American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (ASECS)

German Poetry in the Age of the Enlightenment. by Robert M. BrowningReview by: Richard G. RoganEighteenth-Century Studies, Vol. 13, No. 3 (Spring, 1980), pp. 360-361Published by: The Johns Hopkins University Press. Sponsor: American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (ASECS).Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2737995 .

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360 EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY STUDIES

Rather it shows that George recognized that Britain came first. "His concern for justice, equity and rational solutions to political problems is breathed, " she argues, "into every line of his will. " On the question of Hanoverian greed she produces ample evidence to prove that the German ministers did not profit to the degree their British colleagues felt they did. Neither Bernstorff nor Gortz, the two leading ministers, left any substantial wealth at their deaths. It is, she concludes, "a gross exaggeration" to say the Hanoverians "sucked England dry." Also the claim that George by default allowed cabinet government to develop fares no better. Quite the contrary is true since he continued to hold cabinet meetings throughout his reign.

The evidence she produces to support her arguments is most impressive. In addition to the standard archival material in Great Britain she has made very extensive use of German archives. In particular the Bernstorff archive at Gartow and the Gortz archive at Darmstadt have yielded new and valuable material. But Professor Hatton has gone far beyond the written document. She has made extensive use of portraiture (official and nonofficial), medals, engrav- ings, and statues. With the aid of these she has provided us with one of the most interesting sections of her book- "George I's Image. " (She also reproduces in full color for the first time the original Kneller portrait of George that is still in the possession of the Kielmansegg family.) An extensive reference section (some forty-nine printed pages of notes) together with a superb bibliography (much of it with critical comment) add greatly to the text.

In the final analysis Professor Hatton 's study marks a significant contribution to the history of these years and a vital corrective to much that has passed for historical fact concerning this monarch and his contribution. Beyond this her work is a model of historical biography-the mix of life and times is deftly handled. In the printed version of her Roy M. Wiles Memorial Lecture she claimed that "the timescale of one's own life-time does matter for historical empathy." She has written here the life of a man as she herself sees him from the perspective of a long career as a diplomatic historian. It is this perspective, perhaps, that has enabled her to rescue this most "elusive" ruler and to present him as the most competent and imaginative of the Hanoverian kings.

PAUL S. FRITZ

McMaster University

ROBERT M. BROWNING. German Poetry in the Age of the Enlighten- ment. University Park and London: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1978. Pp. 336. $16.00.

The German Enlightenment is a period which has frequently been dismissed by literary scholars as unimaginative and, in general, uninteresting; the notion of instruction and the dogmatic purpose of literature have, of course, been mentioned in connection with it, but any attempt to treat literary works of the

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REVIEWS 361

period (the notable exceptions being the works of Lessing, Wieland, and Klopstock) in an analytical or even appreciative manner has been less than universal. It is therefore refreshing to read Professor Robert Browning's book on German Enlightenment poetry since the topic is here discussed with obvious awareness of, and appreciation for, its value, while at the same time a keenly critical eye is clearly at work.

The book is logically organized into three long chapters, each of which deals with a particular aspect of German Enlightenment poetry. In the first, "Didac- ticists and the Poetry of Reflection," Browning considers Brockes, Haller, Ewald von Kleist, and Gellert. The second, "Hagedorn, Gleim, and the Rococo Lyric," involves not only the stated poets but also Uz and Gotz. The final, and indeed lengthiest chapter, "The Cult of Feeling," treats Arnold, Tersteegen, Zinzendorf, Pyra, and, of course, Klopstock. In each instance Browning chooses what he considers the most representative or appealing works of any given poet and analyzes them primarily in terms of their idea content and relationship to the period without, however, neglecting their form. Indeed the discussion of poetic form in Klopstock's work assumes noticeably greater importance for Browning than is the case with the majority of the other poets he treats. Since under Klopstock's aegis, however, "German poetry frees itself of its leading strings and enters into its own" (p. 196), this particular emphasis is certainly warranted. The footnotes in this book are especially valuable because the author has wisely chosen to include in them, rather than in the body of the text, biographical essays about the poets under consideration. Here one can find a wealth of information about these men and their works. In short, the book is nicely organized, thoroughly thought out, and well docu- mented; it provides its reader not only with a reliable introduction to the poetry and poets of the period but also with representative examples of their oeuvre and accompanying critical analysis.

Although this book is useful, it does have a shortcoming which will, unfortu- nately, minimize its value for some scholars. Since it is written in English, the assumption which one might make is that the book is intended to reach an audience composed not only of specialists who know German and English but also of those who know solely English. Unfortunately, the latter group cannot benefit completely from Browning's work. To be sure, the author quotes extensively from his sources, and whenever the quotation is in verse, it always appears in German without an accompanying translation. When, however, he deals with a prose quotation, it is occasionally given in German, occasionally in English -there seems to be no real consistency of usage. (A quotation from one of Gessner's letters, for example, is given in German on pp. 111-12, while an excerpt from Lessing is quoted in English on p. 49.) A book of this nature should, if it is to have maximum value to those whose specialty is something other than German literature, provide an English translation of all German passages, particularly those in verse which are given such close scrutiny by the author, for only in this way can the extensive analysis be completely understood and, in fact, appreciated.

RICHARD G. ROGAN

Northern Illinois University

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