HEINRICH HEINE - Repositories

Martyr of Montmartre
Tait's Edinburgh Magazine devoted two issues in
1851 to a study of "Heine, His Works and Times."
The study was a spirited defense of the poet against
his accusers. It blamed the disastrous Napoleonic
age for the unpleasant metamorphosis of a personality
that was originally soft, patient, forbearing,
and open to feelings of tenderness and admiration.
It blamed Heine's environment for the deterioration
of his sensitive, humble, and loving mind. It blamed
his supposed descent from a Jewish father and a
Christian mother for the conflicting strains which
troubled his soul. Though it could not guarantee his
sincerity, it defended him on the ground that authors
in general were insincere and it saw no reason
why a higher standard should be expected of the
German poet: "The memoirs of literary men of all
times and nations reduce us to the sad necessity of
considering the very best authors in the light of
actors. We remember the rigorous respectability of
Goldsmith's writings in connection with the excesses
of his private hf e. We think of Sterne's public
sensibility and private hardness of heart: he neglects
his mother and bewails the fate of a dead jackass.
We remember, also, the glorious aspirations for hberty
in Goethe's Faust, the tragic pathos in Iphi-
Zema, and the exquisite touches of female heroism
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