Valuable for its insights into Schiller s life and for Carlyle s peculiar relationship to Schiller and German literature in general. Carlyle s biography of Schiller is still valuable both for its insights into Schiller s life and for Carlyle s peculiar relationship to Schiller and German literature in general. In an age that has by and large forgotten the great idealist poet this earliest biography provides good reason for a reacquaintance with a noble personality and distinguished achievement.