goethe was in his thirty-ninth year when he returned to the little capital from which he was never again to be so long absent. his visit to italy had done for him all, and more than all, he had hoped for. it had stilled a great longing; it had enriched his mental life by bringing him into contact with nature in some of her most alluring aspects and with many of the loftiest creations of human genius; it had renewed his consciousness of strength as a poet, and filled him with an ardent desire to exercise it in the achievement of higher results than any to which he had yet attained.

he knew well that if he allowed himself again to be absorbed by business he would necessarily be turned aside from his true destiny. this he had, in effect, communicated to the duke in letters from italy; and as the duke not only had a sincere love for goethe, but felt that he himself was now fitted to undertake, in reality as well as in name, the supreme control of affairs, he was willing to assent to any arrangement his friend might propose. it was therefore decided that goethe should be relieved of most of the duties he had discharged{117} before going to italy. he retained, however, the position of a minister of state, and continued for some years to take an active part in the direction of the ilmenau mines, a work in which he was genuinely interested. to him was also intrusted the authority which belonged to the duchy of weimar in the government of the university of jena.

goethe had returned with the full intention of maintaining his friendship with frau von stein. it was, however, impossible that their old relations should be renewed. her sympathy could not now be to him what it had been, for during nearly two years he had accustomed himself to live without the relief that had formerly come from confidential talk with her about his inmost thoughts and cares. moreover, while he had come back with a world of new ideas in his mind, she had no interests with which he had not long been familiar; and as she was now a delicate woman of forty-four, it was improbable that she would be accessible to fresh influences. with a woman’s instinct, frau von stein at once detected the change in goethe, of which he himself was only half conscious; and she could not help showing that she resented it. he, on the other hand, was repelled by her coldness. thus misunderstandings at once sprang up, and both knew that they could never be wholly removed.

a few weeks after his arrival at weimar, goethe was walking one day in the park when he was approached by a girl of about twenty-three, of a humble position in life. her name was christiane vulpius. she had brought with her a petition from her brother, who, after{118} studying at jena, had betaken himself to literature, and thought that goethe might be willing to help him. goethe read the paper, but was far more interested in the messenger than in the message. christiane, although not tall, had a good figure and a fresh pretty face, with an honest, frank, lively expression in her fine blue eyes. goethe was charmed with her, and the result was that she became his wife. at this stage their hands were not formally joined in a church, but from the beginning he never thought of their union as other than a true marriage. much idle gossip has been printed to christiane’s disadvantage—for the most part an echo of the tittle-tattle of the weimar court, the ladies of which could not bear to think of goethe as the husband of a woman who did not belong to their own class. in reality she was a good and most loyal wife, and retained to the last the warm love of her husband, who was never happier than in her presence. when he was from home he sent her long letters, all of which she kept as her most sacred possessions. he talked to her freely about his great botanical discovery, and did not find that the subject was beyond her intelligence; and when he intrusted her with important private business, she displayed, in attending to it, decision, good sense, and good feeling. she ruled his household, too, as he liked it to be ruled, firmly, yet with kindness and discretion. his mother received christiane cordially as her “dear daughter.”

for some time goethe and christiane lived in seclusion in his house in the park, but their union could not long be kept secret. when it became known, frau von{119} stein was furious. she was about to visit the rhenish baths, and before starting she addressed to him a letter so bitter in its tone that he could not answer it for some weeks. for the time the break between them was complete. afterwards they became good friends again, but never, of course, on the old intimate terms. frau von stein had the sympathy of all the court ladies, with, however, one notable exception, the duchess, who understood goethe too well to speak of him harshly or uncharitably.

no longer harassed by incessant business, and enjoying to the full his life with christiane, goethe had resumed his literary work with enthusiasm. its first-fruits were his “r?mische elegien” (“roman elegies”), in which he gave utterance to the delight he had experienced at rome. side by side with the poet stands a beautiful girl, his love for whom is intimately connected with all the other influences under which his heart expands in the great city. in sketching this figure, goethe was no doubt thinking chiefly of christiane, whom in imagination he transported to the land where life had seemed to him so full of glory. in these poems there is an occasional warmth of expression that has sometimes given offence, but, judged simply as works of art, they are as near perfection as anything goethe ever wrote. the passion expressed in them is deep and ardent, yet the forms and scenes with which it is associated stand out as clearly as a landscape under the bright italian sky. the “elegies” would have taken an enduring place in literature if they had had nothing to commend them but the splendour of their diction and melody.{120}

while working at the “elegies,” goethe strove to complete his drama, “torquato tasso,” a part of which had been written long before in prose. in italy he had hoped to be able, before returning to weimar, to clothe the conception of this play in fitting verse. the task, however, was too hard to be accomplished quickly, and even at weimar he did not bring it to an end until the summer of 1789. “tasso” was the last of the series of plays either wholly or in part transformed in italy.

we have seen that even before goethe went to italy his conception of the true aim and method of dramatic art had begun to undergo a profound change. in italy this process of development was completed, partly by the influence of classical literature, but mainly by that of ancient sculpture. here, following the track marked out by winckelmann, he had found that the supreme aim of ancient artists was ideal beauty, and that they had sought to attain it by the harmonious combination of parts in a whole, so that the figures created by them should convey in action an impression of noble simplicity, dignity, and calm. this was the ideal he kept steadily before himself in most of the work begun or completed in rome.

in “egmont” this new conception could not find full expression, for the outlines of the scheme had been drawn at a time when goethe worked under wholly different influences. even in “egmont,” however, in the form in which he gave it to the world, his new method predominates. goethe’s egmont, who differs in many particulars from the egmont of history, is a man of most{121} genial temper. he is sincerely devoted to the cause of freedom, and makes troops of friends by his frankness, his courage, his inexhaustible generosity. but he lacks the power to read the signs of hostile intention in others, and this defect, which necessarily springs from some of his best qualities, exposes him to deadly peril, and leads ultimately to his ruin. interwoven with the history of his relations to the public movements of his age is the story of his love for cl?rchen. such a love at such a time would seem wholly unnatural if egmont were a prudent statesman, conscious of the actual circumstances in which he and his country are placed; but he has no doubt as to the triumph of his cause, for he trusts absolutely the king of spain and his counsellors, believing their objects to be as honourable as his own. there is no incongruity, therefore, between egmont’s patriotism and his love, and in such a nature as his, were the conditions favourable, each feeling would purify and ennoble the other. cl?rchen is in every respect worthy of him. she is one of the finest of the many fine feminine characters conceived by goethe. she is capable of heroic action as well as of the tenderest love, and she obeys an irresistible impulse when, having heard of egmont’s imprisonment, she appeals with passionate fervour to the people for his deliverance. the concluding scene, in which freedom in the form of cl?rchen appears to egmont in a dream as he lies in prison awaiting execution, produces exactly the impression that goethe meant it to produce. it softens the effect of the tragic conflicts which have led to cl?rchen’s death, and are about to lead to her lover’s, and we are reminded that there are in the world forces for good,{122} the victory of which may be delayed, but cannot in the end be prevented, by individual defeat and sorrow.

although less interesting than the two central figures, the other characters in this great drama are most vividly presented. william of orange, the resolute patriot who never allows himself to be diverted from his path by mistaking appearance for reality, contrasts strongly with the heedless egmont; and alva, cold, cruel, and treacherous, is a fitting representative of a crushing and inhuman tyranny. the crowds which from time to time give voice to popular feeling play an essential part in the evolution of the tragedy, and are brought before us with extraordinary animation and truth to nature.

in composing the poetical drama, “iphigenie,” goethe did not depart very widely from the substance of the original prose version. he gave to the entire conception, however, new dignity and beauty. the central interest attaches to the heroine, than whom there is not in all modern literature a nobler type of womanhood. hers is a spirit of spotless purity, associated with a high serenity springing from the inward harmony of all the elements of her character. she has infinite tenderness and humanity, with an inflexible will, and a passion for truth and honour. those who come into contact with her are overcome by a mingled feeling of love and reverence, and all that is best in their spiritual life is evoked by her presence. iphigenie is only nominally a greek priestess; in reality, she would have been impossible in a society in which women were supposed to be subordinate to men. in her aims, sympathies, aspira{123}tions, she is wholly modern, and it may be that some features of her character were reproduced from the character of frau von stein, as it revealed itself to goethe in the happiest moments of their friendship. orestes, pylades, thoas, are not less dominated by essentially modern motives. it is a striking proof of the power and subtlety of goethe’s art that there is no conflict between the modern substance and the antique form of this splendid drama. he rigidly excludes every thought and feeling that might conflict with his chosen method. there is no austerity of sentiment, but all is measured and stately, and capable, therefore, of being brought within the scope of a severely restricted scheme.

the development of the tale is not less admirable than the truth of the characters. as in the ancient statues which goethe so warmly admired, each of the individual parts is in its proper place, and contributes what is demanded of it, and no more, to the idea as a whole. the diction and metre of the drama, always noble and harmonious, accord perfectly with its predominant spirit, and they may be said to have revealed for the first time the high capabilities of the german language as an instrument of dramatic expression. we cannot wonder that “iphigenie” disappointed readers who expected to find in it volcanic explosions like those of his early writings. it belongs to a different period of goethe’s development, and must be estimated by altogether different standards.

goethe found it hard to complete “torquato tasso,” and the explanation probably is that the subject did not lend itself so readily as the subject of “iphigenie” to{124} classic treatment. here he had to present a strange, abnormal type of character, with agitated feelings, the expression of which continually tended to press beyond the limits within which goethe’s scheme required him to retain it. tasso, as goethe presents the character, is a kind of werther, of a highly excitable temperament, and morbidly sensitive to praise and blame. he reminds us, too, of rousseau, and it is possible that in working out the conception goethe may have taken some hints from rousseau’s “confessions,” for, as we have seen, he often thought, while in italy, of “rousseau and his hypochondriacal misery.” when the play opens, tasso is living as an honoured guest of the duke of ferrara, at the castle of belriguardo. he has just finished “la gerusalemme liberata,” and in the garden of the castle presents the poem to the duke in the presence of the duke’s sister, the princess leonore, and of her foster-sister, leonore, the countess of scandiano. the gift is received with many expressions of delight, and, at a sign from the duke, the princess takes a wreath from a bust of virgil and crowns the poet with it. he is enchanted, and cannot find words strong enough to utter his gratitude. the conversation is interrupted by the arrival of the duke’s chief minister, antonio, who has returned from an important mission. he is held in great respect, and is cordially received. after some talk about the work he has accomplished, reference is made to tasso’s wreath, and antonio, who is not given to vehement applause, addresses tasso rather coldly, but takes an opportunity of praising ariosto. something in antonio’s character jars on tasso’s feeling, and he is{125} bitterly jealous of the high place occupied by the wise and successful statesman. in conversation with the princess, for whom he cherishes a secret passion, he pours forth his discontent. she strives to pacify him, and her efforts are seconded by the duke and leonore. tasso, trying to master himself, seeks out antonio, and offers to become his friend. the offer being received in an ungenial spirit, tasso feels insulted, speaks to antonio angrily, and finally draws his sword, demanding that their quarrel shall at once be fought out. at this point the duke comes; and tasso, who has exposed himself to severe penalties, is ordered, but not harshly, to confine himself to his room. antonio feels that he has not acted with sufficient consideration, and is eager to do what he can to make amends. the duke, too, and the princess, and leonore, are all most anxious that tasso shall be reconciled to antonio and to himself. now, however, the young poet is violently excited; he becomes bitterly suspicious, feels sure that he is surrounded by enemies, and that every one is plotting against him. all that is done to restore him to good humour he resents, attributing it to a wish to injure him. in the princess alone he has confidence, and her he shocks, when she is encouraging him to collect himself, by suddenly throwing his arms around her and pressing her to his breast. in the final scene, while the duke, the princess, and leonore drive away from the castle, antonio, who now fully realizes that the poet is a man of morbid temper who needs to be tenderly and patiently dealt with, comes to him and addresses him kindly. tasso indulges in a furious outburst against all the world,{126} by which he is misunderstood, but at the last moment takes antonio’s hand, and clings to him as a shipwrecked sailor to a rock.

in none of goethe’s plays does he display finer or more penetrating observation of character. the tasso of the drama is in some respects very unlike the real tasso, but that does not prevent him from being a most striking representative of minds which, making self the centre of their thoughts, are thereby led to have a wholly distorted conception of life, and to poison what might be, and ought to be, perennial sources of happiness. the prince, the princess, leonore, and antonio resemble one another in being healthy natures, and in acting with an air of distinction; but otherwise each is marked off from the rest by special characteristics, indicated clearly, but with infinite delicacy. as usual in his plays, it is to the feminine characters that goethe attributes the highest qualities. the princess is one of his greatest creations, combining, as she does, deep feeling with exquisite tact and a noble appreciation of the conditions of inward growth and peace.

the tale in itself is not one of absorbing interest, and the conclusion is hardly satisfactory, since no difficulty is really solved by it. but the scheme is developed with such perfect art that it exercises a strong fascination, which increases from scene to scene. the theme, even when tasso becomes most vehement, is not once allowed to pass beyond control. with a light but sure touch goethe moulds every part, securing that there shall not be even a minute detail without an organic relation to the whole. the scene of the action is not forced on{127} our attention, but incidental allusions constantly remind us that all around the castle of belriguardo are lovely sunny landscapes. the grace and purity of the style are unmatched in german dramatic literature, yet so easily do the lines flow into one another that we are almost tempted to think of them as utterances of nature herself; and in almost every scene there are individual lines or groups of lines concentrating the essence of goethe’s thought about life. in no other work by goethe are there so many pregnant sayings fitted at once to guide and console those who are accessible to his influence.

the edition of his works in which these dramas were printed includes also “faust: a fragment.” it appeared in the seventh volume, which was published in 1790. this “fragment” did not contain all the scenes that goethe had written at frankfort; it concluded with the scene in the cathedral, where gretchen is overcome with grief and remorse. on the other hand, it took in a part of faust’s second dialogue with mephistopheles (beginning with the line, “und was der ganzen menschheit zugetheilt ist”), the short monologue in which mephistopheles speaks of the inevitable ruin of a mind which despises reason and science, the “hexenküche” (written in rome), and “wald und h?hle.” the dialogue between mephistopheles and the scholar was much altered, and the whole of the scene in auerbach’s cellar was presented in verse. the work, therefore, without being vitally changed, was considerably developed, and in the new passages as well as in those re-written there is ample evidence of the advance{128} goethe had made in the mastery of poetic forms. moreover, faust’s dialogue with mephistopheles, and the monologue of mephistopheles, show that goethe had now a deeper appreciation of all that was involved in the conception of faust turning from his high ideal aims to seek for satisfaction in the pleasures of the senses.

another, and very different, work was published in this edition—“die metamorphose der pflanzen” (“the metamorphosis of plants”). in this famous essay goethe expounds the theory that the foliar organs of flowering plants are all to be regarded as various forms of the leaf. to this discovery he had been led by prolonged and delicate observation. the idea seems to have dawned upon him before he went to italy, but it was in italy, where he had many opportunities of studying plants he had not formerly known, that he became conscious of its full significance. the doctrine has long been accepted by botanists, and it acquired fresh importance when it came to be associated, as it is now associated, with the general law of evolution. goethe delighted in the conception, not only for its own sake, but because it seemed to him a most striking illustration of the principle that in organic nature all things are created in accordance with enduring types. the doctrine of the metamorphosis of plants had been set forth, thirty years before goethe’s treatise was written, by k. f. wolff. goethe afterwards learned this, and was in no way disturbed by the fact that he had been anticipated. that the theory had suggested itself to two minds working independently gave him hearty pleasure as welcome evidence of its truth.{129}

early in 1790 goethe was summoned to venice to meet the duchess dowager, who, having travelled for some time in italy, was now about to return to weimar. her coming was long delayed, and, being restless and impatient, he occupied himself in writing a series of rather bitter epigrams. after six weeks’ absence he was delighted to find himself again in weimar, for now his home was doubly dear to him, a son having been born on christmas day of the previous year. the child was baptized by herder, and received the name julius august walther. afterwards three children were born dead, and a fourth died in infancy. on each of these occasions goethe suffered poignant grief, and wholly lost his self-control.

his second visit to venice was made memorable by an important scientific discovery. he was standing with his valet seidel in the jews’ cemetery, when seidel lifted a piece of a sheep’s skull, and handed it to goethe, pretending that it was the skull of a jew. as goethe looked at it, it suddenly occurred to him that the bones of which the skull is composed are not essentially different from vertebr?, but are, in fact, vertebr? transformed. the idea corresponds exactly with his conception of the foliar organs of flowering plants as transformed leaves. goethe did not mean that in the course of long ages vertebr? had been developed into the bones of the skull, but simply that nature, in creating these bones, modifies vertebr? to suit special needs. like his earlier discoveries, however, this theory—which is only another application of his general doctrine of types—becomes thoroughly intelligible only when the facts to which it{130} relates are explained by the law of evolution. it is the supreme merit of goethe’s contributions to biology that they all pointed in the direction of evolution, and were among the influences that made the recognition of it, sooner or later, inevitable.

about this time goethe interested himself in the study of newton’s theory of colours, and, that he might understand it more fully, borrowed some prisms. when the owner asked that they should be returned, he thought he would like to try one of them again before sending them back. the result was that he began to suspect that newton’s doctrine was not true, and in this suspicion he was confirmed by further research. this subject had an extraordinary fascination for goethe, and almost to the end of his life he worked at it at intervals, firmly convinced, not only that newton was wrong, but that he himself had discovered the true scientific significance of colours; and he attributed vast importance to his own doctrine. in old age he even told eckermann one day that he did not at all pride himself on his poetry, but that his theory of colours did seem to him something to be proud of. unfortunately, goethe here dealt with problems for the solution of which he had not been adequately prepared. the subject appeared to him less complicated than it really is, and his conclusions have been unanimously rejected by men of science. his writings about it, however, have a certain interest, not merely because of their lucid style, but because he brings together much curious information relating to the history of opinion on the question, and also because it is hardly less instructive to understand the intellectual influences{131} by which a great man is misled than to understand those by which he is guided to truth.

in 1791 the duke established a court theatre in weimar, and asked goethe to undertake the direction of it. goethe consented, and for many years this was one of the duties to which he devoted most attention. his aim was to provide representations that should appeal to, and delight, a really cultivated taste, and he was almost as anxious that the acting should be maintained at a high level as that the dramas acted should be good. he took immense pains to realize his ideal, and under his control the weimar theatre ultimately became famous. all over germany it was recognized as the theatre in which most was done for the development of a great school of dramatic art.

the duke, anxious to find some fitting way of expressing to goethe his gratitude for the services he had rendered, presented him, in 1792, with the house in which he spent the rest of his life. goethe changed it to suit his own ideas, and made it the handsomest and pleasantest private dwelling in weimar. in altering it he received much help from his friend meyer, the swiss artist whose acquaintance he had made in rome. meyer had come to weimar at goethe’s urgent request, and for several years lived as a guest in his house. he painted for goethe a portrait of christiane with her little boy in her arms in the position of the “madonna della sedia.” this portrait was always kept under a curtain, and goethe counted it among the most precious of his treasures.

we must think of goethe at this time as often direct{132}ing his attention gravely and anxiously to the progress of events in france, where the movement of thought by which he had been so profoundly influenced in youth had at last led to its logical issues in action. some of the best of goethe’s contemporaries in germany hailed the french revolution as the beginning of a new and glorious era for humanity. their rejoicings were not shared by goethe. he knew well, indeed, the sufferings of the oppressed population, not only of france, but of other countries, his own included; and he was eager that their condition should be improved by just and wise government. but he found it impossible to believe that the end could be attained by violence, and he had no doubt that the tendency of the revolution would be to check for many a day every great and noble movement in art, literature, and science. he fully recognized, however, that the events he deplored were in the last resort due, not to self-seeking agitators, but to the abuses of a thoroughly corrupt society. long afterwards he said to eckermann that if he detested revolutionists, he detested not less strongly the people who made revolutions inevitable; and that this was his feeling from the beginning is distinctly indicated by several of his writings. “gross-cophta,” a prose play written in 1791, deals with the story of the diamond necklace, with which the impostor cagliostro was intimately connected. the play is not artistically important, but it shows how dark a view goethe took of some elements of the social life of france in the period immediately preceding the revolution. in “die aufgeregten,” an unfinished prose play belonging to the same time, he represents the peasantry of a french{133} estate as rising in revolt against the countess to whom they owe allegiance. the countess, being a woman of enlightened opinions, does not dispute that they have solid grievances, and readily meets them half way. the moral evidently is that if the french nobles as a class had possessed her elevation of character, the peril of violent change might without difficulty have been averted.

in 1792 began the long series of revolutionary wars. the duke of weimar served as a general in the prussian army, and at his request goethe accompanied him during the campaign in champagne. here goethe realized for the first time the terrible nature of the forces which the revolution had let loose on the world. during the cannonade of valmy, anxious to know what the “cannon-fever” was really like, he rode to a spot exposed to the enemy’s fire. on the evening of this memorable day, when the french gained their first success, goethe wrote in his tent: “from this place, and to-day, begins a new epoch in the history of the world, and you may say that you were there.”

on his return, after an absence of four months, he wrote in hexameters, as a satire on the political follies of the day, his admirable version of the old low dutch tale, “reineke fuchs.” next year, 1793, he was again with the duke, this time before mainz, which the prussians were trying to recapture from the french. when the town was given up, goethe felt that he had had enough, and more than enough, of war, and went back with relief to his home and his studies at weimar.