The printed book was intended for classroom use. Lines within eachselection, both prose and verse, were numbered continuously. Thesenumbers are not used for anything else in the text, such as footnotesor cross-references. In this e-text, prose passages have been rewrapped,discarding the original line breaks. Where the line numbers of thesource text are given, verse passages have been renumbered accordingly.Line counts will not always match the stated numbers.
This book is designed to accompanyan introductory study of the history of German literature. It is assumedthat the history itself will be learned, so far as necessary, eitherfrom lectures or from some other book devoted to the subject. As theselections were made, for the most part, while I was writing my ownshort history of German literature for the series published under thegeneral editorship of Mr. Edmund Gosse and known as “Literatures of theWorld,” it was natural that the Anthology should take on, to someextent, the character of a companion book to the History. At the sametime I did not desire that either book should necessarily involve theuse of the other. Hence the absence of cross references; and hence also,in the Anthology, the brief introductory notes, giving important datesand summary characterizations. These are meant to enable the student toread the selections intelligently without constant recourse to someother book.
In preparing Part First, I have had in mind the student who haslearned to read the language of Goethe and Schiller with some facility,and would like to know something of the earlier periods, but has notstudied, and may not care to study, Old and Middle German. On thisaccount the selections are given in modern German translations. Theoriginal texts are omitted because space was very precious, and becausethe book was intended as an aid to literary rather than linguisticstudy. In making the selections, my first principle was to give a gooddeal of the best rather than a little of everything. I wished tomake friends for medieval German poetry, and it seemed to me that thiscould best be done by showing it in its strength and its beauty. So Ihave ignored much that might have had a historical or linguisticiv interest for the scholar, and have steadily applied the criterion ofliterary worth.
My second principle was to give preference to that which is trulyGerman, in contradistinction from that which is Latin, or European, ormerely Christian. The Latinists of every epoch are in generaldisregarded, as not being of German literature in the strict sense; yetI have devoted eight pages to Waltharius and three toRudlieb, on the ground that the matter of these poems isessentially German, albeit their form is Latin. On the other hand,Hrotswith is not represented at all, because, while an interestingpersonage in her way, she belongs to German literature neither by herform nor by her matter. The religious poetry of the twelfth centuryreceives rather scant attention, partly because it is mostly pretty poorstuff—there is not much else like the beautiful Arnstein hymn tothe Vi