Poems for the Consideration of Our Age

IX

to every smallest detail of his outdated circumstances, along with every offshoot of his wit wit: in the 18th-century sense of "Witz," meaning intellectual ingenuity or sharp-mindedness and style, would be equivalent to bringing his buried truth *) to light along with all the decay original: "Moder"; refers to the musty, organic decomposition of the past that can obscure historical ideas with which its era covered that incorruptible thing.

Therefore, my dear sirs original: "m. H.", an abbreviation for "meine Herren" (Gentlemen), every sensible person will thank you all the more for seeking to transplant a little garden full of beautiful, but here and there too-lush plants of a previous century into our own with a cautious gardener’s hand. Indeed, the most beautiful reward for this will have been granted to you by the effort you overcame and the refreshing fragrance of the flowers themselves. Truly, Andreä is a rare and dear spirit, both in intellect and in heart. His organi-

*) See page 5 of this translation.