cene,
repetition, varying series of scenes or words, archaized language; but
it is just as often in the mood which Uhland throws over the whole. He
thus can catch the inner form and essential mood of the popular ballad
in a way that not even Goethe does in his _Erlking_. Uhland's ballads
and romances vary greatly in quality; none, perhaps, has the grandiose
dramatic and ethical note of Schiller's _The Cranes of Ibycus_
and none the power of revealing the hidden forces of nature in
anthropomorphic and demoniac form as Goethe does in his _Erlking_ and
_The Fisher_. But Uhland's poems are more varied in treatment, even
though he cannot be said to have brought any new forms and themes into
German verse. There is much talk of poets and poetry in his verse and
much of the tender melancholy of parting lovers, of separation and
death. There are also some very healthy bacchic notes. Often the
ballads are a mere presentation of a scene, with neither plot nor
moral; once in a while, too, Uhland shows a humorous touch. But
various as are his themes and treatments, the treatment is always
nicely adapted to the theme.

It is difficult to imagine a better suiting of form and content than
in _The Singer's Curse_. The management of the vowel sequences is
truly wonderful and the rhymes carry the emotional words with a fine
virtuosity. _The Luck of Edenhall_, a variation of a Scottish theme
and also of the Biblical "_Mene tekel_," displays without sermonizing
the greatest ethical vigor. It has far more dramatic energy than
either Byron's or Heine's "Belshazzar" poems, with fully as much
dismal foreboding. _Taillefer_, which has been called "the sparkling
queen" of Uhland's ballads, has fresh vigor but lacks the power
of handling the moral forces of the universe with as much dramatic
vividness. It has a naive joy of life not elsewhere found in Uhland's
ballads.

Uhland was the greatest poet of the "Suabian School," a group of young
men who objected to being denominated a school. Among them was
William Hauff (1802-27), who is known for several lyrics, a number
of excellent short stories, and a historical novel, _Lichtenstein_
(1826), in the manner of Scott. His _Trooper's Song_ is a variation
of an old theme and is of great metrical interest in that here, as
in Uhland, one may observe how the subtle handling of rhythm, the
lengthening or shortening of a line, or the shift of stress, brings
with it a corresponding shift of emotion. _Licht