His choice of Berlin was fortunate for the young poet. A vigorous intellectual atmos phere prevailed in that era in the Prussian capital. Before everything else he was attracted by the best salon in which Rahel Varnhagen von Ense had her special circle, with a coterie of brilliant spirits. Both she and her husband quickly recognized the poetical power in Heine and admitted him to close intimacy. Her brother, Leopold Robert, who was also a poet, was exceedingly friendly to him, and his wife Friedricka aroused Heine's• enthusiastic adora tion in sonnets and songs. The second coterie which fascinated Heine was a round table of young poets who gathered in Lutter and Weg ener's restaurant, made famous by Ludwig Devrient and E. T. A. Hoffman, which was to become the scene of more than one carouse. These men were Christian Dietrich Grabbe, Friedrich v. Uechtritz, Karl Kochy, L. Gus torf and others. A third circle formed the greatest possible contrast to the others and in this,. perhaps, Heine felt more at home. It was a small body of young men who in a time of general apostasy from Judaism, assumed as their task the reform and development of Juda ism which then was regarded as in its decline. At the head of these resolute workers stood Eduard Gans, the celebrated jurist; Moses Moser, a merchant, whom his friend Heine called a living epilogue to Lessing's 'Nathan,' and Leopold Zunz (q.v.), the immortal founder of that branch of critical research called the science of Judaism. Heine took the deepest in terest in the labors, hopes and disappointments of this society. A monument of his love for the general cause which was abandoned by them, is embodied in his romance 'The Rabbi of Bacharach,' which was then begun but un fortunately remains a torso. In Berlin, too, the university fairly fascinated him. In particular the philosopher Hegel (q.v.) made a deep im pression on the young poet, whose first poems were issued by a Berlin firm in 1823 and aroused general interest, and he was termed a successor of Byron, the first poet of 'Welt in Germany. Varnhagen v. Ense and Karl Immermann, both famous writers of the time, showed special ardor in directing the public's attention to the young poet, the new star on the literary horizon, who was already arousing general comment by his 'Tragedie' (Almansor and Ratcliffe) as well as by his 'Lyrical Intermezzo' which appeared in a vol ume at the same publishers'. When Heine in 1824 went for a second time to Gottingen, in order to undergo his doctor's examination, he was already a well-known personality in liter ary circles. During this period of his second stay in Gottingen occurred an act on his part which is wholly unintelligible, judged by his previous labors, his writings and letters and which can only be explained by the sad con ditions of the time — on 28 June 1825 at Heli genstadt, near Gottingen, he embraced the Prot estant religion. Clearly this act was done only to promote his professional career, for his sympathies in increased degree remained on the side of his coreligionists. Heine regretted the step his entire life.
After his graduation as doctor of law he re turned to Hamburg. But all his efforts to main tain his hold there or in Berlin were unavailing despite his baptism. The failure was due either to the prejudices of the time or to other draw backs. So Heine devoted himself wholly to literature. Two years earlier he made a jour ney from Gottingen to the Harz Mountains, in the course of which he visted Goethe at Weimar, but met a rather cool reception. This journey he now described in his 'Harzreise,' which had many readers who were delighted with the new and fresh tone in which the varied and picturesque experiences were narrated. In the years 1826-31 Heine's rank as poet was firmly established. That period forms the crown of his life and activity—his high-water mark of achievement. The four volumes, 'Reisebilder' ('Pictures of Travel'), published 1820-31, showed him from an entirely different point of view. His 'Buck der Lieder' of gave on the other hand a faithful picture of his lyrical skill, which also struck entirely new paths. Heine had emerged from romanticism. He knew its mysteries and magic spells. Close thereby, or rather far above it, stood the well of German popular poetry, out of whose depths he drew such wealth as no other German poet had accomplished. Goethe
and Uhland, Brentano and Wilhelm Miller were not without their influence on the matter as well as the metrical form of his poems; yet he was original and his songs aroused a prac tical revolution in the world of German poesy.
The secret of his originality and of the marvelous influence which he exercised not only on his contemporaries, but also on every age, lies in the peculiar charm which characterizes these songs, as they sound the tenderest tones of the heart, and then in cutting dissonances shatter the sentimental quality which is at their basis, thus producing a humorous-poetical effect incomparable in its The subjec tivity with which Heine wove his sorrows, whether trivial or serious, in the warp and woof of his verse, was something unheard of in the history of German poetry. There was as little hypocrisy in his feeling of sorrow (Welt schmerz) as in that of Lord Byron, but it was truer and deeper, because it was blended with the Jews' sorrow fromgray antiquity. His pictures and thoughts, his Oriental sensuousness and his German sensitiveness, all this in its combination formed a poetical ensemble which was to destroy romanticism, with its fairyland of legends and to construct the poetry of a new age and a new generation. The verse in cluded a mass of new poetical material; for instance, the description of the sea in the splendid-colored North Sea pictures. In marked contrast was the wonderful effect produced by the form of the poems, which, apparently some what careless, was really intentional and just adapted to elevate the mood. With his 'Book of Songs' Heine became at once the first Ger man poet of his time. His prose writings ex ercised in those days a similar influence. Heine loosened the tongue of the modern man of culture; he taught him what and why he suffers. In an age which was gloomy, depressed and poor in deeds, he unfurled the banner of free dom and announced to the young generation the dawn of new days which had to come. While much in his 'Pictures of was of transient worth and importance for the his tory of civilization, of permanent value was the blending of humor and sentiment, wit, and earnest reflection, wherein following his great predecessors, men like Laurence Sterne, Jean Paul and others he created an entirely new genre. The modern Feuilleton rest wholly on Heine's prose. The •Young school which gave the death-stroke to romanticism in the 30's of the past century followed in his steps. His travel picture and sketch remained for decades a model for young German writers after which to pattern their prose.
Despite his popularity, however, Heine could never attain a life of entire self-reliance in the conditions of his age. His steady dependence on his rich uncle, who let his nephew feel his power, embittered his stay in Hamburg. Ac cordingly in 1827 he accepted the offer of Cotta, the publisher, to assume the editorship of the Munich Political Annals. But he con tinued at this work only one winter; then he undertook a journey to Italy, which he de scribed in his incomparable fashion in his 'Pictures of He expected to receive on his return a professorship at the Munich University, which the Bavarian Minister Eduard v. Schenck desired to secure for him from the king; but owing to the intrigues of the clericals all efforts in Heine's behalf were un availing. In 1828 he was recalled from his Italian trip by the news of his father's death — a man whom Heine had most tenderly loved. The following years were occupied in violent attacks on the poet August v. Platen and his followers, whom Heine regarded as his worst foes, besides literary labors and traveling. When the intelligence of the July Revolution in Paris reached him, the poet could no longer endure the home atmosphere, while the powerful Austrian Chancellor, Mettenich, who found re freshing youth 'in the melancholy waters of his lyric," warned him that he was not entirely secure from persecution. It was on a May day in 1831 when Heine forsook his fatherland, of course of his own accord, but in the firm con viction that sooner or later he would suffer the fate of all those who were leaders of freedom in Germany.