The royal crypt

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The Fürstengruft is one of the most famous poems by the German poet Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart , which he wrote in captivity on the Hohenasperg and in which he expressed his contempt for the princes.

Emergence

At the time the poem was written, Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart was in custody at Hohenasperg fortress. After his arrest by Duke Carl Eugen , he received neither a due process nor a reason for imprisonment. When Schubart's hopes for a pardon were not fulfilled and the date for his release passed, he wrote or dictated his angry poem Die Fürstengruft to a meal carrier in 1779/1780 . But only up to verse 22, the last four verses in which he praised the better princes, he added later. The poem passed the censorship unnoticed and was distributed in transcripts. It appeared for the first time - without Schubart's knowledge - in the Frankfurt Musenalmanach for the year 1781 under the title Die Crypt of the Princes and was later reprinted under the title Die Fürstengruft .

After the death of his father, Schubart's son wrote that the poem caused a stir, which is how the duke heard about it. The poem prompted Duke Carl Eugen to tighten Schubart's detention again.

shape

“The Prince's Crypt” is divided into twenty-six stanzas , each with four verses . The first and third verses have eleven syllables, the second eight and the fourth six syllables, or the first and third verses have five syllables, the second four syllables and the fourth three syllables. The verses are iambic and end in a cross rhyme , alternating with a ringing and dull cadence .

Content and approach to interpretation

  1. There they lie, the proud ruins of a prince,
  2. Once the idols of their world!
  3. There they lie, with a terrible glimmer
  4. Light up the pale day!
  5. The old coffins glow in the dark
  6. Decayed vault like rotten wood;
  7. How dull the great silver shields sparkle,
  8. The prince's last pride!
  9. Horror grabs the wanderer by the hair,
  10. Threw shivers down his skin
  11. Where vanity leaned against a stretcher
  12. is missing
  13. Looks out of hollow eyes.
  14. How dreadful the reverberation is here!
  15. A kick toe disturbs his peace.
  16. No weather of God speaks with loud anger:
  17. Oh man, how small are you!
  18. Because oh! here lies the noble prince, the good one!
  19. Once sent for the blessing of the people,
  20. Like him whom God made the rulership of the nations
  21. Tied together in anger.
  22. Marble spirits weep at their urns;
  23. But only cold tears from stone
  24. And laughing, maybe a French master,
  25. Once the marble.
  26. There are skulls with faded eyes
  27. Which once threatened high
  28. The horror of mankind! - because by her nod
  29. Hung life or death.
  30. Now the hand has rotted down to the bone
  31. Often with a cold pen
  32. To the wise who spoke too loudly at the throne,
  33. Beat in hard bonds.
  34. The breast has now become the dead leg,
  35. Once wrapped in gold robe
  36. To it a star and a desecrated order
  37. How two comets stood.
  38. The canals are dried up and shriveled,
  39. Inside there was awesome blood, like fire flowed,
  40. The foaming poison of innocence in the soul,
  41. As poured into the body.
  42. Speak to courtiers, with awe on the lip,
  43. Now flattery in the deaf ear! -
  44. Smokes the lavish skeleton
  45. With incense, as before!
  46. He doesn't get up to smile at you applause
  47. And no longer neighs
  48. Maids made up with it,
  49. Shameless and horny, like him.
  50. You lie now to sleep your iron sleep,
  51. The human scourges, untrusted,
  52. In the rock grave, more despicable than slaves,
  53. Mason in the dungeon.
  54. They who never felt in their honest bosom
  55. The horrors of religion
  56. And god-made, better people kept
  57. For cattle, destined for Frohn;
  58. Who the conscience, that mighty plaintiff,
  59. The all debts writes down
  60. By the beat of the drums, by the French trill beaters
  61. And the hunting noise drowned out;
  62. Only dogs and horses and strange prostitutes
  63. Rewarded with grace, and genius
  64. And left wisdom in want; because the anger
  65. The ghost frightened her.
  66. They now lie in this shower grotto
  67. Covered with dust and worms
  68. So dumb! so inglorious! no god yet
  69. Awakened to life.
  70. Just don't wake them with your anxious groan
  71. O flocks who made them poor
  72. Chase the ravens away from their croaking
  73. No anger wakes up here!
  74. Don't clap the poor farmer's whip here,
  75. Shooing the game from the field at night!
  76. The German is not at this grille
  77. The sick panting past!
  78. The pale orphan boy does not cry here,
  79. From whom a tyrant took his father;
  80. Never here the cripple curse on the stick,
  81. Paralyzed by foreign pay.
  82. So that the tormentors don't - wake up too early,
  83. Be more human, do not awaken them.
  84. Ha! They'll crash soon enough
  85. The thunder at judgment.
  86. Where angels of death reach for tyrants,
  87. When the judge awakens her in anger,
  88. And heap their horror to a mountain,
  89. Which covers them with flames.
  90. But you, dear princes, slumber sweetly
  91. In the night vault of this crypt!
  92. Your spirit is already walking in paradise,
  93. Wrapped in the scent of flowers.
  94. Just shout for that great day,
  95. Who weighs the deeds of all princes,
  96. The judge's scales sound like the sound of stars,
  97. Your virtue rests on it.
  98. Oh, under the lisp of your happy brothers
  99. You made her happy and full,
  100. Your full bowl will sink down
  101. When you awaken to the reward.
  102. How will it be to you when you leave the sun throne?
  103. Hear the judge's voice walk:
  104. "Brothers, take the crown forever,
  105. You are worthy to rule. "

The poem begins with a play on words that illustrates the collapse of the principalities in "Ruined Princes" (line 1) on the word and the level of meaning. The mood is gloomy, all the shine is lost, the day is pale (see line 4) and the silver shields sparkle dull (see line 7). In the following lines the speaker makes clear his contempt for the princes. He describes the mortality of man and also the impermanence of all the glory of the princes. The graves are described in stanza six. The princes' looks and gestures are gone. All her terrible deeds and her contempt for genius are now "covered with dust and worms" (line 66). In their life they were tyrants, but now they are no longer a danger to those who tormented them. The dead princes are mourned only by marble statues with "cold tears only from stone" (line 22). God is also accused, who sent the princes as “the rod of the nations” (line 19). In a sarcastic way, the speaker urges the courtiers to continue to ingratiate themselves with the dead princes:

But there is no point in ingratulating yourself with them to get their favor: they will not react. In stanzas 18 to 21 the speaker calls on the lower strata of the population not to wake up the princes, to keep quiet near the graves and to scare away the ravens so that their croaking does not wake them. On the day of judgment, the princes are seized by the angels of death. The last four stanzas, added later by Schubart, deal with the "better princes" (line 89). They too sleep in the tomb and joyfully wait for the last day, when they will be judged as good princes and receive their wages. They seem to represent a change in mood. But this whole last part is hardly believable in relation to the rest of the poem and probably meant in an ironic sense. Because “The Princely Crypt” is full of irony and sarcasm. The contradiction between the fame that the princes wanted to portray and their now actual transience is made clear at the beginning of the poem by the use of paradoxical images: For example, the old coffins shine "like rotten wood" (lines 5 - 6) and the silver shields sparkle matt (see line 7). All the splendor is earthly and ultimately meaningless.

Central to the whole poem is the vanitas thought: “The princely crypt” shows the entire impermanence of the princes, their worldly fame and wealth. Their death makes everything meaningless, and fame and power do not help them even at the Last Judgment . The subject of the memento mori is also addressed when the wanderer discovers the nothingness of humanity. Vanitas and memento mori are both themes that come from Baroque poetry. Schubart wrote his poem later, at the time of the Sturm und Drang . Appropriate at this time is the criticism of the absolutist ruler and generally against the generation of fathers and everything related to them, such as class society or hierarchy. The artist sees himself as a genius and demands his individual freedom. This last idea is hinted at in the following lines by showing how the princes "starved genius / and wisdom" (lines 62–)

Friedrich Schiller and "The Princely Crypt"

Friedrich Schiller admired Schubart. On his escape from Stuttgart, he is said to have carried Schubart's poems with him and read them, one of which was “The Prince's Crypt”. It is believed that his own poem "The Bad Monarchs" is based on Schubart's "Prince's Crypt". Matthias Luserke-Jaqui puts this into perspective by declaring that “the theme of the royal crypt is also one of the contemporary literary motifs”.

literature

  • Gustav Hauff: Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart in his life and works. Stuttgart 1885.
  • Kurt Honolka: Schubart. Poet and musician, journalist and rebel. His life, his work. Stuttgart 1995.
  • Matthias Luserke-Jaqui : Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart and The Princely Crypt. Text and context. In: Andreas Böhn u. a .: Poetry in a historical context: Festschrift for Reiner Wild. Wurzburg 2009.
  • Barbara Potthast: Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart - The Work. Heidelberg 2016.
  • Christian Daniel Friedrich Schubart: The Princely Crypt. In: Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart's complete poems. Edited by himself. Frankfurt am Main 1787.
  • Ludwig Schubart: Schubart's character from his son Ludwig Schubart. 1798. (Or third and last part of “Life and Minds”). In: CFD Schubart's fates. Stuttgart 1839.
  • Bernd Jürgen Warneken: Schubart. The non-bourgeois citizen. Frankfurt am Main 2009.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Cf. Matthias Luserke-Jaqui : "Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart and Die Fürstengruft. Text and context." In: Andreas Böhn u. a. (Ed.): Poetry in a historical context: Festschrift for Reiner Wild . Würzburg 2009, p. 73-77 .
  2. ↑ Cf. Barbara Potthast: Introduction . In: Barbara Potthast (ed.): Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart - The work . Heidelberg 2016, p. 8 .
  3. ↑ Cf. Matthias Luserke-Jaqui: Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart and Die Fürstengruft. Text and context. In: Andreas Böhn u. a. (Ed.): Poetry in a historical context: Festschrift for Reiner Wild . Würzburg 2009, p. 85 .
  4. ↑ See Bernd Jürgen Warneken: Schubart. The non-bourgeois citizen . Frankfurt am Main 2009, p. 295-299 .
  5. ↑ Cf. Matthias Luserke-Jaqui: Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart and the princely crypt. Text and context. In: Andreas Böhn u. a. (Ed.): Poetry in a historical context: Festschrift for Reiner Wild. Würzburg 2009, p. 80-81 .
  6. ↑ See Kurt Honolka: Schubart. Poet, musician, journalist and rebel. His life, his work. Stuttgart 1995, p. 215 .
  7. ↑ See Bernd Jürgen Warneken: Schubart. The non-bourgeois citizen . Frankfurt am Main 2009, p. 301-302 .
  8. ↑ Cf. Barbara Potthast: Introduction . In: Barbara Potthast (ed.): Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart - The work . Heidelberg 2016, p. 8 .
  9. ↑ Cf. Matthias Luserke-Jaqui: Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart and Die Fürstengruft. Text and context. In: Andreas Böhn u. a. (Ed.): Poetry in a historical context: Festschrift for Reiner Wild . Würzburg 2009, p. 85 .
  10. ↑ See Bernd Jürgen Warneken: Schubart. The non-bourgeois citizen . Frankfurt am Main 2009, p. 302 .
  11. ↑ See Ludwig Schubart: Schubart's character from his son Ludwig Schubart. 1798. (Or third and final part of “Life and Mind”.) . In: CFD Schubart's fates . Stuttgart 1839, p. 153 .
  12. ^ A b Christian Daniel Friedrich Schubart: "The princely crypt" . In: Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart's complete poems. Edited by himself . Frankfurt am Main 1787.
  13. ^ Christian Daniel Friedrich Schubart: The princely crypt . In: Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart's complete poems. Edited by himself . Frankfurt am Main 1787.
  14. ↑ Cf. Christian Daniel Friedrich Schubart: Die Fürstengruft . In: Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart's complete poems. Edited by himself . Frankfurt am Main 1787.
  15. ↑ Cf. Christian Daniel Friedrich Schubart: Die Fürstengruft . In: Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart's complete poems. Edited by himself . Frankfurt am Main 1787.
  16. ^ Christian Daniel Friedrich Schubart: The princely crypt . In: Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart's complete poems. Edited by himself . Frankfurt am Main 1787.
  17. ^ Christian Daniel Friedrich Schubart: The princely crypt . In: Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart's complete poems. Edited by himself . Frankfurt am Main 1787.
  18. ^ Christian Daniel Friedrich Schubart: "The princely crypt" . In: Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart's complete poems. Edited by himself . Frankfurt am Main 1787.
  19. ^ Christian Daniel Friedrich Schubart: The princely crypt . In: Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart's complete poems. Edited by himself . Frankfurt am Main 1787.
  20. ^ Christian Daniel Friedrich Schubart: The princely crypt . In: Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart's complete poems. Edited by himself . Frankfurt am Main 1787.
  21. ^ Christian Daniel Friedrich Schubart: The princely crypt . In: Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart's complete poems. Edited by himself . Frankfurt am Main 1787.
  22. ↑ Christoph Juergensen and Ingo Irsigler: Sturm und Drang . Göttingen 2010, p. 51-60 .
  23. ↑ See Bernd Jürgen Warneken: Schubart. The non-bourgeois citizen . Frankfurt am Main 2009, p. 301 .
  24. ↑ Matthias Luserke-Jaqui: Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart and The Princely Crypt. Text and context. In: Andreas Böhn u. a. (Ed.): Poetry in a historical context: Festschrift for Reiner Wild . Würzburg 2009, p. 80 .