SOURCE: Ewton, Jr., Ralph W. “The Speculative History of Poetic Origins.” In The Literary Theories of August Wilhelm Schlegel, pp. 22-38. The Hague: Mouton, 1972.

In the following essay, Ewton analyzes Schlegel's theory of poetic language.

In his “Briefe über Poesie, Sylbenmaß und Sprache” (1795-96) Schlegel observes, “indem man erklärt, wie die Kunst wurde, zeigt man zugleich auf das einleuchtendste, was sie sein soll” [Sämtliche Werke, ed. Ednard Böcking, 12 vols. (Leipzing, 1846-47). Hereafter SW, VII, 107]. Herder is Schlegel's model in this approach to the nature of art. It should be noted, however, that Schlegel had some reservations about the value of such a procedure as history. He later admits that there are no historical data to support the ideas which follow and that, in fact, their only proof is a philosophical one. This admission seems to suggest that the ‘should be’ of poetry could just as...