at high tension by work and
research.

Mere studying undertaken with no immediate end in view save that of
acquiring knowledge, and which has such a fascination for those who
are familiar with it that they must be constantly on their guard lest
it cause them to neglect other more definite duties--such studying, I
say, he knew nothing about from experience, nor did he esteem it at
its proper value. Knowledge seemed to him too material, and the forces
of the intellect too noble, for him to see in this material anything
more than mere stuff to be worked up. It was only because he placed
more value upon the higher activity of the intellect, which creates
independently out of its own depths, that he had so little sympathy
with its efforts of a lower order. It is indeed remarkable from what a
small stock of material and how, in spite of wanting the means by
which such material is procured by others, Schiller obtained his
comprehensive theory of life (_Weltanschauung_), which, when once
grasped, fairly startles us by the intuitive truthfulness of genius;
for one can give no other name to that which originates without
outside aid.

Even in Germany he had traveled only in certain districts, while
Switzerland, of which his _William Tell_ contains such vivid
descriptions, he had never seen. Any one who has ever stood by the
Falls of the Rhine will involuntarily recall, at the sight, the
beautiful strophe in _The Diver_ in which this confusing tumult of
waters, that so captivates the eye, is depicted; and yet no personal
view of these rapids had served as the basis for Schiller's
description.

But whatever Schiller did acquire from his own experience he grasped
with a clearness which also brought distinctly before him what he
learned from the description of others. Besides, he never neglected to
prepare himself for every subject by exhaustive reading. Anything that
might prove to be of use, even if discovered accidentally, fixed
itself firmly in his memory; and his tirelessly-working imagination,
which, with constant liveliness, elaborated now this now that part of
the material collected from every source, filled out the deficiencies
of such second-hand information.

In a manner quite similar he made the spirit of Greek poetry his own,
although his knowledge of it was gained exclusively from translations.
In this connection he spared himself no pains. He preferred
translations which disclaimed any particular merit in themselv