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Page 4
And all the time life was to him a poet's dream. He lived in a
continual glamour of spiritual romance, bathing everything, from the
old deities of the Valhalla down to the champions of German
liberation, in an ideal glow of purity and nobleness, earnestly
Christian throughout, even in his dealings with Northern mythology,
for he saw Christ unconsciously shown in Baldur, and Satan in Loki.
Thus he lived, felt, and believed what he wrote, and though his
dramas and poems do not rise above fair mediocrity, and the great
number of his prose stories are injured by a certain monotony, the
charm of them is in their elevation of sentiment and the earnest
faith pervading all. His knights might be Sir Galahad--
"My strength is as the strength of ten,
Because my heart is pure."
Evil comes to them as something to be conquered, generally as a form
of magic enchantment, and his "wondrous fair maidens" are worthy of
them. Yet there is adventure enough to afford much pleasure, and
often we have a touch of true genius, which has given actual ideas to
the world, and precious ones.
This genius is especially traceable in his two masterpieces, Sintram
and Undine. Sintram was inspired by Albert Durer's engraving of the
"Knight of Death," of which we give a presentation. It was sent to
Fouque by his friend Edward Hitzig, with a request that he would
compose a ballad on it. The date of the engraving is 1513, and we
quote the description given by the late Rev. R. St. John Tyrwhitt,
showing how differently it may be read.
"Some say it is the end of the strong wicked man, just overtaken by
Death and Sin, whom he has served on earth. It is said that the tuft
on the lance indicates his murderous character, being of such unusual
size. You know the use of that appendage was to prevent blood
running down from the spearhead to the hands. They also think that
the object under the horse's off hind foot is a snare, into which the
old oppressor is to fall instantly. The expression of the faces may
be taken either way: both good men and bad may have hard, regular
features; and both good men and bad would set their teeth grimly on
seeing Death, with the sands of their life nearly run out. Some say
they think the expression of Death gentle, or only admonitory (as the
author of "Sintram"); and I have to thank the authoress of the "Heir
of Redclyffe" for showing me a fine impression of the plate, where
Death certainly had a not ungentle countenance--snakes and all. I
think the shouldered lance, and quiet, firm seat on horseback, with
gentle bearing on the curb-bit, indicate grave resolution in the
rider, and that a robber knight would have his lance in rest; then
there is the leafy crown on the horse's head; and the horse and dog
move on so quietly, that I am inclined to hope the best for the
Ritter."
Musing on the mysterious engraving, Fouque saw in it the life-long
companions of man, Death and Sin, whom he must defy in order to reach
salvation; and out of that contemplation rose his wonderful romance,
not exactly an allegory, where every circumstance can be fitted with
an appropriate meaning, but with the sense of the struggle of life,
with external temptation and hereditary inclination pervading all,
while Grace and Prayer aid the effort. Folko and Gabrielle are
revived from the Magic Ring, that Folko may by example and influence
enhance all higher resolutions; while Gabrielle, in all unconscious
innocence, awakes the passions, and thus makes the conquest the
harder.
It is within the bounds of possibility that the similarities of folk-
lore may have brought to Fouque's knowledge the outline of the story
which Scott tells us was the germ of "Guy Mannering"; where a boy,
whose horoscope had been drawn by an astrologer, as likely to
encounter peculiar trials at certain intervals, actually had, in his
twenty-first year, a sort of visible encounter with the Tempter, and
came off conqueror by his strong faith in the Bible. Sir Walter,
between reverence and realism, only took the earlier part of the
story, but Fouque gives us the positive struggle, and carries us
along with the final victory and subsequent peace. His tale has had
a remarkable power over the readers. We cannot but mention two
remarkable instances at either end of the scale. Cardinal Newman, in
his younger days, was so much overcome by it that he hurried out into
the garden to read it alone, and returned with traces of emotion in
his face. And when Charles Lowder read it to his East End boys,
their whole minds seemed engrossed by it, and they even called
certain spots after the places mentioned. Imagine the Rocks of the
Moon in Ratcliff Highway!
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