Falls of the Rhine will involuntarily recall, at the sight, the
beautiful strophe in _The Diver_ in which this confusing tumult of
waters, that so captivates the eye, is depicted; and yet no personal
view of these rapids had served as the basis for Schiller's
description.

But whatever Schiller did acquire from his own experience he grasped
with a clearness which also brought distinctly before him what he
learned from the description of others. Besides, he never neglected to
prepare himself for every subject by exhaustive reading. Anything that
might prove to be of use, even if discovered accidentally, fixed
itself firmly in his memory; and his tirelessly-working imagination,
which, with constant liveliness, elaborated now this now that part of
the material collected from every source, filled out the deficiencies
of such second-hand information.

In a manner quite similar he made the spirit of Greek poetry his own,
although his knowledge of it was gained exclusively from translations.
In this connection he spared himself no pains. He preferred
translations which disclaimed any particular merit in themselves, and
his highest consideration was for the literal classical paraphrases.

* * * _The Cranes of Ibycus_ and the _Festival of Victory_ wear the
colors of antiquity with all the purity and fidelity which could be
expected from a modern poet, and they wear them in the most beautiful
and most spirited manner. The poet, in these works, has quite absorbed
the spirit of the ancient world; he moves about in it with freedom,
and thus creates a new form of poetry which, in all its parts,
breathes only such a spirit. The two poems, however, are in striking
contrast with each other. _The Cranes of Ibycus_ permitted a