Die Versunkene Glocke

The present edition of Die versunkene Glocke is an attempt to comply with a general demand for assistance in studying this, the most interesting product of recent liter ary activity in Germany. Rarely does a play offer greater difficulties to the reader. The language itself is unusual, the references often oh scure, and the thought by no means simple. The use of the Silesian dialect in certain passages has been a source of confusion, and it has therefore seemed best to give in the notes these portions in normal German. Frequent reference is also made there to questions of folk-lore and mythology, in order to show Hauptmann’s extraordinary accuracy and to point out the significance of the poet’s allusions. Towards the interpretation of the work as a whole but little has been done beyond furnishing the reader with information upon which he may base his own opinion of the meaning of the symbolism. If this great play is made more accessible and more intelligible to English readers, the purpose of the present task will have been accomplished.