Text/Plain Girl
Goethe and Schiller, two great German poets, were contemporaries. However, in terms of age and generation, Goethe grew up a generation, schiller is his descendant, but the friendship between the two is excellent, their friendship is through each other's long test and deep understanding, in the history of German literature can be said to be a good story.
The deep friendship between Schiller and Goethe can be seen in the collection of the two men's letters that have survived. However, the two did not "fall in love at first sight" at the beginning. When the two first met, the young poet Schiller's impression of his old predecessor Goethe was simply very bad, and it could even be said to be disappointed, with the great feeling that "it is better to meet than to be famous".
At the same time, as far as Goethe was concerned, although he had heard the name of the young poet Schiller at that time, and had a friend who wanted to introduce them to both of them, Goethe repeatedly politely refused to meet the new poet. Even for a time when the two lived in the same city, Goethe repeatedly avoided seeing Schiller.
This was not Goethe's pride, but that he had already read Sijan's work, and felt that the strong and fiery resistance that the young poet exuded in his works was completely incompatible with his own style of rushing and high-mindedness at that time, so he never wanted to meet him.
The first chance the two of them met was by chance. Because it was not Goethe who invited him, or Schiller who agreed to meet Goethe, but Schiller who met the great poet on an occasion.
This happened in 1788, when Goethe was thirty-nine years old, a great contemporary German poet, and had become an idol worshipped by the youth of Europe thanks to the book "The Troubles of Young Werther".
Schiller was only twenty-nine years old. Although it has been written as a drama of "Bandit", it has been well received after it was staged. However, because this script offended the powerful Duke of Oldenburg in his hometown, Schiller could not settle in his hometown and had to flee.
Fortunately, Germany was ruled by many feudal aristocrats of different sizes, each in its own right, like many small independent countries. With the help of his friends and sympathizers, Schiller lived in exile and food in the areas ruled by these small states.
Not to mention his literary and artistic achievements, his environment and status at this time were too far from Goethe's. Because Goethe was the guest of honor of the Duke of Weimar at this time, it was precisely because he was in Weimar that Weimar became the center of German literary and artistic activities at that time. At this time he was returning from a trip to Italy, and many friends came to welcome him, so that Schiller, who was also a guest in Weimar at the time, had the opportunity to meet the great poet for the first time.
However, because he was mixed with many welcomers at the time, Schiller did not have the opportunity to talk to Goethe alone. However, after seeing Goethe this time, Schiller reported his impressions in a letter to his friend Conil (12 September 1788), in which he wrote:
"Generally speaking, the lofty ideas which I have always had for him (referring to Goethe) have not been diminished by this personal contact with him. But I doubt very much whether it is possible for us to become close friends. There are many things that still intriguate me, so I still wish I had the opportunity to be with him. He was too far ahead of me—not in his years—but in his experience and self-development—so I would never have the opportunity to meet him on the road. From the beginning, his whole life was contrary to mine, his world was not mine; our opinions and opinions seemed to differ in essence..."
In another letter, however, Schiller acknowledges the extent of Goethe's influence on him and values his criticism. Schiller put it this way:
"Goethe made me determined to write my poems better, with great influence. His judgment had a big effect on me. He was very positive about my Greek Gods, but he thought it was a little too long; he might be right in his critique. His vision is mature, and he has always opposed my opinion more than he agreed. Therefore, since I would most like others to criticize me, he can be said to be the most suitable one for me among all. I will get his opinion from others, because I will never mention myself before him".
However, it is no secret that the first time these two poets met in 1788, the impression obtained by both sides can be said to be not very good. For his part, Goethe, who at this time had a strong reputation and had returned from a grand trip from Italy, was intoxicated with the rush and mellow beauty of classical works, and was a little unpleasant to the fierce resistance enthusiasm of a young poet like Schiller in his work "The Bandit", so he was very cold to this new poet.
In the case of Schiller, he felt that the great poet he had always admired seemed to be unattainable after meeting, and there was a sense of "it is better to be famous than to meet". Coupled with Goethe's deliberate disagreement with him, Schiller was daunted and his enthusiasm was cold.
But Goethe was a man of great-mindedness, and although he did not want to make friends with the new poet, when he knew that Schiller's sojourn life was difficult, he used his strength to recommend Schiller to the University of Jena to teach history and solve his financial difficulties. At that time, Goethe was a European literary altar, and his words of approval could make a newcomer ten times more valuable, so this recommendation made Schiller very grateful.
Thus, it was not until six years later that the two met again by chance. This time, Schiller, because of his past experience, did not dare to be arrogant in front of this predecessor. So Goethe began to realize that he had really looked at the wrong person in the past, and the talent of the poet in front of him was not under himself. I didn't like him because my views were far away from him.
As soon as Goethe discovered that he had these mistakes, he corrected them in time, and took advantage of the opportunity for the two to meet again, and expressed his admiration for him to Schiller on the spot.
And this time people accidentally met at the door of a venue. Goethe happily talked to him, and the two walked all the way to the door of Schiller's apartment, and Goethe was reluctant to break up with him, but walked in with him. The two really became friends and formed a deep friendship between two great poets who have become good stories in the history of German literature.
This happened in 1794, when the two attended a conference on the natural sciences in Jena to discuss the phenomenon of plant change. Because the poet Goethe has always been very interested in botany, it can be said that he was also a naturalist.
When the meeting was adjourned, they happened to come out together, met at the door, and had a casual conversation, which made Goethe look at the junior with admiration. Later, in a memoir, Goethe once frankly recounted the change in his concept of Schiller at that time: "The relationship that suddenly developed between me and Schiller gave me satisfaction beyond wishes and hopes—this relationship can be said to be the most worthy of attention arranged for me by fate in my later years."
And this pleasure owes me to my study of the 'deformation of the plant', for it was on this occasion that an opportunity was given to clarify all the misunderstandings which had caused me to deliberately keep a distance from him for many years."
In this way, these two great German poets formed an unbreakable and deep friendship, which influenced each other in their works and lives. Unfortunately, Schiller was ten years younger than Goethe, but lived a short life, only forty-six years old, and died of illness in 1805. Goethe, who was ten years older than him, lived until 1832, at the age of eighty-three. But the last decade of Schiller's life was the period when he was most fruitful in literature and art, and all this was nurtured by his precious friendship with Goethe.
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