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    the other , the deified artist beholds the triumph of his genius in tne reverential worship which those same master-pieces receive . . To these are added a poem on Schiller ' s death , set to music , and performed in memory of his friend , on solemn occasions ; a fragment entitled c Mysteries , ' in ottava rime , in which , with gorgeous pomp of verse , the awful ceremonies of the catholic church are displayed ; but it is the vestibule to a temple that was never raised . The volume terminates with a series of poems called *

    Mas-Icenzugej i . e . Masked processions , composed from the year 1776 downwards , for festivals in honour of the birth-day of the late duchess of Weimar . In one entitled Romantic Poetry , a representation was given of the rninnesanger and epic poets of the German middle ages . Towards the close of Bonaparte ' s career , when the Empress Maria Louisa visited Carlsbad , Goethe , who was a frequent visitor

    of that delightful watering place , comprehended her in his complimentary verses , and without naming him , alludes to the hero whose dominion had been assured by the son , to whom he had assigned Rome herself as a guardian ; and by whose will the peace of the world was on the point of being established !! Not always is the poet a prophet ; however when peace did come under other auspices , Goethe celebrated it by the most elaborate

    of his allegorical performances . Des Epimeniaes Erwachen , i . e . The awakening of Epimenides , was performed at Berlin in 1815 . The purely artificial character of this kind of composition seems to preclude the most valuable qualities of poetry , but Goethe , though approaching seventy years of age , still retained his power of thought and fancy . Passion , there is none in the poem . It contains no appeal to

    national or patriotic feelings . Neither Germany nor France is personified . Epimenides , the well-known sleeper of the Greek fable , is led to his couch , before which appear a host of allegorical beings . With a freedom which no mere courtier would have exercised , the elements of evil in society are brought forward in action . Pfoffie , ( precisely our parson as a term of contempt , ) Jurist , Diplomatist , Courtier , &c . in combination with Oppression ,

    Cunning , &c . &c . The scene undergoes a mournful change . Desolation follows their march . But before the sleeper awakens , Hope , Love , &c . &c . have reestablished the splendour of the scene , and a choral hymn is sung in praise of Unity , who is introduced as a tutelary being , by which the mask is worthily

    closed . The unity that Goethe meant was ef course that of all the people , at the head of which were their respective sovereigns . Not a union of all the people in a narrower sense , the commonalty against all the governments , the nobility , &c . &c . Vol . 14 . Der Triumph der Empfindsamkeit Eine dramatische Grille , i . e . The Triumph of Sensibility . We have already spoken of

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    112 Goethe's Works .

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  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1833, page 112, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2608/page/44/