"Your English critics may rail as they list," said the Baron7, while he and Flemming were returning from a stroll in the leafy gardens, outside the moat; "but, after all, Goethe was a magnificent old fellow. Only think of his life; his youth of passion, alternately aspiring8 and desponding, stormy, impetuous, headlong;--his romantic manhood, in which passion assumes the form of strength; assiduous, careful, toiling9, without haste, without rest; and his sublime10 old age,--the age of serene11 and classic repose12, where he stands like Atlas13, as Claudian has painted him in the Battle of the Giants, holding the world aloft upon his head, the ocean-streams hard frozen in his hoary14 locks."
"A good illustration of what the world calls his indifferentism."
"And do you know I rather like this indifferentism? Did you never have the misfortune to live in a community, where a difficulty in the parish seemed to announce the end of the world? or to know one of the benefactors15 of the human race, in the very `storm and pressure period' of his indiscreet enthusiasm? If you have, I think you will see something beautiful in the calm and dignified16 attitude which the old philosopher assumes."
"It is a pity, that his admirers had not a little of this philosophic17 coolness. It amuses me to read the various epithets18, which they apply to him; The Dear, dear Man! The Life-enjoying Man! The All-sided One! The Representative of Poetry upon earth! The Many-sided Master-Mind of Germany! His enemies rush into the other extreme, and hurl19 at him the fierce names of Old Humbug20! and Old Heathen! which hit like pistol-bullets."
"I confess, he was no saint."
"No; his philosophy is the old ethnic21 philosophy. You will find it all in a convenient andconcentrated, portable form in Horace's beautiful Ode to Thaliarcus. What I most object to in the old gentleman is his sensuality."
"O nonsense. Nothing can be purer than the Iphigenia; it is as cold and passionless as a marble statue."
"Very true; but you cannot say the same of some of the Roman Elegies22 and of that monstrous23 book the Elective Affinities24."
"Ah, my friend, Goethe is an artist; and looks upon all things as objects of art merely. Why should he not be allowed to copy in words what painters and sculptors25 copy in colors and in marble?"
"The artist shows his character in the choice of his subject. Goethe never sculptured an Apollo, nor painted a Madonna. He gives us only sinful Magdalens and rampant26 Fauns. He does not so much idealize as realize."
"He only copies nature."
"So did the artists, who made the bronzelamps of Pompeii. Would you hang one of those in your hall? To say that a man is an artist and copies nature is not enough. There are two great schools of art; the imitative and the imaginative. The latter is the most noble, and most enduring; and Goethe belonged rather to the former. Have you read Menzel's attack upon him?"
"By no means. He goes too far. He blames the poet for not being a politician. He might as well blame him for not being a missionary29 to the Sandwich Islands."
"And what do you think of Eckermann?"
"I think he is a toady30; a kind of German Boswell. Goethe knew he was drawing his portrait, and attitudinized accordingly. He works very hard to make a Saint Peter out of an old Jupiter, as the Catholics did at Rome."
"Well; call him Old Humbug, or Old Heathen, or what you please; I maintain, that, with all his errors and short-comings, he was a glorious specimen31 of a man."
"He certainly was. Did it ever occur to you that he was in some points like Ben Franklin? a kind of rhymed Ben Franklin? The practical tendency of his mind was the same; his love of science was the same; his benignant, philosophic spirit was the same; and a vast number of his little poetic32 maxims33 and sooth-sayings seem nothing more than the worldly wisdom of Poor Richard, versified."
"What most offends me is, that now every German jackass must have a kick at the dead lion."
"And every one who passes through Weimar must throw a book upon his grave, as travellers did of old a stone upon the grave of Manfredi, at Benevento. But, of all that has been said or sung, what most pleases me is Heine's Apologetic, if I may so call it; in which he says, that the minor34 poets, who flourished under the imperialreign of Goethe `resemble a young forest, where the trees first show their own magnitude after the oak of a hundred years, whose branches had towered above and overshadowed them, has fallen. There was not wanting an opposition35, that strove against Goethe, this majestic36 tree. Men of the most warring opinions united themselves for the contest. The adherents37 of the old faith, the orthodox, were vexed38, that, in the trunk of the vast tree, no niche39 with its holy image was to be found; nay40, that even the naked Dryads of paganism were permitted to play their witchery there; and gladly, with consecrated41 axe42, would they have imitated the holy Boniface, and levelled the enchanted43 oak to the ground. The followers44 of the new faith, the apostles of liberalism, were vexed on the other hand, that the tree could not serve as the Tree of Liberty, or, at any rate, as a barricade45. In fact the tree was too high; no one could plant the red cap upon its summit, or dance the Carmagnole beneath its branches. The multitude, however, venerated46 this tree for the veryreason, that it reared itself with such independent grandeur47, and so graciously filled the world with its odor, while its branches, streaming magnificently toward heaven, made it appear, as if the stars were only the golden fruit of its wondrous48 limbs.' Don't you think that beautiful?"
"Yes, very beautiful. And I am glad to see, that you can find something to admire in my favorite author, notwithstanding his frailties50; or, to use an old German saying, that you can drive the hens out of the garden without trampling51 down the beds."
"Here is the old gentleman himself!" exclaimed Flemming.
"Where!" cried the Baron, as if for the moment he expected to see the living figure of the poet walking before them.
"Here at the window,--that full-length cast. Excellent, is it not! He is dressed, as usual, in his long yellow nankeen surtout, with a white cravat52 crossed in front. What a magnificent head! and what a posture53! He stands like a tower ofstrength. And, by Heavens! he was nearly eighty years old, when that was made."
"How do you know?"
"You can see by the date on the pedestal."
"You are right. And yet how erect54 he stands, with his square shoulders braced55 back, and his hands behind him. He looks as if he were standing49 before the fire. I feel tempted56 to put a live coal into his hand, it lies so invitingly57 half-open. Gleim's description of him, soon after he went to Weimar, is very different from this. Do you recollect58 it?"
"No, I do not."
"It is a story, which good old father Gleim used to tell with great delight. He was one evening reading the Göttingen Musen-Almanach in a select society at Weimar, when a young man came in, dressed in a short, green shooting-jacket, booted and spurred, and having a pair of brilliant, black, Italian eyes. He in turn offered to read; but finding probably the poetry of the Musen-Almanach of that year rather too insipid59 for him, he soon began to improvise60 the wildest and most fantastic poems imaginable, and in all possible forms and measures, all the while pretending to read from the book. `That is either Goethe or the Devil,' said good old father Gleim to Wieland, who sat near him. To which the `Great I of Osmannstadt' replied; `It is both, for he has the Devil in him to-night; and at such times he is like a wanton colt, that flings out before and behind, and you will do well not to go too near him!' "
"Very good!"
"And now that noble figure is but mould. Only a few months ago, those majestic eyes looked for the last time on the light of a pleasant spring morning. Calm, like a god, the old man sat; and with a smile seemed to bid farewell to the light of day, on which he had gazed for more than eighty years. Books were near him, and the pen which had just dropped, as it were from his dying fingers. `Open the shutters61, and let in more light!' were the last words that came from those lips. Slowly stretching forth62 his hand, he seemed to write inthe air; and, as it sank down again and was motionless, the spirit of the old man departed."
"And yet the world goes on. It is strange how soon, when a great man dies, his place is filled; and so completely, that he seems no longer wanted. But let us step in here. I wish to buy that cast; and send it home to a friend."
点击收听单词发音
1 beheld | |
v.看,注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 );瞧;看呀;(叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现)哎哟 | |
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2 marvelled | |
v.惊奇,对…感到惊奇( marvel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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3 cloister | |
n.修道院;v.隐退,使与世隔绝 | |
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4 awe | |
n.敬畏,惊惧;vt.使敬畏,使惊惧 | |
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5 velvet | |
n.丝绒,天鹅绒;adj.丝绒制的,柔软的 | |
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6 annually | |
adv.一年一次,每年 | |
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7 baron | |
n.男爵;(商业界等)巨头,大王 | |
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8 aspiring | |
adj.有志气的;有抱负的;高耸的v.渴望;追求 | |
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9 toiling | |
长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的现在分词 ); 艰难缓慢地移动,跋涉 | |
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10 sublime | |
adj.崇高的,伟大的;极度的,不顾后果的 | |
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11 serene | |
adj. 安详的,宁静的,平静的 | |
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12 repose | |
v.(使)休息;n.安息 | |
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13 atlas | |
n.地图册,图表集 | |
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14 hoary | |
adj.古老的;鬓发斑白的 | |
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15 benefactors | |
n.捐助者,施主( benefactor的名词复数 );恩人 | |
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16 dignified | |
a.可敬的,高贵的 | |
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17 philosophic | |
adj.哲学的,贤明的 | |
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18 epithets | |
n.(表示性质、特征等的)词语( epithet的名词复数 ) | |
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19 hurl | |
vt.猛投,力掷,声叫骂 | |
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20 humbug | |
n.花招,谎话,欺骗 | |
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21 ethnic | |
adj.人种的,种族的,异教徒的 | |
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22 elegies | |
n.哀歌,挽歌( elegy的名词复数 ) | |
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23 monstrous | |
adj.巨大的;恐怖的;可耻的,丢脸的 | |
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24 affinities | |
n.密切关系( affinity的名词复数 );亲近;(生性)喜爱;类同 | |
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25 sculptors | |
雕刻家,雕塑家( sculptor的名词复数 ); [天]玉夫座 | |
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26 rampant | |
adj.(植物)蔓生的;狂暴的,无约束的 | |
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27 ferocious | |
adj.凶猛的,残暴的,极度的,十分强烈的 | |
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28 hews | |
v.(用斧、刀等)砍、劈( hew的第三人称单数 );砍成;劈出;开辟 | |
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29 missionary | |
adj.教会的,传教(士)的;n.传教士 | |
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30 toady | |
v.奉承;n.谄媚者,马屁精 | |
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31 specimen | |
n.样本,标本 | |
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32 poetic | |
adj.富有诗意的,有诗人气质的,善于抒情的 | |
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33 maxims | |
n.格言,座右铭( maxim的名词复数 ) | |
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34 minor | |
adj.较小(少)的,较次要的;n.辅修学科;vi.辅修 | |
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35 opposition | |
n.反对,敌对 | |
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36 majestic | |
adj.雄伟的,壮丽的,庄严的,威严的,崇高的 | |
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37 adherents | |
n.支持者,拥护者( adherent的名词复数 );党羽;徒子徒孙 | |
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38 vexed | |
adj.争论不休的;(指问题等)棘手的;争论不休的问题;烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 );使苦恼;使生气;详细讨论 | |
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39 niche | |
n.壁龛;合适的职务(环境、位置等) | |
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40 nay | |
adv.不;n.反对票,投反对票者 | |
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41 consecrated | |
adj.神圣的,被视为神圣的v.把…奉为神圣,给…祝圣( consecrate的过去式和过去分词 );奉献 | |
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42 axe | |
n.斧子;v.用斧头砍,削减 | |
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43 enchanted | |
adj. 被施魔法的,陶醉的,入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词 | |
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44 followers | |
追随者( follower的名词复数 ); 用户; 契据的附面; 从动件 | |
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45 barricade | |
n.路障,栅栏,障碍;vt.设路障挡住 | |
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46 venerated | |
敬重(某人或某事物),崇敬( venerate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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47 grandeur | |
n.伟大,崇高,宏伟,庄严,豪华 | |
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48 wondrous | |
adj.令人惊奇的,奇妙的;adv.惊人地;异乎寻常地;令人惊叹地 | |
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49 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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50 frailties | |
n.脆弱( frailty的名词复数 );虚弱;(性格或行为上的)弱点;缺点 | |
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51 trampling | |
踩( trample的现在分词 ); 践踏; 无视; 侵犯 | |
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52 cravat | |
n.领巾,领结;v.使穿有领结的服装,使结领结 | |
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53 posture | |
n.姿势,姿态,心态,态度;v.作出某种姿势 | |
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54 erect | |
n./v.树立,建立,使竖立;adj.直立的,垂直的 | |
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55 braced | |
adj.拉牢的v.支住( brace的过去式和过去分词 );撑牢;使自己站稳;振作起来 | |
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56 tempted | |
v.怂恿(某人)干不正当的事;冒…的险(tempt的过去分词) | |
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57 invitingly | |
adv. 动人地 | |
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58 recollect | |
v.回忆,想起,记起,忆起,记得 | |
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59 insipid | |
adj.无味的,枯燥乏味的,单调的 | |
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60 improvise | |
v.即兴创作;临时准备,临时凑成 | |
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61 shutters | |
百叶窗( shutter的名词复数 ); (照相机的)快门 | |
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62 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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