"Emerson as a Poet."—Benton.
"American Prose Masters."—Brownell.
"On Emerson, and Other Essays."—Maeterlinck.
HEINRICH HEINE
(1799–1856)
Heinrich Heine, the nephew of a rich Hamburg Jew, is the most gifted German lyric poet since Goethe. Intended for the bar, he studied at Bonn, Göttingen, and Berlin. He then traveled extensively for some years, until publication of his "Journey in the Hartz Mountains" and "Book of Songs" brought him to public notice.
But his tactless attacks on various authors, and upon several of the petty German governments of the day began to make his native country an uncomfortable place, and in 1831 he removed to Paris. His chief occupation there was as correspondent for German newspapers. His long poems, "Deutschland" and "Atta Troll," were written during this period. For the last eight years of his life he was confined to his bed, suffering terrible agonies from a disease of the spinal column.
Though born a Jew and baptized into the Christian faith, he was neither Jew nor Christian; and his character was marred by many defects.
THE MAN