Types of Weltschmerz in German Poetry Part 10

But it was not long before Heine, with an increasing sense of literary independence, reinforced no doubt by the reaction of public opinion against Byron, and influenced also by his friend Immermann's judgment in particular,[255] was no longer willing to be considered a disciple of the English master. Several unmistakable references betoken this change of heart, for example, the following from his "Nordsee" III (1826): "Wahrlich in diesem Augenblicke fuhle ich sehr lebhaft, da.s.s ich kein Nachbeter, oder, besser gesagt, Nachfrevler, Byrons bin, mein Blut ist nicht so spleenisch schwarz, meine Bitterkeit kommt nur aus den Gallapfeln meiner Dinte, und wenn Gift in mir ist, so ist es doch nur Gegengift, Gegengift wider jene Schlangen, die im Schutte der alten Dome und Burgen so bedrohlich lauern."[256] Byron, instead of being regarded as "kindred spirit" and "cousin," is now characterized as a ruthless destroyer of venerable forms, injuring the most sacred flowers of life with his melodious poison, or as a mad harlequin who thrusts the steel into his heart, in order that he may teasingly bespatter ladies and gentlemen with the black spurting blood. In remarkable contrast with his former views, he now writes: "Von allen grossen Schriftstellern ist Byron just derjenige, dessen Lekture mich am unleidigsten beruhrt."

Perhaps the most interesting pa.s.sage in this connection, because so thoroughly characteristic of the Byronic pose in Heine, occurs in the "Bader von Lucca": "Lieber Leser, gehorst du vielleicht zu jenen frommen Vogeln, die da einstimmen in das Lied von Byronischer Zerrissenheit, das mir schon seit zehn Jahren in allen Weisen vorgepfiffen und vorgezwitschert worden ...? Ach, teurer Leser, wenn du uber jene Zerrissenheit klagen willst, so beklage lieber, da.s.s die Welt selbst mitten entzwei gerissen ist. Denn da das Herz des Dichters der Mittelpunkt der Welt ist, so musste es wohl in jetziger Zeit jammerlich zerrissen werden. Wer von seinem Herzen ruhmt, es sei ganz geblieben, der gesteht nur, da.s.s er ein prosaisches, weitabgelegenes Winkelherz hat. Durch das meinige ging aber der grosse Weltriss, und eben deswegen weiss ich, da.s.s die grossen Gotter mich vor vielen andern hoch begnadigt und des Dichtermartyrtums wurdig geachtet haben."[257] Here while vociferously disclaiming all kins.h.i.+p or sympathy with Byron, he pays him the flattering compliment of imitation. Probably nowhere in Byron could we find a more pompous display of egoism under the guise of Weltschmerz.

Byron's Weltschmerz, like Heine's, had its first provocation in a purely personal experience. "To a Lady"[258] and "Remembrance"[259] both give expression in pa.s.sionate terms to the poet's disappointed love for Mary Chaworth, the parallel in Heine's case being his infatuation for his cousin Amalie. The necessity for defending himself against a public opinion actively hostile to his earliest poems,[260] largely diverted Byron from this first painful theme, so that from this time on until he left England, he is almost incessantly engaged in a bitter warfare against the injustice of critics and of society. To this second period Heine's development also shows a general resemblance. Thus far both poets exhibit a purely egoistic type of Weltschmerz. But with his separation from his wife in 1816, and his final departure from England, that of Byron enters upon a third period and becomes cosmic. Ostracized by English society, his relations with it finally severed, he disdains to defend himself further against its criticism, and espouses the cause of unhappy humanity. No longer his own personal woes, but rather those of the nations of the earth are nearest his heart:

What are our woes and sufferance?...

................................ Ye!

Whose agonies are evils of a day-- A world is at our feet as fragile as our clay.[261]

And in contemplating the ruins of the Palatine Hill:

..................... Upon such a shrine What are our petty griefs? Let me not number mine.[262]

Here we have the essential difference between these two types of Weltschmerz. Heine does not, like Byron, make this transition from the personal to the universal stage. Instead of becoming cosmic in his Weltschmerz, he remains for ever egoistic.

Numerous quotations might be adduced from the writings of both poets, which would seem to indicate that Heine had borrowed many of his ideas and even some forms of expression from Byron. Except in the case of the most literal correspondence, this is generally a very unsafe deduction.

Such pa.s.sages as a rule prove nothing more than a similarity, possibly quite independent, in the trend of their pessimistic thought. Compare for example Byron's lines in the poem "And wilt thou weep when I am low?"

Oh lady! blessed be that tear-- It falls for one who cannot weep; Such precious drops are doubly dear To those whose eyes no tear may steep,[263]

with Heine's stanza:

Seit ich sie verloren hab', Schafft' ich auch das Weinen ab; Fast vor Weh das Herz mir bricht, Aber weinen kann ich nicht.[264]

Or again, "Childe Harold," IV, 136:

From mighty wrongs to petty perfidy Have I not seen what human things could do?

From the loud roar of foaming calumny To the small whisper of the as paltry few-- And subtler venom of the reptile crew,[265]

with the first lines of Heine's ninth sonnet:

Ich mochte weinen, doch ich kann es nicht; Ich mocht' mich rustig in die Hohe heben, Doch kann ich's nicht; am Boden muss ich kleben, Umkrachzt, umzischt von eklem Wurmgezucht,[266]

a thought which in one of his letters (1823) he paraphrases thus: "Der Gedanke an Dich, liebe Schwester, muss mich zuweilen aufrecht halten, wenn die grosse Ma.s.se mit ihrem dummen Ha.s.s und ihrer ekelhaften Liebe mich niederdruckt."[267] There can be no doubt that Heine for a time studied diligently to imitate this fas.h.i.+onable model, pose, irony and all. So diligently perhaps, that he himself was sometimes unable to distinglish between imitation and reality. So at least it would appear from No. 44 of "Die Heimkehr:"

Ach Gott! im Scherz und unbewusst Sprach ich, was ich gefuhlet: Ich hab mit dem Tod in der eignen Brust Den sterbenden Fechter gespielet.[268]

In summing up our impressions of the two poets we shall scarcely escape the feeling that while Byron is pleased to display his troubles and his heart-aches before the curious gaze of the world, they are at least in the main real troubles and sincere heart-aches, whereas Heine, on the other hand, does a large business in Weltschmerz on a very small capital.

Nor is Heine the man more convincing as to his sincerity than Heine the poet. No more striking instance of this fact could perhaps be found than his letter to Laube on hearing the news of Immermann's death.[269]

"Gestern Abend erfuhr ich durch das _Journal des Debats_ ganz zufallig den Tod von Immermann. Ich habe die ganze Nacht durch geweint. Welch ein Ungluck!... Welch einen grossen Dichter haben wir Deutschen verloren, ohne ihn jemals recht gekannt zu haben! Wir, ich meine Deutschland, die alte Rabenmutter! Und nicht nur ein grosser Dichter war er, sondern auch brav und ehrlich, und deshalb liebte ich ihn. Ich liege ganz darnieder vor k.u.mmer." But scarcely has he turned the page with a short intervening paragraph, when he continues: "Ich bin, sonderbar genug, sehr guter Laune," and concludes the letter with some small talk. Now if he was sincere, as we may a.s.sume he was, in the a.s.severation of his grief at the death of his friend, then either that grief must have been anything but profound, or we have the clearest sort of evidence of the poet's incapacity for serious feeling of more than momentary duration.

It is safe to a.s.sert that Heine never set himself a high artistic task, and remained true to his purpose until the task was accomplished. In other words, Heine betrays a lack of will-energy along artistic lines, which in the case of Holderlin and Lenau was more evident in their att.i.tude toward the practical things of life.

But the fact that Heine never created a monumental literary work of enduring worth is not attributable solely to a fickleness of artistic purpose or lack of will-energy. We find its explanation rather in the poet's own statement: "Die Poesie ist am Ende doch nur eine schone Nebensache."[270] and to this principle, consciously or unconsciously, Heine steadily adhered. Certain it is that he took a much lower view of his art than did Holderlin or Lenau. Hence we find him ever ready to degrade his muse by making it the vehicle for immoral thoughts and abominable calumnies.[271]

The question of Heine's patriotism has always been a much-debated one, and must doubtless remain so. But whatever opinion we may hold in regard to his real att.i.tude and feelings toward the land of his birth, this we shall have to admit, that there are exceedingly few traces of Weltschmerz arising from this source. Genuine feeling is expressed in the two-stanza poem "Ich hatte einst ein schones Vaterland"[272] and also in "Lebensfahrt,"[273] although this latter poem ill.u.s.trates a characteristic of so many of his writings, namely that he himself is their central figure. It is the sublime egoism which characterizes Heine and all his works. No wonder, then, that one of his few "Freiheitslieder" refers to his own personal liberty.[274] For the failings of his countrymen he is ever ready with scathing satire,[275]

he grieves over his separation from them only when he thinks of his mother;[276] and in regard to the future of Germany he is for the most part sceptical.[277] In a word, Heine's lyric utterances in regard to his fatherland are of so mixed a character, that altogether aside from the question of the sincerity of his feeling toward the land of his birth, certainly none but the blindest partisan would be able to discover more than a negligible quant.i.ty of Weltschmerz directly attributable to this influence.

Heine's conscience is at best a doubtful quant.i.ty. Where Byron with a sincere sense and acknowledgment of his guilt writes:

"My injuries came down on those who loved me-- On those whom I best loved: . . . . . .

But my embrace was fatal."[278]

Heine sees it in quite another light: "War ich doch selber jetzt das lebende Gesetz der Moral und der Quell alles Rechtes und aller Befugnis; die anruchigsten Magdalenen wurden purifiziert durch die lauternde und suhnende Macht meiner Liebesflammen,"[279] a moral aberration which he attributes to an imperfect interpretation of the difficult philosophy of Hegel. If further evidence were necessary to show the perversity of Heine's moral sense, the following paragraph from a letter to Varnhagen would suffice, in its way perhaps as remarkable a contribution to the theory of ethics as has ever been penned: "In Deutschland ist man noch nicht so weit, zu begreifen, da.s.s ein Mann, der das Edelste durch Wort und That befordern will, sich oft einige kleine Lumpigkeiten, sei es aus Spa.s.s oder aus Vorteil, zu schulden kommen la.s.sen darf, wenn er nur durch diese Lumpigkeiten (d. h. Handlungen, die im Grunde ign.o.bel sind,) der grossen Idee seines Lebens nichts schadet, ja da.s.s diese Lumpigkeiten oft sogar lobenswert sind, wenn sie uns in den Stand setzen, der grossen Idee unsres Lebens desto wurdiger zu dienen."[280]

Scarcely less remarkable is the poet's confession to his friend Moser that he has a rubber soul: "Ich kann Dir das nicht oft genug wiederholen, damit Du mich nicht misst nach dem Ma.s.sstabe Deiner eigenen grossen Seele. Die meinige ist Gummi elastic, zieht sich oft ins Unendliche und verschrumpft oft ins Winzige. Aber eine Seele habe ich doch. I am positive, I have a soul, so gut wie Sterne. Das genuge Dir.

Liebe mich um der wunderlichen Sorte Gefuhls willen, die sich bei mir ausspricht in Thorheit und Weisheit, in Gute und Schlechtigkeit. Liebe mich, weil es Dir nun mal so einfallt, nicht, weil Du mich der Liebe wert haltst.... Ich hatte einen Polen zum Freund, fur den ich mich bis zu Tod besoffen hatte, oder, besser gesagt, fur den ich mich hatte totschlagen la.s.sen, und fur den ich mich noch totschlagen liesse, und der Kerl taugte fur keinen Pfennig, und war venerisch, und hatte die schlechtesten Grundsatze--aber er hatte einen Kehllaut, mit welchem er auf so wunderliche Weise das Wort 'Was?' sprechen konnte, da.s.s ich in diesem Augenblick weinen und lachen muss, wenn ich daran denke."[281]

Taking him all in all then, Heine is not a serious personality, a fact which we need to keep constantly in mind in judging almost any and every side of his nature.

As a matter of fact, Heine's Weltschmerz, like his whole personality, is of so complex and contradictory a nature, that it would be a hopeless undertaking to attempt to weigh each contributing factor and estimate exactly the amount of its influence. All the elements which have been briefly noted in the foregoing pages, and probably many minor ones which have not been mentioned, combined to produce in him that "Zerrissenheit"

which finds such frequent expression in his writings. But it must be remembered that this "Zerrissenheit" does not always express itself as Weltschmerz. In Heine it often appears simply as pugnacity; and where wit, satire, self-irony or even base calumny succeeds in covering up all traces of the poet's pathos we are no longer justified on sentimental or sympathetic grounds in taking it for granted. In looking for pathos in Heine's verse we shall not have to look in vain, it is true, but we shall find much less than his popular reputation as a poet of Weltschmerz would lead us to expect; and we frequently gain the impression that his disposition and his personal experiences are after all largely the excuse for rather than the occasion of his Weltschmerz.

Plumacher maintains: "Der Weltschmerz ist entweder die absolute Pa.s.sivitat, und die Klage seine einzige Aeusserung, oder aber er verpufft seine Krafte in rein subjectivistischen, eudamonischen Anstrengungen,"[282]--a characterization which certainly holds good in the case of Lenau and Holderlin respectively. Holderlin, although in a visionary, idealistic way, remains, en in his Weltschmerz, altruistic and constructive. Lenau is pa.s.sive, while Heine is solely egoistic and destructive.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 181: "Studien und Wandertage," Frauenfeld, Huber, 1884.]

[Footnote 182: Vol. II, p. 265.]

[Footnote 183: "Franzosische Maler. Gemalde-Ausstellung in Paris, 1831."

Heines Sammtliche Werke, mit Einleitung von E. Elster. Leipzig, Bibliogr. Inst., 1890. (Hereafter quoted as "Werke.") Vol. IV, p. 61.]

[Footnote 184: "Selina, oder uber die Unsterblichkeit," II, p. 132.]

[Footnote 185: "Heinrich Heines Krankheit und Leidensgeschichte." Eine kritische Studie, von S. Rahmer, Dr. Med., Berlin, 1901.]

[Footnote 186: "Das Liebesleben Holderlin's, Lenaus, Heines." Berlin, 1901.]

[Footnote 187: Rahmer, op. cit. p. 45.]

[Footnote 188: Rahmer, p. 46.]

[Footnote 189: Werke, Vol. III, p. 194.]

[Footnote 190: Karpeles ed. Werke (2. Aufl.) VIII, p. 441.]

[Footnote 191: _Ibid._, p. 378.]

[Footnote 192: _Ibid._, p. 520.]

[Footnote 193: Karpeles ed. Werke, IX, p. 371.]

[Footnote 194: _Ibid._, p. 374.]

[Footnote 195: _Ibid._, p. 459 ff.]

[Footnote 196: _Ibid._, p. 513.]