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LETTERS. 245
earth nor beyond it. It is mysincere belief, that the Eter-
nal Architect of the universe has auditories and laboratories
enough, and models also, to prevent the divine exercise of
this culture from ever dying out amongst the thinking and
feeling spirits. Artists, in the sense now alluded to, I would
call not only him who creates esthetic works of art, but
also the honest nian who lives according to strict and pure
principles, and the good man whose life is devoted to pure
sacrifices of love. He creates his world out of the genius
of the heart. These are human artists, as well as Shakes-
peare, Goethe, and Schiller.
I have mentioned Goethe, and this name calls up before
my imagination the world of art, par excellence; reality
embodied in beautiful forms, comprehensible to our out-
ward senses in its reality, in its truth. J have never been
able to understand the contrast, which so many — and
amongst others Schiller — speak of, in reality and poetry.
It is this innermost reality of life, of existence, of things,
which to me appear the romance of poetry, and this poe-
try — but how to express the unfathomable — has seemed to
me to be a sound, a power, a spiritual essence ; something
eternal, living, life-giving ; something of God; something
which reveals Him within as well as without us. Ah! it is
in such meetings, when the lyre of the poet resounds: invol-
untarily; when the Eros-image is born within the poct’s
joy-inspired bosom; when even the Paul’s power stands
speechless, only to be born anew, glorified, because he has
beheld God. The artist does not then invent, he only con-
ceives in a certain form the eternally living, eternally ex-
isting. Life, in its highest moments, is called “ inspira-
tion.” In these moments the image of a God is born; it
is inspiration ; it is tnborn.
Goethe’s life appears to me to be one of the richest, most
perfect artist-lives. Up to his last moments his Genius
stood beside him. His making signs with his finger in the
air, when his tongue had refused to speak, — this last at-
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