Edward Ziegler Davis

“ Opening his casement he shall view thy bower,
"Sure (he'll exclaim) I do not see aright,
Or on yon hill an arbor greets my sight;
Yes, that is Myrtil's work,—for this bereft
Of his sweet sleep, his nightly couch he left:
Such are the plans, his filial thoughts engage,
And thus he soothes our fast declining age."
[43] And when with joy we'll greet the morning ray,
With joy we'll celebrate the happy day,
Each work to-day commenc'd shall prosper well,
And peace and joy in every grove shall dwell.
P. D.
Port Folio, I-80, Mar. 7, 1801, Phila.
[S. Gessner, Mirtil und Daphne.] ”

“ For the Philadelphia Repository.
Translation
Of Adelio's German Lines in last Repository.
HOPE.
As does the morn's resplendent light
Dispel the gloomy shades of night,
And the whole universe delight,
With the day's illustrious sight—
So when the adverse fates decree
Nothing to man but misery,
When they despair and pain impart
To the keen agonized heart—
Then does his course, Hope's sun from rest
Take thro' the troubled heaving breast ”

“ To view thy charms and pine in hopeless love,
Gaze on thy angel form, for without she,
The world appear'd a boundless blank to me.
As when to seamen, from the midnight skies
The moon's bright beams in brilliant glory rise,
To guide them wand'ring thro' the wat'ry plain,
Or land them on their native shores again;
Thus, Charlotte, I no other joy could see,
Than pass the vacant day, and gaze on thee,
Live in thy joys, or in thy sorrows die,
"And drink delicious poison from thine eye,"
As the lost insect round the taper flies,
And courts the fatal flame by which it dies. ”

“ The publication of translations of German poetry in the American magazines indicates a twofold activity. In the first place it shows active interest and enthusiasm on the part of a few individuals who read and appreciated German literature and who had the ability not only to understand the foreign poetry but also to translate it for their fellow countrymen. How many there were who could read the original, it is impossible to say, but these translators were certainly only a small part of the Americans who understood German. ”

“ Now all's at rest—and ere the wearied swain
Rise to his labour on the upland lawn,
Shall not the muse from nature catch a strain,
[137] To wake, and greet him at the morning dawn?
Oh! let her tell him that the feeling heart,
Oft to the mountain side by memory led,
Shall seek those blessings wealth can ne'er impart,
And wish to share the quiet of his shed:
Where ev'ry sordid passion lull'd to rest,
Man knows each gift of nature how to prize:
Flies from the storm unto his fair one's breast,
And there reposing waits serener skies. ”

“ Universal Mag., I-28, Jan. 2, 1797, Phila.
[C. F. Gellert, Die Gutthat.]
PRO PATRIA MORI
From the German of Bürger.
For virtue, freedom, human rights, to fall,
Beseems the brave: it is a Saviour's death.
Of heroes only the most pure of all,
Thus with their heart's blood tinge the battle-heath.
And this proud death is seemliest in the man
Who for a kindred race, a country bleeds:
Three hundred Spartans from the shining van
Of those, whom fame in this high triumph leads.
Great is the death for a good prince incurr'd ”

“ By the second or third decade of the last century the studies of American scholars abroad became an important factor in our intellectual development. In 1819 Edward Everett returned from Europe to become professor of Greek at Harvard University. He had studied at the University of Göttingen, where he had become enthusiastic for the methods of German scholarship. While in Europe he secured for Harvard College a large number of German books, which soon proved to be a stimulus to the students of the institution. ”

“ Even the magazines of Philadelphia, the literary center of the country during the eighteenth century, have not been listed. "A complete list of the Philadelphia magazines is impossible. Many of them have disappeared and left not a rack behind. The special student of Pennsylvania history will detect some omissions in these pages, for all that has here been done has been done at first hand, and where a magazine was inaccessible to me, I have not attempted to see it through the eyes of a more fortunate investigator." ”

“ The vigilant hind flies to the labour-giving field; he guides with careful pleasure the earth-piercing plough; in the meantime his ears are delighted by the lightsome band of minstrels, which sweeten the air and the woods with their melodious notes. Thus doth benignant Heaven lighten the heavy pressure of toilful industry! O Creator! all that I see are the effects of thy power! thou art the soul of nature and doth actuate every part! ”

“ We think it our duty, as Britons and Protestants, to take every opportunity of celebrating such an illustrious hero as the King of Prussia; and, however unequal the strains may be thought, yet if they contribute ever so little to raise an imitation of his noble and almost divine atchievments, in the cause of Religion and Liberty, our end will be fully answered. ”

“ In the following exquisite Parody, the sentiments are not less admirable than the talents of the author. We have often expressed our contempt for German plays, and we are happy to fortify our opinion of the Teutonic Muse, with the wit of a man of genius, and a polite scholar.
ODE TO THE GERMAN DRAMA,
By Mr. Seward.
A Parody of Gray's Ode to Adversity.
Daughter of night, chaotic Queen!
Thou fruitful source of modern lays,
Whose turbid plot, and tedious scene,
The monarch spurn, the robber raise. ”

“ A German writer, L. W. Bruggeman, has published, at Stettin, in Pomerania, a Prussian province, a work, in English, on which he has laboured twenty-five years. It contains a view of all the English editions, translations and illustrations of the ancient Greek and Latin authors. In the execution of this work, he has been at great expense, being obliged to purchase and import a great number of English books. This is a very curious specimen of learned perseverance and labour. That a man should spend his life in recounting the translations of ancient authors into a language foreign to his own! ”

“ Then, too, books were expensive, because many had to be imported from abroad, and those printed here could not be sold as cheaply as now. These conditions favored the magazines, which were inexpensive and furnished to their readers, besides [10] original matter, republications of the best literature of Europe. They kept the public abreast with the times and supplied the place now occupied by the numerous libraries and books which can be purchased at a moderate cost.
Another element which the magazine of a century ago did not have to contend with so vigorously was the newspaper. ”

“ They are the legitimate offspring of genius. We are conducted by a versatile guide, sometimes into the vale of tears, and sometimes into the hall of mirth. But let him lead us where he will, we cheerfully follow and always find ourselves with a sensible and tuneful companion. I am half inclined to suspect that Mr. Lewis himself is the concealed author. We know how he brilliantly travestied his own ballad, Alonzo the Brave, and it is probable that in this collection he is alter et idem. ”

“ The early American magazines, then, were instrumental in making German literature and especially German poetry known in America. It was possible for them to print translations of individual poems of an author long before there was a demand for them in book form. Gessner, Bürger, Gellert, Lessing and others have already been mentioned in this connection. It is interesting to note just what poets [20] were introduced to the American public by means of the magazines. Gessner and Bürger were the most popular, the former appearing twenty-five times and the latter ten times before 1811. ”

“ Were fasten'd round his neck again.
Bears of the woods are seldom trained to dance;
Yet, seeing Bruin throw his limbs about,
The fancy seiz'd them all, themselves to prance,
And strive, with clumsy aim, his motions to make out. ”

“ Prior to 1790, numerous translations from Gellert, Wieland, Klopstock, Lessing, Goethe and Schiller appeared from time to time, but it was not until William Taylor of Norwich began to write, that the movement, which culminated in the works of Coleridge, Carlyle and others, assumed definite form. [1]
American literature at this time was still subservient to that of England and it is not surprising that the new literary impulse from Germany should have found reflection on this side of the Atlantic. This foreign influence was further aided by direct contact with Europe. ”

“ In America, likewise, German literature was made known to English readers by means of translations either in book form or in the magazines. The subject of translations in book form has been treated in the recent article by Wilkens already mentioned. He discusses German drama, fiction, poetry, philosophy, theology and pedagogy, and gives in an appendix "A List of the Translations of German Literature that were printed in the United States before 1826." These books, however, were not the first means of introducing German authors to American readers. ”

“ Great God! created spirits are too insignificant to raise the glory of thy works! We lose ourselves in their immensity. To tell them one must resemble thyself on infinity. Humbly contented, I remain in my own prescribed circle. ”

“ Before Edward Everett went abroad to study, however, American scholars had begun to seek wider cultural advantages at the centres of learning in Europe. [4] They were mostly theological students, or men more or less closely connected with the diplomatic service. The most prominent among the latter class was John Quincy Adams, who spent several years in Europe. His interest in German literature is shown by the fact that he translated Wieland's Oberon, which however was not published, because Sotheby's translation had just appeared in London. ”

“ Swain how short is beauty's bloom,
Seek her in the grassy tomb!
Whither roves the tuneful swain
Who of rural pleasures,
Rose and vi'let, rill and plain,
Sung in deftest measures?
Maiden, swift life's vision flies,
Death has clos'd the Poet's eyes.
Companion and Weekly Misc., I-104, Jan. 26, 1805, Balto.
[J. G. Jacobi, Vergänglichkeit.
W. Taylor of Norwich, op. cit. II-106, Elegy. (Variants in stanza V) .]
The following is a German drinking song, popular in the Rhingau, and probably the inspiration of the old Hock, which it celebrates. ”

“ Thou hast wonderfully formed the veins of that fish which causes rivers to overflow, and which makes whirlpools, and spreads devastation with the flappings of his tail. Thou hast built the elephant, and thou hast animated its enormous bulk, that it resembles a moving mountain. ”

“ The important influence which German literature has exercised on American culture and literature extends from the early part of the nineteenth century. This influence was, in a measure, a continuation of the interest and activity that had existed in England during the last quarter of the eighteenth century. ”

“ Other poets, like Jacobi, Klopstock, Matthisson, Kotzebue, Patzke or Bürde, found an occasional admirer, but not enough was done to bring their characteristics plainly before the public. In addition to these, there were numerous parodies and original poems, which helped to emphasize the importance of things German. This influence, moreover, was aided by the translations of prose works and by articles on German literature, history and biography, which are scattered through the pages of these periodicals. The American magazines accomplished considerable for German in this country. ”

“ Where the works printed are from the pen of an American, they represent not only the ability of the writer to appreciate German, but also the active interest to reproduce it for the American public; the translation is then entirely an American product. ”

“ The scope of the present work comprises the American magazines published before 1811. By the term "American magazines" is meant all magazines published in English, whether in the United States or Canada. Periodicals in German, Spanish, French or other foreign languages have been excluded. In as much as the study is primarily concerned with literature it has been necessary, on account of the great scope of the subject, to omit publications of a non-literary type, e. g., newspapers, gazettes, periodicals dealing solely with history, religious magazines, almanacs, etc. ”

“ From the dust thou hast formed yon proud-topt mountain; from sand hast thou produced metals; thou hast spread yon firmament, and thou hast clothed it with clouds, that it may remain unpolluted by the exploring eye of man. ”