Novalis:The Blue Flover of Romanticism

Bychkov Victor Doctor of Philosophy Chief Scientific Associate at Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences 109240, Russia, g. Moscow, ul. Goncharnaya, 12, str. 1, Institut filosofii RAN vbychkov48@yandex.ru Other publications by this author

Novalis (Friedrich von Hardenberg; 1772-1801) is one of the most authoritative representatives of Jena Romanticism ^[1-6], who created a number of romantic works, who stood at the origins of the romantic theory of art. But it is quite difficult to state his "theory". The specifics of Novalis' texts, especially his "Fragments", include precisely fragmentarity, aphorism, a certain poetic illogic that does not lend itself to an adequate formal and logical description. As in poetry, we understand what is being discussed in a particular fragment or aphorism of Novalis, but we cannot always convey it in our own words. Therefore, it assumes a fairly copious quoting of the German romantic himself with attempts to more or less (not to judge the author) adequate interpretations.

In his main and unfinished work, the novel Heinrich von Ofterdingen, Novalis introduced the image of the blue flower as a kind of mystical symbol, which eventually became a symbol of all German Romanticism. As the translator of Roman Z. writes. Vengerova, the blue flower of Novalis was a symbol of "mystical synthesis, the unity of being with non-being in the magical connection of man with the universal soul. This blue flower of Novalis has become a symbol of romanticism with its longing, with its thirst for eternity in the temporal" ^[7]. In his youth, Henry saw a blue flower in a dream, and it alone among the many different flowers attracted his attention. When Henry wanted to approach him to examine him more closely, "the flower suddenly moved and its appearance changed; the leaves became more shiny and pressed against the growing stem, the flower bent towards him and the petals formed a wide blue collar, from which a delicate face protruded" ^{[8, p. 21]}. Subsequently, it became the face of his muse and beloved Matilda. The dream turned out to be prophetic. Henry himself felt this even before meeting Matilda. Novalis considered dreams in general to be close to a miracle directed against everyday life, elevating a person above it. So Henry perceived the dream of the blue flower as something significant, imperiously capturing his soul and rushing it far and high.

The sublime spirit of art

The prelude about the blue flower at the beginning of the novel is not an accident. The novel is dedicated to the ascent of Henry (Novalis took the famous Minnesinger of the XIII century as the prototype of his hero. Heinrich von Ofterdingen) to a high poetic existence, which takes a person into the mystical blue depths of the spiritual world, removes him from the utilitarian life with its boring affairs and worries; the novel is about becoming a poet and the highest status of poetry in human life. As an epigraph to it, Novalis gives his poem about the mystical-anagogic spirit of poetry:

He calls to us, changing every hour,

Poetry has a mysterious power.

She blessed the world with eternal peace there,

Here, eternal youth flows down on us.

She is like a light to our weak eyes,

I judged loving the beautiful with my hearts,

She is intoxicated by both cheerful and sad

In the hour of prayer and intoxication.

And her breasts gave me satisfaction;

I became her command myself

And he looked up from his former languor.

My supreme mind was still asleep,

But, sensing her appearance in the angel,

I'm flying in her arms–with her alone.

                       ^{[8, p. 16, translated by V. Gippius]}

The pathos of the highest role of poetry and art in general in human life permeates the entire work of Novalis, although he was a thinker of the broadest profile. However, being interested in philosophy, law, mathematics, and natural sciences, he passed all his knowledge through the prism of poetry ^[9]. It is no coincidence that he devoted the first novel of the seven conceived to poetry, and in the "Fragments" (a collection of philosophical essays, reflections and aphorisms) there are many deep thoughts about art and poetry as paths to the spiritual spheres.

Art, according to Novalis, is closely connected with science and forms one of the meaningful components of the human spirit. "There should be nothing arbitrary and chaotic in the actions of the human spirit–only art and science." At the same time, each science is a complete knowledge of its subject, and "art is the perfect application of such knowledge" ^{[10, p. 73]}. Art is formed on the basis of a special activity, which Novalis calls the "pictorial ability" of the artist's inner Self. This image arises only for the sake of the image itself and is a "free image" that gives the work of art "a free, independent and ideal character – a majestic spirit." A work of art appears as a visible product of the artist's Ego, thereby connecting his inner world with the outside world. As a result of the creative process, the spiritual and sensual aspects of being seem to change: the sensual is depicted spiritually, and the spiritual is depicted sensually.  Art, Novalis believes, forms "effectiveness" – "a certain kind of will", which, with its constant "exercise", forms a full-fledged art ^{[10, pp. 73-74]}.

Being a free expression of the artist's Self, art at the same time "belongs to nature and is, as it were, a self-contemplative, self-imitating and self-forming nature" ^{[10, p. 277]}. In art, the inner world of the artist reveals its belonging to nature and its laws; the creative principle of nature manifests itself in art as something taken for granted, transforming into the spiritual world of the artist, who has the ability to be a "true observer" of everything; he "searches for the significant and is able to identify the most important in a bizarre and motley confusion of impressions" ^{[10, p. 199]}. At the same time, the artist should not be limited only to the image of his favorite themes and objects. A bad artist, Novalis is convinced, who "cannot bring himself to carefully study a completely unfamiliar, uninteresting object and depict it without haste. An artist should be able to depict everything and want it" ^{[10, p. 91]}. Only in this case does a great artistic style arise. As an example of this style, Novalis cites Goethe, who had an amazing ability to connect small, insignificant episodes with more important events ^[11]. One gets the impression, writes the German romantic, "that he does not pursue any other goal than to activate the imagination by poetic means, by mystical play" ^{[10, p.91]}. This extraordinary man, Novalis is convinced (although he does not always appreciate him so highly, as will be discussed later), penetrated the mystery of nature and "learned from her a glorious artistic technique" [ibid.].

Seeing a lot in common in the creative activity of nature and in artistic creation, Novalis sees a fundamental difference between them in the context of aesthetic perception, and he is surprised by this. "It is strange that in nature everything abrupt, chaotic, asymmetric, rude does not cause disgust, but in a work of art, on the contrary, gentleness, methodicality, harmony, correctness and consistency are needed." This difference is, according to Novalis, one of the reasons for the origin of art. The German thinker attributes these properties to the essence of art ^{[10, p. 302]}, and many German romantics agreed with him in this. Meanwhile, there were some among them, especially those who studied the aesthetic phenomenon of the sublime, who would not agree with Novalis regarding inharmonious and chaotic phenomena in nature. Romanticism also found aesthetic significance in them (F. Schelling, F. Schlegel) ^[12].

In general, Novalis, like most romantics, highly appreciated the spiritual and aesthetic potential of nature and art, believing that life in close connection with them can satisfy all spiritual needs of a person and leads him into the spaces of the "future world". "Whoever is unhappy in today's world," wrote the German poet, "who does not find what he is looking for, let him plunge into the book and art world, into nature, eternally ancient and modern – and live in this ecclesia pressa (persecuted church) of a better world. He will certainly find love, friendship, homeland and God here" ^{[10, p. 240]}. Those who are involved in the worlds of nature and art will join all the best that a person only dreams of in the most beautiful dreams. And "all the best properties of human nature are concentrated near the spirit and beauty" ^{[10, p. 98]}. So it is the spiritual and aesthetic properties of art and nature that resonate with the best qualities of the human spiritual world, allowing him to live a full life, which an ordinary person does not yet live, but it awaits him in the future world. A person living an aesthetic experience, we would say today, is already achieving this life in the present, according to Novalis and his fellow romantics.

The subject of art for Novalis, as for most romantics, is the beautiful; on this basis, the main types of art – music, painting, sculpture, poetry – appear to his poetic consciousness as one, and the terms denoting them are synonymous. And it is the vision of beauty that distinguishes a genuine artist from an ordinary person. Novalis uses the term "artist" in relation to art in general – any artist – and specifically to the painter. The artist has a special vision of the world – all artists are united in this. "Just as an artist looks at objects with completely different eyes than an ordinary person, so a poet comprehends the events of the external and internal world in a completely different way than ordinary people" ^{[10, p. 161]}. The main difference between an artist and an ordinary person is that he perceives the outside world actively, not mechanically. Both the composer, the painter, and the poet do not imitate the outside world, but create a work based on their inner world, relying on the senses. According to Novalis, the artist "revives the germ of self–developing life in the senses, increases their spiritual irritability and thus can radiate any ideas arbitrarily, without any external sanction - use the senses as tools for modifying the real world" ^{[10, p. 162]}. Therefore, the musician does not imitate the sounds of nature. The noise of the forest, the whistling of the wind, the murmur of the stream, the singing of the nightingale and other natural sounds are too rude and spiritless for musical art. The creator of music "extracts the essence of art from himself." Novalis sees the same thing in the painter's activity. Although he seems to be based on nature, in fact "his art is as independent and a priori as the art of a musician" ^{[10, p. 161]}. Novalis is convinced that the painter uses a much more complex sign language than the musician, his art boils down to "looking right and beautiful," actively and creatively. However, the German thinker immediately makes a reservation, the musician also listens to the world actively. Nevertheless, it seems to Novalis that "painting is much more difficult than music" ^{[10, p. 162]}. It is a whole step closer to the "sanctuary of the spirit" and therefore nobler than music. In defense of music, it is usually argued that it has a stronger effect on a person than painting. Novalis believes that the physical criterion cannot serve as a "measure of the intellectual height of art", rather it indicates the opposite.

In the novel Heinrich von Ofterdingen, Novalis places poetry above other arts, arguing that poets are marked by the high grace of heaven, are closer to the deity than other artists and therefore can "proclaim heavenly wisdom on earth in charming sounds" ^{[8, p. 33]}. All other arts are closer to the earth and more understandable to people. Novalis believes that painting and music can be learned, but poetry is a gift from God. In music and painting, nature, as it were, strives to express itself through the artist in order to feel its great skill – to imagine itself in the creations of human hands and enjoy this contemplation. Music and painting are represented in this passage as almost mimetic arts, although Novalis, as we have seen, claimed that they are autonomous from nature and are an expression of the artist's inner world. Poetry, on the other hand, is farthest from nature and the external senses of man. It is turned from the inner world of the poet to the soul of the listener (the novel is most often about the poetry of the Minnesingers, who sang their works accompanied by some stringed instrument) and opens up unknown charming worlds to him. In poetry, "past and future times rise up as if from deep caves, countless people, wonderful places and the strangest events appear before us, tearing us away from familiar reality. We hear unknown words and yet we know what they are supposed to mean. The poet's sayings have magical power, and the simplest words pour out into beautiful sounds and intoxicate the enchanted listener" ^{[8, p. 34]}.

Elsewhere in the novel, Novalis is convinced that poets and other artists have a lot to learn from each other. Poetry would often do well to be more musical and picturesque, of course, in the spaces of its art, and musicians and painters could borrow from poets the poetic independence and spirituality of the work [cf.: 8, p. 111]. Moreover, Novalis is convinced that visual arts, music and poetry should function in a complex and support each other.: "Works of plastic art cannot be contemplated in isolation from music, and musical works should be listened to only in beautifully decorated halls. It is impossible to enjoy poetic works without music and decoration. Therefore, in a beautiful theater or an elegant church, poetry produces an exceptional effect" ^{[10, p. 150]}. Here Novalis declares the principle of synthesis of arts common to many romantics, which, according to his idea, they possessed in ancient times at the stage of the ancient mysteries. And in essence, the German thinker is convinced that the main types of art are "inseparable elements that are contained in different proportions in each free artistic being according to its properties" ^{[10, p. 158]}. At the same time, poetry mediates the visual and musical arts, using them as peculiar elements. Being an "image of the soul", poetry can be plastic or musical, depending on the predominance of the characteristics of the corresponding arts in it. According to Novalis, the principles of creating works of art in different arts are, in fact, very close and are aimed at creating animated images living their own lives. "Just as a composer, imagining, combining and combining the sounds of different instruments, breathes life into them, as an artist, mastering and creating colorful images, arbitrarily changes, composes, multiplies and creates the typical and individual, so a poet wraps the speaking spirit of things and actions in a variety of clothes, masterfully working with language, animates their special and original meaning" ^{[10, p. 308]}.

The most important role in the creation of works of art, according to Novalis, is played by genius. Ideally, an artist should be a genius, and "genius is always poetic. When a genius creates, he creates poetically" ^{[10, p. 149]}. An essential characteristic of a genius is the ability to speak "boldly and confidently about what is happening in his soul," and this is due to the fact that he and his work are "not bound by each other," there is an organic creative process without any artificial violence against the work being created. Genius and the product of his work are in perfect harmony with each other, and genius "is the ability to talk about fictional objects as if they were real, and treat them accordingly" ^{[10, p. 89]}. Genius is inconceivable without talent, but talent, Novalis is convinced, is only half of genius.

A brilliant artist (in the broadest sense of the word), according to the German romantic, should be an experimenter, relying on nature in his work ^[13]. A genuine experimenter "must have a vague sense of nature, which will accompany him the more reliably, the more accurately it will allow him to find and recognize a hidden key phenomenon, the greater his talent." Nature inspires a real artist and reveals itself through him the more fully, the more harmoniously he is connected with it. "A true lover of nature is distinguished by the ability to diversify, simplify, combine, analyze, romanticize and popularize experiments, come up with new ones – select and alternate them, following natural taste and flair, observe sharply and clearly, create artful descriptions, generalized and detailed at the same time. So, the experimenter is also a genius" ^{[10, p. 208]}.

Poetry and Philosophy

As already mentioned, Novalis pays special attention to poetry as a verbal and often singing art, being himself a talented poet. Poetry seems to Novalis to be the highest achievement of mankind, aimed at spiritualizing society and each person, at elevating him above everyday life; it seems to him even more significant for humanity than philosophy. "Poetry,– Novalis defines in Fragments, "elevates every single thing, in a peculiar way linking it with the whole, and if philosophy by its laws only prepares the world for the effective influence of ideas, then poetry, like the key to philosophy, is the purpose and meaning of philosophy, for it educates a wonderful society – a world family – a beautiful house-building of the universe" ^{[10, p. 146]}. What philosophy does at the level of state existence, elevating the forces of the individual to the forces of all mankind and the universe as a whole, poetry does "in relation to life" ^[11-13].

It is significant that many romantics were interested in the relationship between poetry and philosophy, considering the status of poetry (as the essence of all arts) to be higher than philosophy. Thus, Friedrich Schlegel saw in these forms of human spiritual consciousness an inseparable unity: "Philosophy and poetry are, so to speak, the true universal soul of all sciences and arts and their common focus. They are inextricably linked, like a tree whose roots are philosophy and whose beautiful fruit is poetry. Poetry without philosophy becomes empty and superficial, philosophy without poetry remains ineffective and becomes barbaric" ^{[14, p. 40]}.

According to Novalis, poetry is more free than philosophy; in it, words are not just common signs, but peculiar spells from the world of beauty that are necessary for society. In this regard, poetry acquires the features of transcendence, becomes a "transcendental doctor", because it is the art of "constructing the transcendental health" of society. She "disposes of pain and joy – lust and disgust – delusion and truth – health and illness, she mixes everything in order to achieve the goal of all goals – to elevate a person above himself" ^{[10, p. 148]}. Novalis understands that this is the ideal of poetry, which has not yet been achieved in reality. Transcendental poetry is the poetry of the future, romantic poets strive for it, but many of its features are already visible in real poetry and especially in the poetry of the past, when poets created "unconsciously, organically." Transcendence presupposes the philosophic nature of poetry, the German thinker is convinced ^[15-16]. "Transcendental poetry is mixed from philosophy and poetry. It encompasses, in fact, all transcendental functions and indeed contains everything transcendental in general" ^{[10, p. 149]}. A transcendental poet is essentially a full–fledged philosopher who expresses his philosophy in poetic images, with the help of which in the future it will be possible to comprehend "the laws of the symbolic construction of the transcendental world" [ibid.].

Constantly thinking about poetry, Novalis comes to the conclusion that it is close to philosophy, but it is impossible to determine its essence. "It is infinitely complex and at the same time simple. Beautiful, romantic, harmonious – these are its particular definitions" ^{[10, p. 309]}. A poetic image, according to the German romantic, should be either symbolic or touching. By touching, he means "that which affects." The symbolic also affects, but indirectly – "it awakens its own activity, irritates and excites, the touching touches and excites directly" ^{[10, p. 311]}. Poetry is closely connected with philosophy, she is the "heroine of philosophy. Philosophy elevates poetry to the first principle. She reveals to us the meaning of poetry. Philosophy is the theory of poetry. It shows what poetry is, that it is one and all" ^{[10, p. 168]}.

In the novel, Novalis, without climbing to transcendental heights, sings poetry as revealing the essence of life to people and giving them spiritual pleasure. Here, not only from philosophers, but also from historians, he demands to be poets, first of all, because only poets possess "the art of skillfully connecting events." After all, in order for history to become history, it is required to combine "the accidental into an instructive whole." Only in the works of poets is there a "subtle insight into the mysterious essence of life" ^{[8, p. 83]}. In the tales of poets, Novalis convinces us in the words of the wise Count Hohenzollern, there is more truth than in the learned chronicles. "Although their heroes and their destinies are made up, but still the meaning of the inventions is true and vital. For our enjoyment and edification, it is essentially irrelevant whether those whose lives reflect our own really lived or did not live." A story, whether it is a story or a poetic tale, is required to show us "the great and simple soul of modernity." And if our wish is fulfilled, then we do not care whether the actors existed in reality or whether they were invented by the poet [ibid.]. The count's interlocutor agrees with this: it was poetry that made the world and life clearer and more real for him. He is convinced that the poets are in friendship "with the spirits of light, penetrating all beings and casting a peculiar, gently colored veil over everything" [ibid.]. The songs of the poets contribute to the disclosure of a person's own soul, allow her to rejoice and move freely, experiencing "thousands of charming sensations." Novalis is convinced that the essence of poetry is the desire to "manifest in the world what is outside of it" ^{[8, p. 112]}. And the otherworldliness of being is manifested with the help of the human soul, because poetry is a "revelation of the soul." And as a revelation, it is especially significant for life in its highest manifestations, for example, in love. "Love is silent, and only poetry can speak for it: or it can be said that love is nothing but the highest poetry of nature" [ibid.].

In ancient times, Novalis is convinced, referring to ancient legends, poetry had magical properties, and poets were soothsayers, priests, doctors and magicians. The poets of antiquity were also musicians. With their instruments and singing, they awakened the spirits living in the trunks of trees, which resurrected the secret life of the forest; revived dead seeds in deserts and turned them into blooming gardens; tamed animals, softened the morals of savages, turned swift streams into quiet waters, developed the arts. With their poetic magic, they "evoked higher beings who revealed to them the secrets of the future, the harmony and natural structure of all earthly things, as well as the properties and healing powers of numbers, plants and all creatures" ^{[8, p. 35]}. Since then, harmony and order have manifested themselves in nature and the arts, but this art itself has been lost. Only its echoes remain in modern poetry, so the task of romantic poets is to revive the magical art of the past on new grounds.

Novalis is convinced that the perception of poetry requires a "poetic mood in us." Those who do not have this mood, poetry is inaccessible to them. "Poetry is always something personal and therefore defies description or definition. Those who do not know and do not directly feel what poetry is will never understand it. Poetry is poetry" ^{[10, p. 305]}. It has nothing in common with ordinary linguistic speech, Novalis argues, because it rises above it with the help of its mysterious, indescribable properties. For the poetic feeling has much in common with the mystical feeling. "This is a feeling of the original, personal, unknown, mysterious, intimate, necessary-accidental. It depicts something that cannot be depicted. It sees the invisible, feels the supersensible, etc." [ibid.]. The poet is not interested in the outside world, everything essential for him happens in his inner world. Subject and object, soul and world – everything is inside him, in his poetic feeling. Therefore, a good poem is "infinite and eternal", and the poetic feeling is close to the religious feeling, has a prophetic gift. On this basis, the poet creates unconsciously, guided by some spiritual force. He "arranges, connects, invents, selects and has no idea why exactly this way and not otherwise" [ibid.].

Novalis also highly appreciates a true listener or reader of poetry, arguing that he "should be an extension of the author." Moreover, the reader is "the highest authority, since he receives from the lowest an already prepared thing" ^{[10, p. 116]}. He skillfully separates the artistic from the non-artistic, thereby subjecting the book to processing in accordance with his ideas and enriching it, as it were. The author himself can act in this role by rereading his book. A special place between the author and the reader, between the author and his work, is occupied by an art critic, to whom the romantic poet gives practical instructions: "When evaluating poems, one should beware of excessive censure, except perhaps for gross artistic blunders, because dissonance is present in any combination." For each poem, the sphere of its existence should be indicated as accurately as possible. This will help the author to understand his shortcomings. Poems should be judged from the position they are designed for: "wide or narrow, remote or close, gloomy or light, light or dark, sublime or vulgar" ^{[10, p. 64]}. Such criticism will also be useful to the reader, it will orient him to the correct understanding of the work. In addition, every poem "is perceived differently by different readers in different circumstances - it has its own environment, its own world, its own God" [ibid.]. This should be remembered by the author, the reader, and the critic.

The magical world of poetry

According to Novalis, poetry is the art of stimulating the soul; it is an inner painting and music transformed by the soul's nature. Through poetry, "they try to create inner moods, paintings or contemplations – or maybe spiritual dances, etc." ^{[10, p. 288]}. Poetry, the German romantic is convinced, is "always a miracle."  He constantly compares it with religion, then with a fairy tale, where a miracle or magic plays a major role ^[15]. For Novalis, a fairy tale is a "canon of poetry" – "everything poetic should be fabulous" and based on a certain chance, because a fairy tale, like a dream, is built on accidents. Novalis is referring to a certain essence of the fairy tale, which did not yet have a coherent story, as in later fairy tales. In his understanding, the early fairy tale is "incoherent – an ensemble of wonderful things and incidents", similar to musical fantasy or the Aeolian harp of nature, based on chance as a "free formation of couplings". Such is the poet: he "uses things and words like keys, and all poetry is based on an active association of ideas – on the amateur, deliberate, ideal production of accidents." A fairy tale of a higher kind arises when reason dominates it, such a fairy tale can be useful, but less poetic ^{[10, p. 250]}. Poetry is a mystical and fabulous expression of the poet's inner world.

Novalis is convinced that a significant role in poetry is played by "poetic fiction" – it is "an all–encompassing tool" that creates the whole world of the poet, including its moral components - conscience, virtue. "The true spirit of poetic fiction is a benevolent transformation of the spirit of virtue; the true goal of the poetic creativity subordinated to it is to become the motive force of the highest and truest being" ^{[8, pp. 157-158]}. That is, poetic fiction, according to the German romantic, following moral principles, is able to elevate the poet to a participant in higher existence, to make him almost a demiurge. Accordingly, poetry, Novalis is convinced, is "a wonderful reflection of the higher world", it "reflects the life of the higher world in a variety of ways in poems that miraculously arise" ^{[8, pp. 158-159]}. Poetic fiction is fueled by poetic inspiration. And "inspiration is found in continuous and free reflection. If there is no time for contemplation, free meditation, calm reflection and consideration of the subject in different moods, then even the most violent fantasy falls asleep and the inner wealth disappears" ^{[10, p. 295]}. Genuine poetry does not exist without inspiration and poetic fiction ^[15-16].

In Novalis's novel, Heinrich von Ofterdingen's life leads him along the path of comprehending the essence of poetry, when various characters in the novel tell him about poetry and poets and, in particular, discover all the prerequisites for him to become a poet. He is able to speak freely about the phenomena of his mental life, he has no shortage of refined expressions and suitable comparisons, he is inclined to the miraculous – all this is "the element of poets" ^{[8, p. 32]}. The poet must delve into the essence of every matter, the poet wizard Klingsor teaches Heinrich, be familiar with the means to achieve any goal, must be able to choose the most appropriate for a particular time and in accordance with the given circumstances. The poet has a moderate and life-giving warmth of the soul, resisting the "heat of a painful heart." "A young poet should be as moderate and reasonable as possible. For truly resonant eloquence, a broad, attentive and calm soul is needed." The poet's soul is like light, "just as calm and sensitive, just as flexible and penetrating, just as domineering and just as imperceptible, powerful... The poet is pure steel, as sensitive as a fragile glass thread, as hard as an unyielding cobblestone" ^{[8, p. 105]}. And most importantly, the poet has a divine gift. Poets, Novalis is convinced, "are marked by the high mercy of heaven and therefore, inspired by the invisible proximity of the deity, they can proclaim heavenly wisdom on earth in charming sounds" ^{[8, p. 33]}.

Meanwhile, the poet's lot is difficult ^[17]. He moves around the world, suffers all kinds of need, but as a rule does not find an adequate response from the listeners for whom he creates. The poet sings about this in one of the novel's short stories.

The ways of the singer – works without counting,

He tears his dress on a thorn tree,

It passes rivers and swamps,

And who will send him help?

Everything is more hopeless, homeless

The singer's tired plea.

He's not parting with the lute yet,

But the struggle is hard for him.

A sad lot was assigned to me,

The earth is deserted around me,

I sing to everyone about the bright sky,

Not sharing the fun with anyone.

Everyone is happy with their lot

And I am glad to live through me;

But their gift is pitiful: a counter thirst

They won't accept my fire.

                   ^{[8, pp. 49-50; translated by V. Gippius]}

People part with the poet as easily as with the departed May, and their hearts remain cold. However, the singer is confident that the "majestic genius of songs" crowding in his chest will be appreciated by high society:

What did you not find in the walls of huts,

You will be presented at the palace. [ibid.]

After all, poetry is divine wisdom, and it is not revealed to everyone equally. The poet's very lifestyle is far from the lives of the people for whom he creates. The world of poets is only the sphere of the spirit, their activity is contemplation, and their life is a "slow increase of inner forces." Nothing attracts them to the active life that most people are engaged in. They devote all their leisure time to contemplation and the desire to know the meaning of events. "This assigns them to the mysterious role of the soul of the world." They rarely allow themselves to be drawn into any event, and then only in order to better understand its meaning and essence. "But on the other hand, their subtle instincts are quite busy with close insignificant phenomena that present them with a rejuvenated great world, and they make amazing discoveries in themselves at every step regarding the essence and meaning of these phenomena" ^{[8, p. 91]}. Poets, says Novalis, are rare stray birds among humans. They occasionally appear in villages and renew our world, proclaiming to us a new cult of rejuvenated gods, motifs of spring, stars, love and happiness, health and joy. They inhale only the fragrance of earthly fruits, not being chained to our world. In the presence of poets, smiles appear on all faces, all grow wings. The poet's songs often arouse heroism in young hearts, but heroic deeds have not yet awakened the spirit of poetry in anyone. The poet "alone has the right to be called a sage" [ibid.].  

Novalis is convinced that poetry requires to be treated as a "strict art. Turning into pleasure alone, it ceases to be poetry." A poet should not spend his days in idleness and chasing images. He must constantly work spiritually. "A pure open soul, the ability to think and contemplate, as well as the ability to direct all their forces to mutually revitalizing activities and maintain their intensity" – this is what poetic art requires from a poet ^{[8, p. 106]}. At the same time, the poetic gift is given to the poet from birth, and throughout his life poetry accompanies him. Even the ordinary people around him [in the novel they are merchants, an oriental woman, a miner, a hermit, somehow accompanying Henry] become "voices of the spirit of poetry" ^{[8, p. 107]}. Love plays an important role in poetry. She turns the whole life of lovers "into eternal poetry" ^{[8, p. 108]}. A poet cannot create without love.

Poetry, according to Novalis, is not unlimited. Every poet should feel a certain framework of his poetry, thematic and expressive. Especially a young poet should not strive to express everything with unthinkable poetic excesses, with unrestrained imagination. Good poetry won't work here. At a more mature age, the poet himself is determined to avoid disproportionalities and "leaves wisdom to find the simplest and highest. An older poet does not seek to rise higher than necessary in order to distribute his entire rich stock in an easily understandable order." With deep wisdom, poetry should be light and simple in its expressive means. At the same time, "in every poetic work, chaos must be seen through a smooth haze of consistency" ^{[8, p. 110]}. An interesting remark typical of romantics of that time. Many of them, in their aesthetics, drew attention to chaos as a kind of potentially rich space that initiates authentic art. Thus, August Schlegel saw in the depths of romantic poetry "a secret attraction to chaos, which creates new and wonderful creations in the struggle, to chaos, which lies in every organized creation, in its depths" ^{[18, p. 256]}.   The prostate of poetic expression, which Novalis focuses on, was also the basis of the poetics of many romantics. They learned it from folklore and folk poetry.

Having sung a hymn to nature in the novella "Disciples in Sais", Novalis showed her as a wise, harmonious, almost animate being who fully reveals her essence only to the poet. The German romantic is convinced that "true love of nature prefers poetic art to other tricks, in which the spirit of nature is more openly expressed. Genuine poetry allows the reader or listener to feel how the innermost meaningfulness works, connecting them to the heavenly corporeality that ascends in nature itself above it"^{[19, p. 116]}. The closest to nature are poets and naturalists, who in this regard form a kind of special community united by one object of attention. While naturalists were dissecting nature into its component parts and classifying them separately, poets were preparing cumulative food for hungry human hearts, "isolating and minting from the exorbitant nature a multitude of reduced, unique, attractive likenesses" [ibid.]. Under the sharp, mortifying gaze of naturalists, nature only twitched like a lifeless body; inspired by poetry, like an exciting wine, "she did not conceal her most sacred, most gratifying inspirations, soaring above her daily routine, reached heaven" ^{[19, p. 117]}. Nature reveled in the joys of paradise with the poet, she turned to the naturalist only when she was ill. Therefore, anyone who seeks to comprehend the innermost secrets of nature should look for her among the poets: "secrecy has disappeared, and all the wonders of her heart are revealed" [ibid.]. Nature does not deny poets anything. The soul of nature, inaccessible to ordinary people, does not hide in anything from the poets, and they revel in its innermost secrets. For the poets "are permeated through and through with humanity, and the slightest impulse is clearly reflected in them, non-stop, unclouded in incessant transformations, being transmitted in all directions" ^{[19, p. 127]}.  Nature attracts poets with its fickleness, its intricate antics and whims, its great edifications and quirks; playfully it gives them its abundance; brings grace, animation, confidence into their worlds, encouraging them to poetic creativity.

The novel as a harbinger of the romantic era

 In his novel, in poetry, in many judgments about poetry and art in "Fragments", Novalis showed himself to be a consistent romantic, although the word romanticism does not appear often in his lexicon, and he does not define romanticism. The romantic era, Novalis notes in the novel, occupies a middle place between the times of barbarism and the epochs of unprecedented prosperity of science and art. In itself, it is a thoughtful era, "concealing greatness under a modest robe" ^{[8, p. 28]}. Such an era is seen by the German thinker in the near future. Art will reign in this wonderful time: "nothing will be read except art compositions and literary works." All other books are just means to achieve specific goals; they are short–lived, immediately forgotten after reading. Only fiction is timeless. In the culture of romanticism, according to Novalis, a fairy tale will play an essential role, which, in his understanding, as already indicated, differs significantly from the ordinary understanding of a fairy tale. "In a real fairy tale, everything should be wonderful – mysterious and incoherent – animated. Each in its own way. Nature is wonderfully mixed with the spiritual world. <...> The world of a fairy tale is a world that is absolutely opposite to the real world [of history] and that is why it is absolutely similar to it, as chaos is to a perfect creation" ^{[10, pp. 211-212]}. The era of fairy tales and romanticism is based on a special poetically pointed chaos, which is to some extent comprehended by reason: "In the world to come, everything will be the same as in the past, but at the same time completely different. The coming world is a reasonable chaos, chaos that has penetrated into itself – in itself and outside of itself, chaos of the second degree or infinity" ^{[10, p. 212]}. That is, elements of the poetic, fabulous, illogical, chaotic in romanticism, according to Novalis, will be essential, distinguishing it from culture and contemporary art ^[20].

The German romantic gives a fairly clear definition of romantic prose: "Real romantic prose is absolutely unpredictable, wonderful, with unexpected twists and turns – zigzags – deep drama" ^{[10, p. 294]}. There is nothing ordinary about it. The basis of romantic poetics is the antinomic desire to create the art of "pleasant alienation – to make an object alien, but familiar and attractive" ^{[10, p. 305]}. The romantic poet romanticizes, according to Novalis, the whole world, seeing in any of its phenomena and objects the potential of the poetic principle. At the same time, the lower "self" must be identified with the higher; the lower is given a high meaning, the ordinary must acquire a mysterious appearance, the known – the dignity of the unknown, the finite – the radiance of the infinite. Everything earthly must be elevated to the heavenly. Only in this case a truly romantic work is obtained.

Novalis, like other romantics, connects romanticism with the novel, which is understood in its own way as one of the types of poetry. In his view, the novel is a depiction of life, but not in a mimetic sense: "The novel tells about life – depicts life. It can be considered mimic only in relation to the poet. It often contains masquerade events – masked events with masked people" ^{[10, p. 159]}. The novel, according to Novalis, expresses a life passed through the inner world of the author, and therefore everything depicted in it seems to be a masquerade, behind which something hidden under the depicted events and characters should be deducted. The novel is not an illustration or concretization of any thesis. "He is a visual embodiment – the realization of an idea." And the idea does not fit into one thesis. It is "an endless series of theses – an irrational quantity" [ibid.]. Therefore, the novel appears to be a multi-level, multi-valued education. 

The novel, although it differs from poetry in the narrow sense of the word, is nevertheless a poetic creation: "The novel should be poetry entirely. Poetry, like philosophy, is a harmonious mood of the soul, when everything becomes prettier, every thing acquires its true appearance, appropriate surroundings and entourage" ^{[10, p. 265]}. In a true novel, everything should be natural and at the same time wonderful; it seems to us that it could not be otherwise, and not worldly life, but only the depicted one is authentic, real. In the novel, we seem to get inside the depicted events, "experiencing endless, incomprehensible feelings of harmony of the multiple world" [ibid.]. The novel, according to Novalis, is a kind of poetic union of mythology and history, legitimizing their internal symbolic integrity. "A novel is, so to speak, a free story–the mythology of history." And by mythology, the German poet understands "free poetic fiction, symbolizing reality in many ways" ^{[10, p. 302]}. In the novel, Novalis sees similarities with the English garden; in it, "every word should be poetic. There is no banal nature" ^{[10, p. 303]}, i.e. everything should be artfully organized, and not directly likened to everyday reality.

Being a novelist himself, who was going to write seven novels, Novalis also reflects on some artistic principles of the novel's organization. "From the mass of accidents and situations, the novelist writer makes bouts rim?s (poems to set rhymes. - V.B.), a kind of slender and even row leading One individual to One goal through a series of accidents specially invented for this purpose" ^{[10, p. 163]}. This "individual", or the main character of the novel, is controlled by the created circumstances and manages them himself. A novelist can approach the matter in different ways: either first come up with a lot of incidents, and then, in order to revive them, lead his hero through them; or, conversely, first create a hero, and then invent a lot of incidents for him. And Novalis goes over the main possibilities of interaction between the hero and the incidents in the novel created by the writer (sometimes the German romantic also calls the novelist a poet): "So, he can portray an individual (a) in connection with circumstances: 1) change of circumstances under the influence of an individual, 2) change of an individual under the influence of circumstances, 3] mutual change – (b) independently: 1) crosswise, 2) in parallel, 3) separately. Accidents happen: 1) interrelated actions of a rational being (fate also applies here), 2) incoherent accidents, 3) those and others mixed up," etc. ^{[10, p. 164]}. In any of the many possible organizations of the novel, the text should be unified and integral in a poetic sense, and not be a shapeless mass assembled from individual poetic fragments.

Novalis, like other romantics of his time, cites Goethe's novel "The Years of Wilhelm Meister's Teaching" as an exemplary novel, although, as we will see, the German romantic had an ambivalent attitude towards it. In this case, he cites Goethe's novel as an example of the fact that the opposite tendencies in the novel must somehow be removed by the end. In the "Meister" it is "striving for the highest and merchant class." They cannot exist together, the Maester must make a choice between beauty and benefit. Natalia appears in the finale and "both paths and both images connect" ^{[10, p. 165]}.

Elsewhere, Novalis examines the artistic merits of Goethe's novel as a romantic novel. As the main methods of presentation, Novalis identifies dialogue, description and reflection, which alternate with each other in the novel, intertwining in different ways. The depiction of the characters is replaced by a description of the incidents, and they are all linked to each other. "The text is well thought out – the events and statements are clearly defined and presented in the proper sequence. <...> The philosophy and morality of the novel are romantic. Both the vulgar and the most important things are contemplated and depicted with romantic irony." The accents are placed not logically, but melodically and metrically, "as a result of which there is that wonderful romantic order for which rank and ranking, beginning and end, greatness and insignificance have no meaning" ^{[10, p. 225]}. Epithets reveal special details of the presentation, they are skillfully selected and economically arranged, which shows the special poetic tact of the author. Everything is consistent with the writer's poetic idea. According to the first book of The Meister, one can judge how pleasant the most mundane events can be if they are presented in a coordinated and harmonious way in simple, intelligent and understandable language. It is the poetic treatment – the "melody of style" – that draws the reader into the narrative in Goethe's novel and makes the book fascinating. The magic of storytelling is achieved in it by the special "insinuation of a smooth, pleasant, simple and diverse language. Those who have mastered the syllable in this way can talk about all sorts of trifles, and we will feel their charm and charm – spiritual unity is the true soul of the book" ^{[10, p. 277]}.

A little later, Novalis, as if remembering that in a poetic work, and especially in a novel, the main role is played by the content, not the form, angrily criticizes Goethe for the mundane content, refuses to call him romantic - his hero does not strive for lofty goals, but only for mundane everyday things. A genuine romantic novel, the German poet is convinced, should contain "true love, fairy tales, magical incidents" ^{[10, p. 208]}. Meanwhile, Goethe's novel is completely prosaic, says Novalis in the last year of his life, who began to contrast his romantic novel with the "Meister". "The romantic in this novel is dying, and along with it the poetry of nature and everything wonderful – we are talking about ordinary, human things – nature and mysticism are completely forgotten. This is a poetized petty-bourgeois family story in which everything wonderful is loudly declared fiction and fantasy. Artistic atheism is the spirit of this book" ^{[10, p. 287]}. In another discussion about the novel, Novalis even more harshly criticizes it as something generally unworthy of genuine poetry, although still does not deny its external poetry. "In essence, this is an annoying and absurd book, pretentious and mannered – for all its external poetry, it is unethical in spirit. Satire on poetry, religion, etc. Chowder, the image of the gods, is concocted from straw and sawdust. Everything turns into a farce. Economics is the true nature of this book, its outcome. <...> Poetic machinery", etc. ^{[10, p. 289]}. Surprised by such an irreconcilable and harsh criticism of Novalis, especially after his own praise of Goethe's novel, one can understand its background in the light of reading Heinrich von Ofterdingen, which is much more imbued with the true spirit of romanticism than Meister. In it, the wonderful, the fabulous, and the poetic are all aimed at elevating the main goal of the hero – striving for sublime poetry, a rush from everyday life, which Goethe romanticizes, to heavenly heights.

Novalis expresses his understanding of truly romantic poetry in a peculiar manner, listing what his own work lacks in purely artistic terms in order to become romantic. Here he does not spare himself, making, in my opinion, excessively high demands on himself, which meanwhile give us the opportunity to understand his principles of approach to a romantic work. If he criticizes Goethe for the content, then he criticizes himself for the form: "My stories and romantic works are still outlined too sharply and rigidly – only rough strokes and contours – everything is bare and undeveloped; they lack tenderness and roundness – completeness and elaboration – semitones – smooth transitions – a kind of posture – rest in motion – individual completeness and detachment – plasticity and richness of style – hearing and syllable for charming periods and passages" ^{[10, p. 290]}. One can only regret that the romantic, who felt the essence of romantic aesthetics well and began to realize it in his work, passed away so early. Fate is often unfair to gifted individuals.