called der Träge, died in 1032, having first commissioned one of his nobles to deliver into the hands of Konrad the crown, the spear of St Maurice as representing the banner of his realm, and the other insignia of the kingdom. Count Odo of Champagne however again asserted his claims and invaded Burgundy. Konrad concluded an alliance with Henry I., the young King of France, which was sealed by Henry's betrothal to the Emperor's little daughter Matilda, who however died two years later. Supported by the French alliance, Konrad succeeded in reducing Odo to submission, and in 1034 the subjugation of Burgundy was complete. In 1037, while the Emperor was engaged in subduing in Italy the disturbances raised by Bishop Aribert of Milan, Odo again rose in rebellion, and invaded Lorraine. Aribert had offered him the crown of Lombardy, and he cherished the ambitious hope of being able to unite upon his head three crowns. But he was defeated and slain by Duke Gozelo of Lorraine, who caused his head to be severed from his body, and sent it to the Emperor as a trophy, together with the banner of Champagne. In Italy Konrad's success was considerably furthered by the fidelity of the Margravine Bertha of Susa, as a reward of which he invested his stepson Hermann, Duke of Swabia, who had married Bertha's daughter Adelheid, with the Mark of Susa. But the homeward march had been too long delayed, the hot season came, and with it the plague in the German camp, of which Hermann died with a great part of the army, His body could not be brought to Constance, and was buried at Trent. It has already been said that Uhland's dramas are not suited for actual representation. The few occasions on which Herzog Ernst" has been put upon the stage have been called forth by patriotic feeling, and affectionate regard for one of the most national of German poets, who has celebrated in verse the "Deutsche Treue," which Germans are proud to regard as a national virtue. The whole of the first act indeed, and some parts and situations in the others, are really dramatic, and would be effective on the stage. The plot is clear, and is carefully and consistently worked out. The characters are well conceived; and if they do not all possess a very strongly marked individuality, they are drawn with many fine traits and touches that to the reader give them interest and life. But in the play as a whole, dramatic movement is wanting; the plot presents too few salient points to bear extension over five acts, and the passages of narrative and sentiment, whatever beauties they may have of their own, impede too much the course of the action, and are themselves fully appreciated only when a repeated perusal gives us leisure to do them justice. We cannot help feeling too that Werner rather than Ernest is the real hero. Ernest is too much crushed by misfortune, and his heroism is through the greater part of the play of too passive a nature and too much tinged with melancholy for him not to suffer somewhat as a dramatic hero by contrast with the more stout-hearted Werner. Nor can it fail to affect to some extent our enjoyment of the drama that when we turn aside for a moment from our admiration of the loyalty of the two friends to each other, we are unable to sympathise freely and warmly with either party in the struggle which forms the background of the piece. However we may admire the personal qualities of our heroes, we cannot give our approval to the wilfulness and selfishness, but thinly concealed, which characterize the striving of the princes after personal independence and arbitrary power, at the cost of the unity and well-being of the empire. On the other hand there can be little enthusiasm in our approval of the issue of the struggle in the triumph of the imperial cause. This is indeed the triumph of order and of national consolidation, but it is also that of the personal ambition of a man whose character inspires respect, but does not kindle sympathy, a triumph too that has been won by the ruin and tragical death of men towards whom our feelings have warmed with enthusiastic admiration. In spite however of all the defects which candid criticism may reveal, Uhland's "Herzog Ernst" will still remain, after the great classical dramas of Goethe and Schiller, one of the best dramatic poems in German literature, and one of those works which no true German can read in his youth without a quickening interest, or will turn to in later life without a kindly remembrance. A fair and appreciative judgment may be briefly expressed in the words of Otto Jahn, when he says, “Uhland's dramas are among the most precious pearls of our literature; they will indeed hardly produce a thrilling effect upon the stage, but their many beauties will assure to them the lasting favour of all who read them." Prolog. Ein ernstes Spiel wird euch vorübergeht. Zween Männer, edel, bieder, fromm und kühn, Das ist der Fluch des unglücksel'gen Landes, 5 10 15 20 25 |