and son-in-law, in some romantic caprice, make a
pilgrimage, in disguise, to the seashore, and encounter the old man, who
does not recognize them. Here all that Shakespeare's lofty, tragic
spirit has embittered is made sweet. A comparison of these dramas
affords ever renewed pleasure to the lover of art.

In recent years, however, the notion has crept into Germany that
Shakespeare must be presented on the German stage word for word, even if
actors and audience should fairly choke in the process. The attempts,
induced by an excellent, exact translation,[3] would not succeed
anywhere--a fact to which the Weimar stage, after honest and repeated
efforts, can give unexceptionable testimony. If we wish to see a
Shakespearean play, we must return to Schroeder's adaptation; but the
dogma that, in representing Shakespeare, not a jot or tittle may be
omitted, senseless as it is, is constantly being reechoed. If the
advocates of this view should retain the upper hand, Shakespeare would
in a few years be entirely driven from the German stage. This, indeed,
would be no misfortune; for the solitary reader, or the reader in
company with others, would experience so much the purer delight.

The attempt, however, in the other direction, on which we have dilated
above, was made in the arrangement of _Romeo and Juliet_ for the Weimar
stage. The principles upon which this was based, we shall set forth at
the first opportunity, and it will perhaps then be recognized why that
arrangement--the representation of which is by no means difficult, but
must be carried out artistically and with precision--had no success on
the German stage. Similar efforts are now in progress, and perhaps some
result is in store for the future, even though such undertakings
frequently fail at the first trial.

ORATION ON WIELAND (1813)[4]

TRANSLATED BY LOUIS H. GRAY, PH. D.

[To the Memory of the noble Poet, Brother, and Friend, Wieland.]

Most serene protector!
Right worshipful master I
Very honorable assembly I

Although under no circumstances does it become the individual to set
himself in opposition to ancient, venerable customs, or of his own will
to alter what our ancestors in their wisdom have deemed right and have
ordained, nevertheless, had I really at my bidding the magician's wand
which the muses in spirit intrusted to our departed friend, I should in
an instant transform all these sad surroundings into those of joy. This
da