From the Beautiful to the Sublime: On Schiller's "The Guides of Life"

Two kinds of genius may escort you throughout life.
True Goodness falls on him who lets them lead as one.
Beauty enlivens and makes brief the winding road;
Duty and fate grow lighter with her by your side—
She leads with gracefulness and laughter to the edge.
And there, mortality waits by eternal seas.
There, you’ll discover the Sublime—daring and grave.
Never place your fate in just one: rely not on
The first for dignity, nor on the last for luck!

Translation © David B. Gosselin

Reflections on the Beautiful & the Sublime

The question of Beauty and the Sublime, and the relationship of these two distinct but intimately related concepts occupied much of the poet Friedrich Schiller’s time. This relationship was explored in his dramas like The Virgin of Orleans, Don Carlos, and Wilhelm Tell, but also in his philosophical verses like “The Guides of Life,” and his writings on aesthetics.

As part of his studies, Schiller composed a series of 27 “Letter on the Aesthetic Education of Man.” There Schiller …