believer in Opitz's rules. He expresses bitterly his sense of the subservience of Germany in literary and other fashions—her unhappy lot at this period, when Spain and France, England and Holland, had such rich and such national literatures—
"Wer nicht Französisch kann,
Ist kein gerühmnter Mann;
Drum müssen wir verdammen
Von denen wir entstammen,
Bey denen Herz und Mund
Alleine deutsch gekunt."
The mass of artificial and occasional verse produced by the admirers of Opitz is consigned to oblivion. To the rich harvest of Renaissance poetry—especially rich in lyric and drama—Germany's contribution is practically limited to some drama not of the first order, some graceful courtly song, epigrams, and some passionate and simple hymns.
