Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller was a German poet, philosopher, physician, historian, and playwright. During the last seventeen years of his life (1788-1805), Schiller struck up a productive, if complicated, friendship with the already famous and influential Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. They frequently discussed issues concerning aesthetics, and Schiller encouraged Goethe to finish works he left as sketches. This relationship and these discussions led to a period now referred to as Weimar Classicism. They also worked together on Xenien, a collection of short satirical poems in which both Schiller and Goethe challenge opponents to their philosophical vision.

Excerpt from The Poems of Schiller: Complete If a translator from the German Classics be so fortu nate as to attract but a single reader by his labors, Who will follow him with ever growing interest, Who will learn to appreciate an Author interpreted by him, so as to induce such a study of the language as will furnish a free perusal of S'chi-ller as Schiller wrote it; then is the translator well repaid for his arduous, and somewhat un thankful task; then 18 his mission, in a great measure), ful filled. A metaphrase, if at all poetical, has generally been preferred to a paraphrase. So we consider Schiller a model approaching too near perfection, to be improved by any translator, however great as an Author. Although we admire grace and brilliancy of diction not less than the most fastidious, yet, when it becomes absolutely nec essa'ry to make a sacrifice, either of the poetry or the sense, in a poetical translation, we would far rather see the senti ment correctly rendered, though not b1eath1n0' the high est poetry, than something the Author never said or meant, most exquisitely expressed - ea fhomely truth being prefer able to a gilded falsehood. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.