In Paris Heine labored from the very start at the great task of his life — to promote an understanding between the French and the Ger mans. His correspondence in the Augsburger Allgemeine Zeitung, his book on 'The Ro mantic School,' his contributions to 'The His tory of Religion and Philosophy in German,' are devoted to this great purpose. The first appeared in 1832 as 'French Conditions' ; the others — with literary sketches, reflections on the drama and art, poems, etc., as 'Salon> (4 vols., 1832-36). The persecution which the German Diet set in motion against the "Young Germany° school of writers, leading to the ban against their works, was an act of medimvalism which affected the poet deeply. His only compensation was his recognition in his father land, the esteem in which he was held in France and the love of a beautiful young French woman, Mathilde Creszentia Mirat, whom he married in 1841, after having lived with her many years. Despite many storms and although his wife had no idea of her husband's eminence, the marriage was a happy one. The heavy material burden which she obliged Heine to assume forced him in 1836 to receive from the French government, when Guizot was head of the Ministry, a pension of 4,800 francs— a charity which France at that time bestowed on all prominent fugitives. It is to be understood, however, that Heine incurred thereby no obliga tion to praise or defend the political adminis tration. Nevertheless, later he was violently attacked for this step.
The death of his rich uncle from whom he received an annual sum of 4,000 francs threw him into a terrible state. He was not mentioned in the will, and anxiety was added lest his cousin Carl Heine would refuse the further pay ment of his stipend unless he would submit his writings to a rigid censure by the family. Vio lent conflicts followed that cost the poet his rest and his health, which last had long been under mined. A severe nervous trouble had tortured him from his youth, and now as added illness came paralysis of the eye. In 1843-44 Heine visited his old mother in Hamburg. The poeti cal description of his journey in the winter tale 'Germany,' which appeared in 1846 with his 'New Poems,' and the epic poem 'Atta Troll,' which was issued in 1837, showed an entirely new line of poetical genius; for both these satirical epics are pearls of poesy. Since 1848 Heine was practically chained to his bed of illness—his' famous °mattress gravel' He bore his sufferings, however, with true heroism; his intellectual power was not weakened. But a great religious change took place which led him back through the Bible to belief in God and to the memories of his race. The two great works of the last period of his life, 'Romancero) (1851) and 'Confessions> (in 'Lutetia,' 3 vols., 1854), are proofs of this great change, both in poetry and prose. Once more did the poet re veal himself to his admirers in agonizing strains of sorrow, in classical ballads, in Hebrew melodies, in profound lamentations of vivid effectiveness. Once more steps the great writer before us, and in prose of the loftiest beauty and strength he seeks to answer the most vital questions of our human existence.
On 17 Feb. 1856 he died after much suffer ing. He rests at Montmartre, next to his wife. His grave is adorned with a monument, the work of the sculptor Hasselriis. An artistic memorial was erected by an enthusiastic ad mirer, the late Empress Elizabeth of Austria, at her country palace Achilleion, near Corfu in the Ionian Sea, with its classic memories. The continued efforts, however, made to place a memorial to the poet in his home on the Rhine have so far been fruitless, and have but led to bitterest conflicts between clericals and anti-Semites on the one side and the large body of his admirers on the other. It is not
without significance that the Lorelei fountain, which could find no lodgment in Germany, has been placed in New York, the metropolis of the United States, a country where Charles G. Leland's translation of the 'Pictures of appeared in 1855, and where •the poet's works have appeared in numerous editions and trans lations. The poet's body of admirers grows from day to day, and with this vast congrega tion of thoughtful men and women in every land the history of literature, judging without prejudice, gladly recognizes Heine as the greatest German lyric poet, after Goethe, and as one who is and will remain among the most illustrious poets in the world's literature.
Bibliography,— Although the first collected edition of Heine's works by A. Strodtmann (22 vols., Hamburg 1861-66) was not brought out until some time after his death, there have been published very many other editions since then. Of these the most important are by G. Karpeles (Hamburg 1885 and Berlin 1893) and by E. Elster (Leipzig 1:.:7-90). There have been al most innumerable editions of his separate works. A very large number of his poems have been set to music, not only by German composers, but also by composers in many other countries. Almost equally as numerous are the translations of his works into different languages, especially into English and French. Of his collected works the most important translations are 'Oeuvres Completes' (14 vols., .Paris 1852-68) and 'The Works of Heinrich Heine' (13 vols., New York 1892-1905). There are also a num ber of English translations of his poems, the most recent and in many respects the best and most careful being that by Louis Untermeyer (New York 1917). Both books and magazine articles on Heine's work and life have been written in vast numbers in many languages. A very careful and exhaustive bibliography of these is to be found in Goedeke, K., der Deutschen Dichtung) (Vol. VIII, Dresden 1908) which also contains a very complete list of editions and translations. Consult Amiot, C. G., 'Henri Heine et la Guerre Actuelle' (in Revue Hebdomadaire, Vol. VI, p. 214, Paris 1916); Arnold, Matthew, 'Essays in Criticism' (1st series, New York 1883) ; Bartels, A., 'Heinrich Heine' (Dresden 1906); Bienenstock, M., 'Das Judische Element in Heines Werken' (Leipzig 1910); Brandes, G., 'Main Currents in 19th Century Literature' (6 vols., New York 1906) ; Brauweiler, E., 'Heines Prosa) (in Litterarhistorische aesellschaft Bonn, Schrif ten N. F., Vol. IX, Berlin 1915) ; Dowden. E., 'Essays, Modern and Elizabethan' (New York 1910) • Eliot, George, 'Essays' (London 1884); H Embden, L. van, 'einrich Heines Familien leben) (Hamburg 1892); Frank, M. M., 'When Heine was Twenty-one' (in 'Short Plays about Famous Authors,' New York 1915) ; Furst, R., 'Heinrich Heines Leben, Werke und Bride (Leipzig 1910); Howells, W. D., 'My Literary Passions' (New York 1895) • Karpeles, G., 'Heinrich Heine' (Leipzig 18(59); Keiter, H., 'Heinrich Heine' (Kan 1906); Lichtenberger, H., 'Henri Heine Penseur' (Paris 1905) ; Plotke, G. J., 'Heinrich Heine als Dichter des Judentums' (Dresden 1913) • Reu, H., ;Heine und die Biebel' (Munich 1908) ; Sachs H. B., 'Heine in America' (in Americana Germanica, No. XXIII, Philadelphia 1916) Samuel, H. B., 'Modernities' (New York 1914); Selden, C., 'Les derniers fours de Henri Heine> (Paris 1884) ; Stigand, W., 'Life, Work and Opinions of Heinrich Heine' (2 vols., London 1875); Stork, C. W., 'Heine and Tennyson' (in Haverford Essays, p. 153, Haverford 1909); Treitschke, H. von, 'History of Germany in the 19th Century> (4 vols., New York 1915-18) ; Vacano, S., 'Heine und Sterne' (Berlin 1907) ; Walter, H., 'Heine, the Political Refugee' (in McGill University Magazine, Vol. XVI, p. 484, Mont real 1917).