ch
demanded it, and then she, as well as the poet, is held excused. We will
only listen to what Juranitsch answers when she has made her wish clear
to him. He says:

"Thee, I must kill? Thee? no, I cannot kill thee!"

This would be human, but listen to what follows:

"--When the storm wind
O'erthrows the oak and rages 'mongst the pines,
It leaves unharmed the tender floweret,
Its thunders change to gentle whisp'ring zephyrs
And shall I wilder be than the wild storm?
Shall I destroy life's loveliest vernal wreath?
In cruelty the boisterous elements
Surpassing, shall I break this floweret
To touch which destiny's hand has yet not dared?"

I ask you is it possible to surpass such trivial nonsense?

I shall say no more concerning Koerner's individual scenes. This is not
committing an injustice; for it is absolutely unimportant, so far as our
investigation is concerned, whether and in how far Koerner had the
ability to construct a tragedy, since this faculty--as Goethe's example
shows us--has nothing to do with poetry in itself. There is no need for
us to draw the parallel between the _Prince of Homburg_ and _Zriny_; it
is quite evident. One reproach, however, which might be made by an
attentive reader, I must anticipate: namely, I might be asked why I have
subjected the two principal characters of Koerner's tragedy to a regular
police examination, and, instead of accepting them in their totality,
have required them to render account in how far they were heroes,
commanders, tyrants, etc. But since they are, like all creations of mere
talent, nothing but arrows which are shot from a certain bow-string
toward a certain target, it follows that they can only be judged by the
deflections from their course. Herein--be it remarked incidentally--lies
the difference, often perceived but seldom explained, between the
characters portrayed by Schiller and those portrayed by Goethe.
Schiller's characters--to use a play on words which for once expresses
the truth--are beautiful because they are self-contained; Goethe's
characters because they are unrestrained. Schiller delineates the man
who is complete in his own strength, and, a man of iron, is tried by
circumstances; for this reason Schiller was great only in the historical
drama. Goethe delineates the endless creations of the moment, the
eternal modifications of the man caused by every step that he takes;
this is the token by which we may recognize genius, an