1. 24. nachdem er die Feinde gedämpfet...spielen können, ' after he had quelled bis enemies and secured the kingdom, bad succeeded in playing it (=shifting it by craft) into bis son's hands.' Understand ' habe.'
1. 30, foll. das was bisher...' to appropriate (an sich zu bringen) by presents and bribes that (authority) which hitherto had been con- ferred by confidence, and had been regarded by merit rather as a bürden than as an honour.' Vertrauen and Verdienst are the subjects of the relative clauses.
P. 121, 1. 2. als ein gleichsam erkauftes Gut, ' as if it were a pro- perty obtained by purchase.'
1. 5. dem man so vieles leihen kann, i.e. on whom one can father so many fancies.
1. 7. als einen Kunstgriff,...Theile einzulassen, 'as a device of art by which tlie poet causes us to linger over a single object, without entering into a tiresome description of its parts.' Sich refers to the poet, who is subject of ' machen.'
1. 13. ihn, in reference to Scepter, which Lessing nses masculine and neuter indifierently.
I. 14. entblättert und entrindet es, ' deprives it of its leaves and of its bark.'
' By this my royal staff, which never more Shall put forth leaf nor spray, since first it left Upon the mountain-side its parent stem, Nor blossom more; since all around the axe Hath lopped both leaf and bark, and now 'tis borne Emblem of justice, by the sons of Greece, Who guard the sacred ministry of law Before the face of Jove! A mighty oath! * Lord Derby.
1. 23. Dem Homer war nicht sowohl daran gelegen, ' it was not so important for Homer.' See note on p. 112, 1. 13.
1. 26. ein sinnliches Bild, 'a clcar Image'; 'sinnlich' is what belongs to the senses, therefore both sensual and palpable to the senses; therefore, lucid, clear. Jener...dieser, the former, viz. the sceptre of Agamemnon; the latter, viz. that of Achilles.
1. 29. die erste die beste Faust zu füllen, ' to fiU the band of any one who might chance to grasp it.'
1. 31. aus dem Mittel der Griechen, 'out of the midst of the Greeks.' ' Das Mittel' is used now onlv in the sense of the means bv 268 NOTES.
which something is done, the resource, the remedy. Lessing uses it in the sense of ' die Mitte.' Geführt, ' wielded.'
P. 122, 1. 5. einzugestehen nicht umhin konnte, ' could not avoid acknowledging.' ' Ich kann nicht umhin,' = ' Ich kann mich nicht enthalten, ' I cannot but,' ' I cannot help doing.* 1. 9. wo es ihm um das blosse Bild zu thun ist, ' where it is his sola object to show us the picture.' •wird er,., verstreuen, ' he will disperse the picture of the object over a kind af histor)- of it.'
1. 13. und mit dem Flusse der Rede gleichsam Schritt halten zu lassen, ' and to make them (viz. ' die Theile desselben '^ kecp pace, as it were, with the progress of the narrative.'
1. 16. an beiden Spitzen mit Goldblech beschlagen, 'tippedon both ends with gold-foil.'
1. 18. Mit nichten, *far from it.'
1. 19. das w^rde...heissen, 'that would be to order such a bow and to describe how it was to be executed, but not to paint it.' Ange- ben is ' to give a commission for,' to ' specify.' 1. 20. des Steinbockes, 'of the ibex.'
1. 22. hatte ihm in den Felsen aufgepasst, 'had lain in wait for him in the rocks '; ' aufpassen ' = auflauem, nachstellen, erlegt, ' kiUed '; the technical teim for killing in the chase.
1. 24. sie kommen in die Arbeit, i.e. the execution of the work begins.
1. 25. beschlägt sie; ' beschlagen ' is 'to tip ' with some nietal.
' Straight he uncased his polished bow, his spoil Won from a mountain-ibex, which himself. In ambush huking, through the breast had shot, True to his aim, as from behind a crag He came in sight; prone on the rock he feil; With horns of sixtcen palms his liead was crowned; These deftly wrought a skilful workman's hand, And polished smooth, and tipped the ends with gold.'
Lord Derby.
XVII.
Lord Derby.
XVII.
P. 123, 1. 7. willkürlich, 'arbitrary'; the signs of the poet are words which convey Images; these are arbitrary, i. e. have no natural connexion with the iniages they call «p, as opposed to the natural signs of the painter, forms and colours. See the quotation from Harris 1. 9. In dem Homer selbst fänden sich; the subjunctive is ia oblique narration, depending upon • man wird ein« enden.'
laokoon: xvir. 269 P. 124, 1. I. an dessen Schild des Achilles man sich nur erin- nern dürfe, ' whose shield of Achilles we have only to remember.' ' Dürfen ' and ' brauchen ' are uscd in the sense of ' to need,' ' to have to.' E.g. ' Du darfst ' or ' du brauchst nur an deine eigene Jugend zu denken,' yon need only think of your owti youth.
1. 21. die wahren sinnlichen Eindrücke ihrer Gegenstände, 'the real impressions produced on the senses by tlieir objects' ('their' refers to ideas).
1. 22. und in diesem Augenblicke...aufhören; 'and at this moment of Illusion we cease to be conscious (uns = to ourselves) of the means which he uses for this purpose,' namely, his words. ' Seiner Worte ' is put in apposition to ' der Mittel.'
1. 25. Hierauf lief...hinaus. This was the substance of the definition of the poetical picture given above, ' what it amounted to,' ' came to.' Compare ' Worauf wird das alles hinauslaufen?' * What will all that conie to? ' 1. 27. in wie ferne Körper nach ihren Theilen neben einander sich zu dieser Malerei schicken; ' how far bodies, according to their coexistent parts, adapt themselves to this painting '; ' sich schicken ' to suit oneself to, to be fit, proper, becoming. ' Er weiss sich in seine Lage nicht zu schicken,' he cannot reconcile himself to his position; 'Eines schickt sich nicht für alle,' the same thing does not suit every- one; ' Das schickt sich nicht,' that is not becoming.
P. 125, 1, 1. eine einzige, viz. Operation.
1. 5. Gesetzt...zu dem andern, ' Now let us snppose that the poet takes us in the best possible order from one part of the object to the other.'
1. 8. auch noch so, in English, 'ever so,' as 'wenn Sie mich auch noch so sehr bitten.'
1. 10. zählt er uns...zu, 'he counts out to us with perceptible slow- ness' (he counts those parts out like so many pieces of money).
1. 16. die vernommenen Theile, ' the parts once heard.'
1. 21. um zu einem etwanigen Begriffe des Ganzen zu gelangen, * to arrive at an approximatc idea of the whole '; from ' etwa ' = perhaps. ' Etwaig ' or ' etwanig ' also means ' eventual.'
1. 25. The following strophes are taken from Haller's Alpen, an elaborate descriptive poem. Albrecht von Haller was bom in Bern in the year 1708, Professor of medicine and of botany at Göttingen, the leading rcprescntative of that descriptive and moralizing poetry which was so much admired at the time. vom edeln Enziane; • der Enzian,' the gentian, a beautiful Alpine flower.
1. 26. der Pöbelkräuter, ' of vulgär herbs.'
I. 30. Thürmt sich am Stengel auf, ' mounts up along the stem.'
270 NOTES.
coloured flash of the watery diamond '; of course a dewdrop is meant.
1. 3. dass Kraft sich Zier vermähle; ' Zier ' is the dative, de- pendent on ' sich vermähle '; ' that power and grace should wed.' The poet may say, 'ich vermähle mich dir,' or 'mit dir.'
1. 6. Dem...hingelegt, 'whose leaf nature shaped (literally, laid down) in the form of the cross.'
1. 6. vergöldten, instead of ' vergoldeten.' 1. 9. Die...trägt, ' bome by a bird made of amethyst.' 1. 12. Der Blumen...Strahlen ein, 'a striped star encloses with white rays the soft snow of the flowers lightly tinged with purple.' 1. 23. dem eine solche Bekanntschaft hier zu statten kömmt, ' who has the advantage of such acquaintance.'
1. 26. wie steht es...Ganzen? ' what about the conception of the whole? ' is he able to form a conception of the whole, after having perused this minute description of its parts? 1. 32. mit eins, ' at one moment.'
P. 127, 1. 3. Johann Jacob Breitinger (1701-1776), professor in Zürich, was an intimate friend of Bodmer, and shared with him the honour of heading the Swiss School of German poetry.
1. 7. er muss mehr auf die fremden Zierraten...gesehen haben, ' he must have paid greater regard to the foreign omaments,' etc. 1. 15. Gleichwohl...an, 'yet only the last is of importance here.'
1. 22. eines Huysum. Jan van Huysnm (1682-1749), ^ famous Diitch painter, most celebrated for his fruit and flower pieces.
1. 24. Sie mögen sich...lassen, ' it may be very nice to recite them as it were in comparison, holding the flower in one's haud.'
P. 128, 1. 4. weil...gehet, ' because illusion, which is the princi- pal object of poetry, is wanting to such verbal descriptions of bodies.' ' Gebrechen ' is commonly impersonal; ' es gebricht mir an Geld.' 1. 21. eine zur Zucht tüchtige Kuh, 'a cow good for Lreeding.' 1. 22. ' The mother cow niust wear a Iowering look, Sour-headed, strongly-neck'd to bear the yoke; Her double dewlap from her chin descends, And at her thighs the ponderous bürden ends. Long are her sides and large, her limbs are great; Rough are her ears, and broad her homy fect. Her colonr shining black, but fleck'd with white; She tosses from the yoke, provokes the fight. She rises in her gait, is free from fears. And in her face a buU's resemblance bears; Her ample forehead with a star is crowned. And with her length of tail she sweeps the ground.'
LAOKOON. XVII. 271 ' Lofty-necked; Sharp-headed, barrel-belly'd, broadly back'd, Brawny bis ehest and deep.' — Dryden's Virgil.
1. 8. nachdem wir...antreffen, ' in proportion as we meet more or less of them.'
1. II. das konnte...sein; 'that was qnite indifferent to him.'
1. 13. Ausser diesem Gebrauche, ' with the exception of this use; * viz. the use of detailed descriptions of bodies in didactic poetry.
1. 17. für ein frostiges Spielwerk, ' for a piece of pedantic trifling.'
1. 18. der poetische Stümper, ' the poetaster.' ' Stümper,' from the M.H.G. ' stumben ' = ' verstümmeln,' 'tomuiilate'; modern 'stümpern,' 'to bungle.'
1. p,6. der männliche Pope, =Pope when he became a man.