The earlier part of this book reveals the difficulty of condensing such a biography as that of Goethe's in regard to the external facts. The greater part of the work, however, is devoted to the unifying and active thought and purpose of his life, which Mr. Carus reveals through happily made selections from the poetry in which Goethe has expressed himself in varied form, through extracts from the poet's autobiography or conversations reported by contemporaries or from their own estimate of him. All these Mr. Carus supplements with helpful explanations and elucidations of the religious and philosophical meaning of Goethe's thought.

Externally the poet's life and activity were unhampered by harassing