THE YOUTH OF GOETHE
BY P. HUME BROWN, LL.D., F.B.A.
LONDON
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, W.
1913
TO
THE VISCOUNT HALDANE OF CLOAN,
LORD CHANCELLOR OF GREAT BRITAIN.
MY DEAR CHANCELLOR,—AS THE "ONLY BEGETTER" OF THIS BOOK, IT SEEMS ALMOST OBLIGATORY THAT IT SHOULD BE ASSOCIATED WITH YOUR NAME.
THE AUTHOR.
GOETHE'S BIOGRAPHIE.
"Anfangs ist es ein Punkt der leise zum Kreise sich öffnet,Aber, wachsend, umfasst dieser am Ende die Welt."
Friedrich Hebbel.
"In the beginning a point that soft to the circle expandeth,
But the circle at length, growing, enclaspeth the world."
CONTENTS
Preface
CHAPTER I
EARLY YEARS IN FRANKFORT
1749—1765
PAGE GOETHE'S BIRTHPLACE AND ITS INFLUENCE ON HIM 1 PERIOD OF HIS BIRTH 4 HIS FATHER 6 HIS MOTHER 8 HIS SISTER 10 FAMILY FRIENDS 11 HIS EDUCATION 12 RELIGIOUS INFLUENCES 14 THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR 18 FRENCH OCCUPATION OF FRANKFORT 19 GOETHE'S FIRST LOVE 21 DESTINED FOR THE STUDY OF LAW 23 THE BOY THE FATHER OF THE MAN 25 HIS CHARACTER AND EARLY TASTES 27CHAPTER II
STUDENT IN LEIPZIG
OCTOBER, 1765—SEPTEMBER, 1768
GOES TO LEIPZIG 29 HIS WILD LIFE THERE 29 SOCIETY OF LEIPZIG 31 HIS IRREGULAR STUDIES 33 ADOPTS LEIPZIG FASHIONS 35 FEMININE INFLUENCES 36 DANDYISM 37 FALLS IN LOVE WITH KÄTHCHEN SCHÖNKOPF 38 FRIENDSHIP WITH BEHRISCH 39 HIS RELATIONS TO KÄTHCHEN 40 MISCELLANEOUS INTERESTS 44 FRIENDSHIP WITH OESER 46CHAPTER III
AT HOME IN FRANKFORT
SEPTEMBER, 1768—APRIL, 1770
RETURNS TO FRANKFORT 57 HIS BROKEN HEALTH 58 RELATIONS TO HIS FATHER 58 HIS SISTER 60 INTEREST IN RELIGION 61 FRIENDSHIP WITH FRÄULEIN VON KLETTENBERG 62 A MYSTERIOUS MEDICINE 63 EVOLVES A RELIGIOUS CREED 65 INFLUENCE OF FRÄULEIN VON KLETTENBERG 66 INTEREST IN LITERATURE AND ART 67 LESSING AND WIELAND 70 RIPENING POWERS 71CHAPTER IV
GOETHE IN STRASSBURG
APRIL, 1770—AUGUST, 1771
SETTLEMENT IN STRASSBURG 75 INFLUENCES OF STRASSBURG 75 CHANGE IN HIS RELIGIOUS FEELINGS 76 MANNER OF LIFE IN STRASSBURG 78 FRIENDSHIP WITH DR. SALZMANN 79 RELATIONS TO JUNG STILLING 83 COMES UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF HERDER 84 YOUNG'S CONJECTURES ON ORIGINAL COMPOSITION 90 ITS INFLUENCE ON GOETHE'S GENIUS 93 FRIEDERIKE BRION 95 HIS RELATIONS TO HER 96 PARTING FROM HER 101 MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES 102 SELF-DISCIPLINE 103 POEMS ADDRESSED TO FRIEDERIKE 105CHAPTER V
FRANKFORT—GÖTZ VON BERLICHINGEN
AUGUST, 1771—DECEMBER, 1771
GOETHE'S RETURN TO FRANKFORT 108 CREATIVE PRODUCTIVENESS OF THE PERIOD 108 POET OR ARTIST? 111 MENTAL CONFLICT 112 EPOCHS IN HIS LAST FRANKFORT YEARS 113 HIS SISTER CORNELIA 116 GROWING DISTASTE FOR FRANKFORT 117 DEPRESSION 119 WORSHIP OF SHAKESPEARE 120 GÖTZ VON BERLICHINGEN 121 ITS INFLUENCE ON EUROPEAN LITERATURE 131CHAPTER VI
INFLUENCE OF MERCK AND THE DARMSTADT CIRCLE
1772
FRIENDSHIP WITH MERCK 133 CHARACTER OF MERCK 133 HIS INFLUENCE ON GOETHE 135 THE DARMSTADT CIRCLE 136 ITS INFLUENCE ON GOETHE 136 CAROLINE FLACHSLAND AND GOETHE 137 POEMS OF GOETHE INSPIRED BY THE DARMSTADT CIRCLE 138 WANDERERS STURMLIED 139 DER WANDERER 141CHAPTER VII
WETZLAR AND CHARLOTTE BUFF
MAY—SEPTEMBER, 1772
DEPARTURE FROM WETZLAR 143 WETZLAR AND ITS SOCIETY 144 LOTTE BUFF 147 GOETHE'S RELATIONS TO HER 147 KESTNER, LOTTE'S BETROTHED 148 GOETHE, KESTNER, AND LOTTE 149 DEPARTURE FROM WETZLAR 150 KESTNER'S CHARACTERISATION OF GOETHE 151CHAPTER VIII
AFTER WETZLAR
1772—1773
CHAPTER IX
SATIRICAL DRAMAS AND FRAGMENTS
POET OR ARTIST? 163 LITERARY ACTIVITY 164 FRANKFURTER GELEHRTEN ANZEIGEN 165 LETTER OF THE PASTOR 166 TWO BIBLICAL QUESTIONS 167 RECASTS GÖTZ VON BERLICHINGEN 167 SATIRICAL PLAYS 169 PROMETHEUS 175 MAHOMET 181 ADLER UND TAUBE 183 KÜNSTLERS ERDEWALLEN 184CHAPTER X
WERTHER—CLAVIGO
1774
GOETHE'S NEED OF EXTERNAL STIMULUS 185 GOETHE AND THE BRENTANOS 186 ORIGIN OF WERTHER 187 ENGLISH INFLUENCE ON WERTHER 188 PUBLICATION OF WERTHER 189 GOETHE AND WERTHER 190 SECOND PART OF WERTHER 191 WERTHER AND GOETHE 193 INFLUENCE OF WERTHER 196 THE KESTNERS AND WERTHER 198 WERTHERISM 199 CLAVIGO 200 DRAMATISED FROM BEAUMARCHAIS 200 ORIGIN OF CLAVIGOCHAPTER XI
GOETHE AND SPINOZA—DER EWIGE JUDE
1773—1774
GOETHE'S DEBT TO SPINOZA 209 MISDATES SPINOZA'S INFLUENCE 210 DER EWIGE JUDE 212 ORIGINAL PLAN OF IT 213 AS IT WAS ACTUALLY WRITTEN 216 ITS DIVISIONS 216 ITS CHARACTERISTICS 216 UNPUBLISHED TILL AFTER GOETHE'S DEATH 218CHAPTER XII
GOETHE IN SOCIETY
1774
JOHANN KASPAR LAVATER 220 HIS CHARACTER 220 HIS INTEREST IN GOETHE 222 VISITS FRANKFORT 224 HIS INTERCOURSE WITH GOETHE 225 JOHANN BERNHARD BASEDOW 227 HIS CHARACTER AND CAREER 227 HIS VISIT TO FRANKFORT 228 GOETHE, LAVATER, AND BASEDOW AT EMS 228 THEIR VOYAGE DOWN THE RHINE 230 JUNG STILLING 231 SCENE AT ELBERFELDT 232 FRITZ JACOBI 233 GOETHE MAKES HIS ACQUAINTANCE 233 THEIR INTERCOURSE 234 JACOBI'S ESTIMATE OF GOETHE 237 KLOPSTOCK 238 GOETHE'S ADMIRATION OF HIM 238 THEIR MEETING IN FRANKFORT 239 AN SCHWAGER KRONOS 240 BOIE AND WERTHES ON GOETHECHAPTER XIII
LILI SCHÖNEMANN
1775
THE SCHÖNEMANN FAMILY 247 GOETHE'S INTRODUCTION TO LILI SCHÖNEMANN 248 HIS SUBSEQUENT MEMORY OF HER 249 LILI COMPARED WITH HIS PREVIOUS LOVES 250 GOETHE'S SONGS ADDRESSED TO HER 251 COUNTESS STOLBERG 253 GOETHE'S RELATIONS TO HER 253 ERWIN UND ELMIRE 255 STELLA 257 CLAUDINE VON VILLA BELLA 263 A DISTRACTED LOVER 266 BETROTHED TO LILI 268 SHRINKS FROM MARRIAGE 269 COUNTS STOLBERG IN FRANKFORT 270 GOETHE STARTS WITH THEM FOR SWITZERLAND 271 VISITS HIS SISTER AT EMMENDINGEN 273 WITH LAVATER IN ZURICH 275 ACCOMPANIES PASSAVANT TO ST. GOTHARD 276 LYRICS TO LILI 276 RETURN TO FRANKFORT 278CHAPTER XIV
LAST MONTHS IN FRANKFORT—THE URFAUST
1775
RELATIONS TO LILI ON HIS RETURN 279 A CRISIS IN THEIR RELATIONS 281 MISCELLANEOUS INTERESTS 282 ESTIMATES OF GOETHE BY SULZER AND ZIMMERMANN 283 INVITATION TO WEIMAR 284 PROPOSED JOURNEY TO ITALY 285 A DELAYED MESSENGERIndex
PREFACE
"Generally speaking," Goethe has himself said, "the most important period in the life of an individual is that of his development—the period which, in my case, breaks off with the detailed narrative of Dichtung und Wahrheit." In reality, as we know, there is no complete breach at any point in the lives of either nations or individuals. But if in the life of Goethe we are to fix upon a dividing point, it is his departure from Frankfort and his permanent settlement in Weimar in his twenty-seventh year. Considered externally, that change of his surroundings is the most obvious event in his career, and for the world at large marks its division into two well-defined periods. In relation to his inner development his removal from Frankfort to Weimar may also be regarded as the most important fact in his life. From the date of his settlement in Weimar he was subjected to influences which equally affected his character and his genius; had he continued to make his home in Frankfort, it is probable that, both as man and literary artist, he would have developed characteristics essentially different from those by which the world knows him. There were later experiences—notably his Italian journey and his intercourse with Schiller—which profoundly influenced him, but none of these experiences penetrated his being so permanently as the atmosphere of Weimar, which he daily breathed for more than half a century.
As Goethe himself has said, the first twenty-six years of his life are essentially the period of his "development." During that period we see him as he came from Nature's hand. His words, his actions have then a stamp of spontaneity which they gradually lost with advancing years as the result of his social and official relations in Weimar. He has told us that it was one of the painful conditions of his position there that it made impossible that frank and cordial relation with others which it was his nature to seek, and from which he had previously derived encouragement and stimulus; as a State official, he adds, he could be on easy terms with nobody without running the risk of a petition for some favour which he might or might not be able to confer.
For the portrayal of the youthful Goethe materials are even superabundant; of no other genius of the same order, indeed, have we a record comparable in fulness of detail for the same period of life. And it is this abundance of information and the extraordinary individuality to whom it relates that give specific interest to any study of Goethe's youth. From month to month, even at times from day to day, we can trace the growth of his character, of his opinions, of his genius. And the testimonies of his contemporaries are unanimous as to the unique impression he made upon them. "He will always remain to me one of the most extraordinary apparitions of my life," wrote one; and he expressed the opinion of all who had the discernment to appreciate originality of gifts and character. What they found unique in him was inspiration, passion, a zest of life, at a pressure that foreshadowed either a remarkable career or (at times his own dread) disaster.
It was said of Goethe in his latest years that the world would come to believe that there had been, not one, but many Goethes; and, as we follow him through the various stages of his youth, we receive the same impression. It results from this manifoldness of his nature that he defies every attempt to formulate his characteristics at any period of his life. In the present study of him the object has been to let his own words and actions speak for themselves; any conclusions that may be suggested, the reader will thus have it in his own power to check.
After Goethe's own writings, the works to which I have been chiefly indebted are Goethes Gespräche, Gesamtausgabe von Freiherrn v. Biedermann, Leipzig, 1909-11 (5 vols.), in which are collected references to Goethe by his contemporaries; and Der junge Goethe: Neue Ausgabe in sechs Bänden, besorgt von Max Morris, Leipzig, 1910-12, containing the literary and artistic productions of Goethe previous to his settlement in Weimar. The references throughout are to the Weimar edition of Goethe's works. Except where otherwise indicated, the author is responsible for the translations, both in prose and verse.
I have cordially to express my gratitude to Dr. G. Schaaffs, Lecturer in German in the University of St. Andrews, and to Mr. Frank C. Nicholson, Librarian in the University of Edinburgh, for the trouble they took in revising my proofs.
P.H.B.
Edinburgh.