The Development of the Feeling for Nature in the Middle Ages and Modern Times

s, and feelings. Intimate intercourse between different nationalities rouses what is best in the soul of a nation, inviting, as it does, to discussion and oppo

g culture did not last. The most diverse motives fused to bring about this great migration to a land at once unknown

with the western world, brought about a complete revolution in manners, speech, art, science, t

g idea; men, places, plants, and animals were alike new and wonderful. Little wonder if German knights returnin

the lowest motives, the scum of Europe. It must also be remembered that it is far easier to experience or feel than to pass on that experience and feeling to others; that those who wrote did not always belong to the most educated; and that they wrote, for the most part, with difficulty in Greek or Latin. When all this has been weighed and admitted, the fact remains that in existing accounts of the Crusades there is great poverty of description of scenery, and lack of much feeling for Nature. The historian, as such, was bound to give first place to matters of fact and practical importa

usades; for instance, in his description of the Bosphorus he does not waste a word over its beauty. But, as '

ery convenient and pleasant, it lies in valleys which have excellent and fertile soil, and are most pleasantly watered by springs and streams. The mountains which enclose the town on both sides are really very high; but send down very clear water, and their sides and slopes are covered by buildings up to the very summits.' There

e, which is so useful to man for health and other purposes, and is sent by merchants to the most distant parts of the world.' Other reporters were charmed by the fertility and wealth of the East. 'On those who came from the poorer and colder western countries, th

and considered the Plain of Esdraelon the most desirable place in the world; but, on exact and unprejudiced examinatio

and pasture land'; closes a geographical account of Lebanon thus, 'There are in Libanus and Antilibanus themselves fertile and well-tilled valleys, rich in pasture land, vineyards, gardens, planta

rmel near Accon by the sea. And it is rich in fountains and gardens and olive groves, and all the good things this world desires.' But it would be going too far to conclude from the following words that he appreciated the contrast between simple and sublime sce

ount of Olives, religious enthusiasm

ised before its beauty, and that this was only referred to in short, meagre p

th Phokas, who visited

an spring, flows quietly round the town and besprinkles its towers with its gentle waves ... but most to be admired of all is the mountain between town and sea, a nob

d; its valleys are crowned with pines, cedars, and cypresses; streams, beautiful to look at and quite cold, flow from

th one spring, which ran through meadows; and if one stands on the tower, one ca

o, was 'a heaven on earth

cenery, and elsewhere he limited himself to noting the rich fruit gard

is Hierosolymitanis; Perdiccas, in his Hierosolyma, describes Sion thus: 'It stands on an eminence so as to s

thusiastic delight in its beauty; but only as to its general features, and in the most meagre terms. The country was more interestin

n inexpressible number of people in it,' etc. Dietrich von Schachten describes Venice in this way: 'Venice lies in the sea, and is built neither on land nor on mountain, but on wooden piles, which is unbelievable to one who has not seen it'; and Candia: 'Candia is a beautiful town in the sea, well built; also a very fruitful island, with all sorts of things that men

ch is the more wonderful here, the poverty of the description or the utter lack of personal observation: what the wood produced, and how one was protected from the sea, was more important to the writer than wood and sea

ance, knew of the sudden appearance of a hot spring in the Lake of Thun, and Gregory of Tours notes that the land-slip in 563 at the foot of the Dent du Midi, above the point where the Rhine enters the Lake of Geneva, was a dreadful event. N

erani. When the Alps became more frequented, especially when, through Charlemagne, a political bridge came to unite Italy and Germany, new roads were made and the whole region was better known--in fact, early in medi?val times, not onl

were of no value to their life, practical or scientific. These writers record nothing but names of places and their own troubles and dangers in travelling, especially in winter. And even at the end of the fifteenth century, German travels across the Alps were written in the same strain--for example, the account of the voyage of the Elector-Palatine Alexander v. Zweibrücken and Count Joh. Ludwig zu Nassau (

the bottom and a passage so narrow that men could only move forward one by one, sounds like a per

ow far scenery took a place in epic and song, and whether, as moderns have so often stated, medi?val Germany stood high above antiquity in this respect. Gervinus, a classic example on the las

another kind of men. Antiquity did not delight in Nature, and delight in Nature is the very foundation of these poems. Remote antiquity neither knew nor sought to know any natural history; but only wondered at Nature. The art of hunting and the passion for it, often carried to excess

in Hellenic days far more than in the Middle Ages. We shall see now that the level of feeling reached in those and imperial Roman days was not regained in European literature until long after the fall of Latin poetry, and that it was the fertilizing influence of that classic spirit, and that alone, which enabled the inborn German taste for Nature, and for hunting, and plant a

er, expiring antiquity came to meet the German--this joy in Nature, in dwelling on plant and animal life, is the very soul of this (animal) po

g life and undeterred by much scruple or concern as to the powers above; and centuries of development pas

run, side by side with the Iliad and Odyssey is to exaggerate their v

epithets, reach the perfect art of the Greek epics. What moral beauty and plastic force there is in Homer's comparisons and in his descriptions of times and seasons! what a clear eye and warm heart he has for Nature in all her moods! and what raw and scanty beginnings of such

in descriptions of time and place as the Nibelungenlie

e tale, by way of comparison or environment, charming genre pictures of plant and animal life, e

ted as sparsel

s on the Rhine shore, the

's last ray, seeing the air was cooler'; or 'He must hang, till light morning threw its glow

ut, in comparison with Greece, how very littl

r with descrip

their warriors as well, towards the Sax

tress placed up

n excellent, for there, beneath it r

'By a cold spring he soon lost his life ... then they rode from there into a deep wood ... there they e

ter was pure and

g the flowers ... all round about the

death of Baldur in the Northern Saga. But even here, where the subjec

two eagles, and the two wild boars which attacked Siegfried, the game hunted in t

'Her lovely face became all rosy-red with pleasure'; but th

ng,' and, 'just as the moon in brightness excels the brightest stars, and sudd

Gudrun, but this is scarcely more than a pretty phrase. The 'dark tempestuous' sea, 'wild unfath

e red star yonder in the south dips his head in the brine, I shall blow on my great horn that all th

lled the Wülpensand,' or, 'In a few hours they saw the shores where they would land

h Nature occurs in the account

ther creatures: 'He sang with such a splendid

, all the birds in the copse r

bout in the brooks. He sang long hours, and it seemed but a brief moment. The very church bells sounded sweet no longer; the folk left the c

rarely found more shor

ended and

ay they quitt

. On a coo

a little

up delightfully and birds of all

efinite and

wing and the sea was covered with broken up ice; but there were gleams of sunshine upon the hills, and the little bird

nt clung close to her white limbs; the w

deliverance breaks, the indications of

horn, which was heard in the land for miles round.... The sound of Wat's horn ... wakened a young maid, who, stealing on tiptoe to the window, looke

ions a

like a w

lung down upon Wat 'is

are f

here on the shore, Hartmouth and h

imm rightl

as to paint the impression of the landscape in glowing colours upon the mind. The old German masters certainly did not lack fe

furt

with Asia Minor, Syria, and Palestine, did not enrich German poetry with new

ugh it down to the valley, and birds' songs echoed in the shade. The ground was covered by an enormous quantity of flower buds of wondrous size, which looked like great balls, snow-white and rose-coloured, closely folded up. Presently, the fragrant goblets opened, and out of all these wonder-flowers stepped lovely maidens, rosy as dawn and white as day, and about twelve years old. All these thousands of charming beings raised their voices together and competed with the birds in song, swaying up and dow

aves, springs their flow, and the birds their song; all pleasure passed away. Discomfort began to touch my heart with ma

life, is very poetically conceived; but it is only a play o

meet like roaring seas; missiles fly from both sides as thick as snow; after the dreadful

d not draw real Nature, but o

d forest with the ma

very pure; neither rain, sun, or wind reach it; it is screened by a most beautiful lime tree. The tree is excessively tall and thick, so that neither sun nor rain can penetrate its foliage, winter does not injure it, nor lessen its beauty by one hair; 'tis green and blossoming t

ed, dark heavy storm-clouds came from all four quarters of the vault of heaven. It seemed no longer bright day ... soon a thousand flashes

his lyrics, for the wish for flowers in Wint

ismal time; a wife helps to shorten the long nights. In th

e is given by such phrases as 'when twilight began,' or 'as the day broke

adventures--Arthur's Round Table and the Holy Grail; all the romance of knight

, the garden

ichly ... a spring poured from the rock, and (for all this would have been nothing to him without a fair lady) there he fo

nd not very poetic. I

watered herself wit

ained upon

drowned in

and Or

ss, as disagreeable as a

but their colours could not

cially fond of bir

ds sang round him; it made his heart

Ga

stept in to look round and enjoy t

ann and Wolfram's gardens belonged almost entirely to an unreal regio

ement. He, too, notes time briefly: 'And as it drew towards evening,' 'Now day had broke.' He repeats his comparisons: fair ladies are 'the wo

h was her ornament, died out of her skin; h

compar

to the reef as by a magnet, so the s

ever goes down; a romance sweetens th

e rose. The last comparisons shew more thought, and still more is seen in the beginn

l was agreed up

our flowe

ttracts, till he

l upon a g

derful meadow wi

seen before or si

ith his own char

le wood birds,

and green plants

delight to e

ver one would, whatev

e sun, limes

ze which brou

eople. May's frie

f a charming co

ck at the guests with

ees smiled so swe

nd mind smil

the birds, bless

enses, filling hill

r night

may it eve

stily upon

was filled with jo

company pi

elight on th

gave eno

their tent roofs

arly period of German medi?val poetry was not entirely lac

ees, birds, songs, and flowers, so that 'eye and ear alike found solace'; but the romantic love epi

hed their eyes. Their service was the song of the birds, the little brown nightingales, the throstlets and the merles and other wood birds. The siskin and the ringdove vied with each other to do them pleasure, all d

ng the song of the birds by their footsteps. Then they turned them to where the cool clear spring rippled forth, and sat beside its stream and watched its flow till the sun grew high in the heaven, and they felt it

ure is only second to love of

bade them welcome in their own tongue ... it was as if they had conspired among themselves to give the lovers a morning greeting. They sang from the leafy branches in changeful wise, answering each other in song and refrain. The spring that charmed their eye and ear

ngs of the Minnesingers, which unfolded the germ? For the lyric is the form in which the deepest expression can be given to feeling for Nature, and i

s fresher, more vehement, and mettlesome; the dreamy German more monotonous, tame, and melancholy. The one is given to proud daring, wooing, battle, and the triumph of victory; the other to musing, loving, a

and Nature very strikingly brought together, either in har

but it pleases me greatly; one cannot fancy I should long fo

lowers and greenery un

song of the nightingale; nothing but love in

eep through the air, I would go

old the la

e bright s

gets to po

y spirit'

rnful thoughts

at happy son

ch gladdening s

t pining c

to mind Theodore Storm's touching

before, clocks strike and bells ring as in thy li

ts spring

s green and fre

are budding

ngales so s

e greenwood sw

the song and

lf but in m

ound my spiri

her my raptu

(about 1200) sing

et the bre

oft, as May

h nights ser

ladness me

his well-kn

n the morn

on in joy

py partner

unds of blis

wear a sad

s his l

ess and faker than a beautiful May day, than sunshine in March, shade in summer,

de Born

l spring del

and leaves

s my heart to

's sweet ch

choing w

t nothing delighted them so much as May and its delights; but these singers implicitly stat

g so good nor

se and my go

birds in the woods is

r is gree

mmer comes. See what a be

our motive

tiful flowers and clover to

erg makes

ft and think of thee, noble knight

g the feelings of the lover with those of Nature. It is a monotonous repetition of a few themes, of flowers and little birds as mess

Eist greets

is greening, the long winter is past, one sees well-shaped flowers spread the

roses remind him of a happy pa

sang on the

sounded thr

heart back to

in I saw the

ght back the

ish of

ays to a

n you! You fly

e tree you li

he same. I ch

, whom my

ing for beau

er he c

eaves of the lime. Time has changed, the nightingales are dumb. The

ill come back to the oppressed heart with the flowers and the gr

nging in the wood. Where snow lay before, there is now green clover, bedewed in t

else

ss come to us, all that made my

beauty of summ

ittle birds have left off singing their song, and cold n

nberg makes a pr

joy, she sows f

adow, whence I,

icher bliss: the

s the hot sun the

lute, her m

make May rain drop

n Rugge lam

tten how beautifully she sang ...

gs for

le birds' delightful songs. Winter cannot but be hard and

h von M

u get into

r be the sa

ceives her lig

your bright eyes,

into m

his light of May

weetheart,

hts, a sunshin

fidelity: 'My steady mi

mar

inter

h the red flowers,

past away; when I s

much of

of trouble

ust always

wn sake. Their comparisons were monotonous, and their scenes bare, stereotyped arabesques, not woven into the tissue of lyric feeling. Their ruling motives were joy in spring and comp

m Grim

on the flowers of the heath, but always in relation only to their own feelings reflected

Humb

yric poets was Friedrich of Hausen. He perished in the army of Barbarossa. His songs contain many views of the Crusades; but they chiefly express religious sentiments on the pain of being separated from his dear friends. He found no occasion to say anything concerning the country or any of those who took part in the wars, as Reinmar the Elder, Rubin, Neidhart, and Ulrich of Lichtenstein. Reinmar came a pilgrim to Syria, as it appears, in the train of Leopold the 6th, Duke of Austria. He complains that the

ter lyrist of the thirteenth century, was not ahead of his

rought us ha

ield are dre

t voices of su

ad where I se

ll, the birds'

ing and

rough the grass

t with smiles the

rning, and in

ds make the d

chorus of swe

ll its store a

a Paradise

hat I hold o

tell what b

re hath pleas

I see it,

e maiden, f

ch and tresses

pleasure's sa

eyes that, lau

imes and make all

shines, all the

orth in all i

so sweet ca

is picture

ave we buds

pon the lo

ve, and the individuality in the following Com

world shone

n wood and

ts sang on

rown grey and

y the croak of

any a ruf

lady's favour turns his w

'twas no m

ers felt i

t was m

es--heath, flowers, grass, and nightingales. The pearl of the collection is the naive song

the heath where

you wo

the flowers

ingale sang in th

dar

he meadow my lover

had! Gracious Mary,

ss me, you ask? Look

s of all sorts

sses now smile

still show just

dar

ressed me, th

God forbid! I were

and I

birdie who ne

tility and pleasantness; and the German national epics rarely alluded to her traits even by way of comparison. The court epics shewed some advance, a

. The charm of Nature apart from other considerations, deli

ve only spoken

mind of a people is one united organism, the relation between poetry and painting is not one

long it merely serves as accessory and background in painting; whereas, when Nature takes a wider space in prose and poetry, and becomes an end of representation in herself, the moment for the birth of landscape-painting has come.

its Jewish origin, that Christianity at first felt no need of art, and that this one-sidedness only ceased when the specifically Jewish element in it had died out, and Christendom passed to cultivated Greeks and Romans. In the cemeteries and catacombs of the first three centuries, we find purely decorative work, light vines with Cupids, but also remains of landscapes; for instance, in the oldest part of the

is leaning with her left arm upon his shoulder; a nymph's head peeps out of the foliage; and in front we have Bethlehem, and the mountain god resting in a bold position under a rock; sheep, goats, and water are close by, and a

y began the Romantic period, w

f the Gothic style, from the thirteenth century on, art became a citizen's craft, a branch of industry. Heretofore it had possessed but one means of expression--religious festival or ceremony, severely ecclesiastical. This limit was now removed. The artist lived a wide life, open to impressions from Nature, his imagination fed by poetry with new ideas and feelings, and constantly stimulated by the love of pleas

as a means to represent a certain realm of feeling, studying it just so far as this demanded. We have seen the same in the case of poe

that painting felt the need to develop the background, and indicate actual surroundings by blue sky, hills, Gothic buildings, and conventional trees. These were given in linear perspective; of aerial p

wery turf, and saints around her; and although the background might be golden instead of landscape, yet all the stems and blossoms in the grass were naturally and accurately treated. In a little picture in the town museum at Frankfort, the Madonna is seated in a rose garden under fruit trees gay with birds, and reading a book; a table with food and drinks stands close by,

painting had not advanced beyond the position of a background, treated in a way more or less suited to the main subject of th