Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from The Treatment of Nature in German Literature From Gunther to the Appearance of Goethes Werther: A Dissertation
To understand more fully the change of attitude toward nature which came to pass in the eighteenth century, endeavor should be made to find out the chief characteristics that marked the treatment of nature in the poetry of the seventeenth century. For this purpose it is perhaps best to examine in detail the works of some representative poet and draw illustrations from others indicative of the same spirit. Martin Opitz (1597 - 1639) is, no doubt, the central figure of the period under discussion. His own as well as succeeding generations looked upon him as their fountain-head; hence his view of nature is prob ably typical of the seventeenth century. It may be noted at once that he refers not infrequently to idyllic life - he was, as is well known, influenced particularly by Horace - and that a strikingly large number of his similes and apostrophes appertain to the life in nature. Pure descriptions, on the other hand, are of rare occurrence. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
