The moment chosen by Goethe is that when Tasso, having just completed his Jerusalem Delivered, gives unmistakeable signs of the unhappy passion and the unhappy malady which have made his biography one of the saddest in the long sad list of

"Mighty poets in their misery dead."

I am not sufficiently versed in this chapter of literary history to offer an opinion on the skill with which Goethe has worked historical facts into his fable; but German critics declare that he has saturated the work with such facts. Certain it is that 'the strictness of history has been disregarded both in the character of Alphonso, and in the tone of the whole drama. Indeed there was too close an affinity between the position of Tasso at the Court of Ferrara, and the position of Goethe at the Court of Weimar, not to make this divergence from history commanded by a desire to illustrate personal experience, and a desire not to seem to imply a sarcasm on Court protection. Had Goethe painted truly the relation between Tasso and Alphonso, the public might have read "between the lines", reflections against the Court of Weimar. Indeed, as it is, ingenuity has been fruitful in supposition: Alphonso has been regarded as representing Karl August, the Princess as Luise, Antonio as Herder, and Leonora as the Frau von Stein. It is difficult to say what amount of truth there may be in such conjectures; for it is certain that in many of the honourable traits of Alphonso we recognize Karl August; it is certain that Goethe had a very tender regard,—not, however, approaching love, for the Duchess; and although Herder. cannot, by anyone well versed in the literary history of this period, be recognized in Antonio, yet the Frau von Stein assuredly lent some traits to Leonora. These indications, coupled with the notorious fact that Goethe always gave poetic expression to his own experience, assure us that Tasso contains much of personal history; but how much cannot be determined.

Tasso was commenced in the year 1777, and to that year we must recur, if we would seize the leading idea of the poem. Tasso is introduced living completely absorbed in poetry, but restlessly vague in his purposes. He lives in a small city,

distinguished from all other cities by the greatness of its Princes, not by the greatness of its people.

"Ein edler Mensch zieht edle Menschen an,

Und weiss sie festzuhalten."

He withdraws himself from the Court, and seems only happy in solitude. Antonio the diplomatist, the much experienced man, arrives, and fills the mind of Tasso with strange envy at his power and experience. In vain has the Princess taken from the bust of Virgil the laurel crown to place it on her poet's head; in vain has Alphonso expressed his deep delight at the completion of the Jerusalem Delivered; Tasso has heard Antonio-the Ideal has come in contact with the Real, and marvels at its greatness:

So strangely have his nature and his words
Affected me, that more than ever now

A want of inward harmony I feel. *

The Princess mistakes his feeling; she thinks he is agitated by Antonio's praise of Ariosto; but he assures her:

*

No, that which hath most deeply mov'd my heart,

Which even now completely fills my soul,

Was the majestic picture of that world,

Which, with its living, restless, mighty, forms
Around one great and prudent man revolves,

And runs with measur'd steps the destin'd course
Prescrib'd beforehand by the demigod.

I listen'd eagerly, and heard with joy
The wise discourse of the experienc'd man:
But ah! the more I heard, the more I felt
Mine own unworthiness, and fear'd that I
Like empty sound, might dissipate in air,
Or vanish like an echo or a dream.

PRINCESS.

And yet erewhile thou didst so truly feel
How bards and heroes for each other live,

How bards and heroes to each other tend,

And toward each other know no envious thought,

Noble in truth are deeds deserving fame,

But it is also noble to transmit

Throughout, the translation followed is that of Miss Swanwick.

The lofty grandeur of heroic deeds,
Through worthy song, to our posterity.

Be satisfied to contemplate in peace,

From a small, shelt'ring state, as from the shore,
The wild and stormy current of the world.

TASSO.

Was it not here, amaz'd, I first beheld

The high reward on valiant deeds bestow'd?
An inexperienc'd youth I here arriv'd,
When festival on festival conspir'd

To render this the centre of renown.
Oh what a scene Ferrara then display'd!
The wide arena, where in all its pomp
Accomplish'd valour should its skill display,
Was bounded by a circle, whose high worth
The sun might seek to parallel in vain.
The fairest women sat assembled there,
And men the most distinguish'd of the age.
Amaz'd the eye ran o'er the noble throng;
Proudly I cried, "And 'tis our Fatherland,
That small, sea-girded land, hath sent them here.
They constitute the noblest court that e'er
On honour, worth, or virtue, judgment pass'd.
Survey them singly, and thou'lt not find one
Of whom his neighbour needs to feel asham'd!”—
And then the lists were open'd, chargers pranc'd,
Esquires press'd forward, helmets brightly gleam'd,
The trumpet sounded, shiv'ring lances split,
The din of clanging helm and shield was heard,
And for a moment eddying dust conceal'd
The victor's honour and the vanquish'd's shame.
Oh let me draw a curtain o'er the scene,

The all too brilliant festival conceal.

That in this tranquil hour I may not feel
Too painfully mine own unworthiness!

He does not like Antonio; instinctively he feels the antagonism which must exist between their natures.

him

For he possesses, I may truly say,

All that in me is wanting. But alas!

When round his cradle all the gods assembled

To bring their gifts, the Graces were not there.
And he who lacks what these fair Powers impart

May much possess and much communicate,

But on his bosom we can ne'er repose.

He admires

Prompted by this admiration, he is easily persuaded by the

Princess to seek the friendship of Antonio. He does so, in a child-like impulsive way. The stern, rational Antonio has none of this enthusiasm, has no sympathy for Tasso, and rejects his advances with exasperating coldness. A quarrel ensues. Tasso, whose madness is coming on, is irritated into drawing his sword in the palace precincts. Alphonso appears, parts the antagonists, and orders Tasso to retire to his room.

This quarrel between Antonio and Tasso obviously represents the struggle in Goethe's mind between statesmanship and poetry during the first experiences of his Weimar life. The scornful coldness of Antonio is the openly declared war of politics with poetry.

The punishment which is inflicted on Tasso, trifling and purely formal as it is, acting on his already excited mental condition, developes into greater distinctness the tendencies to insanity which have previously shown themselves. He feigns to be reconciled with Antonio, whom he believes to form one of a conspiracy against him in which all are joined, and begs to be allowed to depart for Rome. His request is granted, and then follows an interview with the Princess, in which his long concealed passion flames forth. I give the scene to the conclusion:

TASSO.

'Tis thou thyself, a holy angel still,

As when at first thou didst appear to me!
The mortal's darken'd vision, oh, forgive,
If while he gaz'd, he for a moment err'd;
Now he again discerns thee, and his soul
Aspires to honour thee eternally.

A flood of tenderness o'erwhelms my heart-
She stands before me ! She! What feeling this?

Is it distraction draws me unto thee?

Or is it madness? or a sense sublime

Which apprehends the purest, loftiest truth?

Yes, 'tis the only feeling that on earth
Hath power to make and keep me truly blest,
Or that could overwhelm me with despair.
What time I wrestled with it, and resolved
To banish it for ever from my heart.
This fiery passion I had thought to quell,
Still with mine inmost being strove and strove,

Away!

And in the strife my very self destroyed,
Which is to thee indissolubly bound.

PRINCESS.

If thou would'st have me, Tasso, listen to thee,
Restrain this fervid glow, which frightens me.

TASSO.

Restrains the goblet's rim the bubbling wine
That sparkling foams, and overflows its bounds?
Thine ev'ry word doth elevate my bliss,

With ev'ry word more brightly gleams thine eye.
Over my spirit's depths there comes a change;
Reliev'd from dark perplexity, I feel

Free as a god, and all I owe to thee!

A charm unspeakable, which masters me,

Flows from thy lips. Thou makest me all thine.
Of mine own being nought belongs to me.
Mine eye grows dim in the excess of light,

My senses fail me; I can scarcely stand.
Thou draw'st me to thee with resistless might,
And my heart rushes self-impell'd to thee.
Thou'st won me now for all eternity,

Then fake my whole of being to thyself.

[He throws himself into her arms, and clasps her to his bosom.

PRINCESS.

(Throwing him from her and retiring in haste.)

LEONORA.

(Who has for some time appeared in the back ground, hastening forward.) What then has happen'd? Tasso! Tasso!

Oh God!

[She follows the Princess.

TASSO (about to follow her).

ALPHONSO.

(Who has for some time been approaching with Antonio.)
He is distracted, hold him fast.

If that a foeman,-as thou deem'st thyself

Environ'd by a multitude of foes

Beside thee stood, how would he triumph now?

Unhappy man? I am not yet myself!

When something quite unparallel'd occurs,

When something monstrous first arrests our sight,
The stagger'd spirit stands a moment still,
For we know nothing to compare it with.
TASSO (after a long pause).
Fulfil thine office, I perceive 'tis thou!
Ay, thou deserv'st the Prince's confidence.

[Exit.