E-text prepared by Al Haines, with thanks to David Bridson for checking
the German text
Transcriber's note: This book contains several brief passages in German, each of which is followed by an English translation. Several of the German words contain "o-umlaut", which has been rendered as "oe". Several others contain the German "Eszett" character, which has been rendered as "ss".
A Story of German Love
Translated from the German of
by
George P. Upton
Chicago
A. C. McClurg & Co.
1902
The translation of any work is at best a difficult task, and mustinevitably be prejudicial to whatever of beauty the original possesses.When the principal charm of the original lies in its elegantsimplicity, as in the case of the "Deutsche Liebe," the difficulty isstill further enhanced. The translator has sought to reproduce thesimple German in equally simple English, even at the risk oftransferring German idioms into the English text.
The story speaks for itself. Without plot, incidents or situations, itis nevertheless dramatically constructed, unflagging in interest,abounding in beauty, grace and pathos, and filled with the tenderestfeeling of sympathy, which will go straight to the heart of every loverof the ideal in the world of humanity, and every worshipper in theworld of nature. Its brief essays upon theology, literature and socialhabits, contained in the dialogues between the hero and the heroine,will commend themselves to the thoughtful reader by their clearness andbeauty of statement, as well as by their freedom from prejudice."Deutsche Liebe" is a poem in prose, whose setting is all the morebeautiful and tender, in that it is freed from the bondage of metre,and has been the unacknowledged source of many a poet's most strikingutterances.
As such, the translator gives it to the public, confident that it willfind ready acceptance among those who cherish the ideal, and a tenderwelcome by every lover of humanity.
The translator desires to make acknowledgments to J. J. Lalor, Esq.,late of the Chicago Tribune for his hearty co-operation in theprogress of the work, and many valuable suggestions; to Prof. Feuling,the eminent philologist, of the University of Wisconsin, for hisliteral version of the extracts from the "Deutsche Theologie," whichpreserve the quaintness of the original, and to Mrs. F. M. Brown, forher metrical version of Goethe's almost untranslatable lines, "Ueberallen Gipfeln, ist Ruh," which form the keynote of the beautifulharmony in the character of the heroine.
G.P.U.
Chicago, November, 1874.
Who has not, at some period of his life, seated himself at awriting-table, where, only a short time before, another sat, who nowrests in the grave? Who has not opened the drawers, which for longyears have hidden the secrets of a heart now buried in the holy peaceof the church-yard? Here lie the letters which were so precious to