_Poeseos_.[82] For the _Gedanken_ our poet made use of Wilkins'
translation of the _Hitōpadēśa_ (1787) and of the _Bhagavadgītā_ (1785),
together with the German version of Bhartṛhari by Arnold from Roger's
Dutch rendering.

As Herder did not know either Sanskrit or Persian, his versions are
translations of translations, and it is not surprising if the sense of
the original is sometimes very much altered, especially when we consider
that the translations on which he depended were not always accurate.[83]
In most cases, however, the sense is fairly well preserved, sometimes
even with admirable fidelity, as in "Lob der Gottheit" (_Bl._ i. 1),
which is a version of passages from the introduction to the _Gulistān_.
No attention whatever is paid to the form of the originals. For the
selections from Saʻdī the distich which had been used for the versions
from the Greek anthology is the favorite form. Rhyme, which in Persian
poetry is an indispensable requisite, is never employed.

* * * * *

The moralizing tendency which characterizes all of Herder's work, and
which grew stronger as he advanced in years, rendered him indifferent
to the purely artistic side of poetry. He makes no effort in his
versions to bring out what is characteristically Oriental in the
original; on the contrary, he often destroys it. Thus his "Blume des
Paradieses" (_Bl._ iv. 7 = H̱. 548) is addressed to a girl instead of a
boy. The fourth couplet is accordingly altered to suit the sense, while
the last couplet, which according to the law governing the construction
of the Persian _γazal_ contained the name of the poet, is omitted. So
also in "Der heilige Wahnsinn" (_Verm._ 6 = _Gul._ v. 18, ed. Platts, p.
114) the characteristic Persian phrase