Goethe and Time

 

I picked up at the post office yesterday a copy of the July 14 issue of the TLS,  in which my review of a new biography of the poet Phillis Wheatley appeared. (Yes, I occasionally venture into other parts of the 18th century.) Since I am not at home in NYC this summer, the book review editor kindly mailed the issue to me, and I was able to peruse it this morning with my cup of hot tea. Nothing in the issue itself about Goethe or German literature, but a couple of the reviews brought up subjects that prompted me to think about Goethe. One was a review of a book about “time and medieval life. The reviewer (Pablo Scheffer) opens with quotes from Chaucer that reminded me of how entrenched was once the tradition of writing about nature. In the Prologue, Chaucer writes of “tendre croppes” bathing the breath of the West Wind and of little birds impelled to “maken melodye” when fields are filled with flowers. And here is young Goethe, in 1765, in a poem sent to his friend Riese. (All quotes following reflect Goethe’s own spelling at the time of writing.)

So wie ein Vogel der auf einem Ast
Im schönsten Wald, sich Freiheit ahtmend, wiegt,
Der ungestört die sanfte Lust genießt,
Mit seinem Fitigen von Baum zu Baum,
Von Busch auf Busch sich singend hinzuschwingen

Since the book under review is about time, we learn about how people kept time when “there was the problem of keeping it,” before the invention of the mechanical clock in 1300. The clergy, tracking the seven mechanical hours, relied on sundials, water clocks, candles, sand glasses, and astrolabes, while everyone else relied on the clergy. In this way, as the authors of the book point out, “the sound of liturgical bells at the canonical hours became part of the medieval soundscape, governing all sorts of secular activities from the opening and closing of city gates to the business hours of shops and taverns.”

Allegory of Good Government by Lorenzetti Ambrogio

In reading through the two volumes of Karl Eibl’s edition of Der junge Goethe, I am now struck by how specific notations of time are absent in Goethe’s letters. There is one letter, however, to Kester, dated Christmas 1772, in which Goethe marks the times of the day almost as if he were a medieval person. In the first sentence, he writes “Christag früh. Es ist noch Nacht lieber Kestner, ich bin früh aufgestanden um bey Lichte Morgens wieder zu schreiben,” and continues: “ich habe mir Coffee machen lasen den Festag zu ehren und will euch schreiben biss es Tag ist.” And, then, what I have just learned about medieval times: “Der Türmer hat sein Lied schon geblasen ich wachte drüber auf.”

Some lines follow (which include the mention of Lotte’s portrait on the wall near his bed), after which we hear again of the town watchman “Der Türmer hat sich wieder zu mir gekehrt, der Nordwind bringt mir seine Melodie, als blies er vor meinem Fenster.” This is then followed by a description of his activities of the previous evening and his impressions of the natural world on his return home as well as the sights at the market place (“viele Lichter und Spielsachen”). And, then, returning to the present, he notes the passage of time: “Das erste Grau des Tags kommt mir über des Nachbaars Haus und die Glocken läuten eine Christliche Gemeinde zusammen. Wohl ich binn erbaut hier oben auf meiner Stube, die ich lang nicht so liebe hatte als ietzt.” I can really see Goethe in his room here, especially with that cup of coffee beside him!

After some more words about Lotte and his “lieben Mädgen,” it is finally morning: “Der Tag kömmt mit Macht …”

Clearly Goethe came to reflect on time and became to some extent clock bound. The above image, "Comparative Table of German and Italian Time," appears in The Works of J. W. von Goethe (vol. 12, p. 131). It is the only image I could find on Google on the subject of "Goethe and time" and comes, I suspect, from his Italian journey. (I don't have the English edition with me, but if anyone has it and would liket to let me know about the image, I would appreciate it.) There is more that I could write about the issue of “temporal progress,” as it is certainly a subject in which Goethe devoted some thought. More anon.

Image credits: Physics World