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On the Genesis and Meaning of Romanticism

On the Genesis and Meaning of Romanticism

Arthur O. Lovejoy
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We may, finally, observe both the similarity and the contrast between "sentimentalisch" and "romantisch" by recalling the terms in which Schlegel defined the latter in the celebrated Fragment 116 in the Athenaeum in which the adjective received, so to say, its first official definition. "Romantic poetry" is, first of all, a "progressive Poesie." It is "still in Becoming; indeed, this is its very essence, so that forever it can only become, and never be." In this, obviously, it resembles Schiller's "sentimental poetry." But Romantic poetry is also "Universalpoesie "—universal, be it noted, not in the sense of universality of appeal, but in the sense of totality, or all-inclusiveness of content, an all-inclusiveness which it can ever more nearly approximate but never attain. It must not only unite in itself the several forms and genres of poetry, but it must also "fill and cram every art-form with every sort of solid Bildungsstoff and animate the whole with the play of humor. It embraces everything whatsoever that is poetic, from the greatest system of art containing within itself other systems, to the sigh, the kiss which the child breathes forth as it improvises an artless song. . . . It alone can become a mirror of the whole surrounding world, a picture of the age." And yet it also, more than any other, can express the reflection of the poet upon the objects which he represents. "It alone is infinite, because it alone is free; and it accepts this as its first law, that the freedom of the poet shall suffer no law to be imposed upon it." "From the romantic standpoint," adds Schlegel in a later Fragment, "even the degenerate types of poetry—the eccentric and the monstrous—have their value as materials for and essays towards universality, if only there is really something in them, if they are original." 17,450 words, original print: 1916-1920

Contains parts 1 and 2 of two essays written by A. O. Lovejoy:

On the Meaning of 'Romantic' in Early German Romanticism
Schiller and the Genesis of Romanticism
Language
English
Pages
52
Format
Kindle Edition
Release
March 14, 2014

On the Genesis and Meaning of Romanticism

Arthur O. Lovejoy
0/5 ( ratings)
We may, finally, observe both the similarity and the contrast between "sentimentalisch" and "romantisch" by recalling the terms in which Schlegel defined the latter in the celebrated Fragment 116 in the Athenaeum in which the adjective received, so to say, its first official definition. "Romantic poetry" is, first of all, a "progressive Poesie." It is "still in Becoming; indeed, this is its very essence, so that forever it can only become, and never be." In this, obviously, it resembles Schiller's "sentimental poetry." But Romantic poetry is also "Universalpoesie "—universal, be it noted, not in the sense of universality of appeal, but in the sense of totality, or all-inclusiveness of content, an all-inclusiveness which it can ever more nearly approximate but never attain. It must not only unite in itself the several forms and genres of poetry, but it must also "fill and cram every art-form with every sort of solid Bildungsstoff and animate the whole with the play of humor. It embraces everything whatsoever that is poetic, from the greatest system of art containing within itself other systems, to the sigh, the kiss which the child breathes forth as it improvises an artless song. . . . It alone can become a mirror of the whole surrounding world, a picture of the age." And yet it also, more than any other, can express the reflection of the poet upon the objects which he represents. "It alone is infinite, because it alone is free; and it accepts this as its first law, that the freedom of the poet shall suffer no law to be imposed upon it." "From the romantic standpoint," adds Schlegel in a later Fragment, "even the degenerate types of poetry—the eccentric and the monstrous—have their value as materials for and essays towards universality, if only there is really something in them, if they are original." 17,450 words, original print: 1916-1920

Contains parts 1 and 2 of two essays written by A. O. Lovejoy:

On the Meaning of 'Romantic' in Early German Romanticism
Schiller and the Genesis of Romanticism
Language
English
Pages
52
Format
Kindle Edition
Release
March 14, 2014

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