HEINRICH HEINE - Repositories

Heinrich Heine
very tempest \\hich brought down the pride of
German States almost to a level M ith the dependence
and insignificance of his own race." *
A reaction no less typicalh' English was voiced
bv the North British Review of A lav, 1860. Heine's
Judaism wis not held to be a blemish. His origin
^^'as not viewed as a cause for disparagement. He
was rather attacked for relinquishing his ancient
faith, especially since he did not embrace the Christianity
he supposedly professed w'lxh any sincerity.
He was deemed unworthy even of the epithet "the
Juhan of poetry," \\'hich was once hurled at him,
because the imperial Roman apostate had a belief
of some kind — even his persecution of the Christians
was undertaken in the interest of a resumed
paganism. The German poet, however, was wholly
without a rehgion. His English counterpart was the
young atheist Shelley. Yet, for Shelley, who remained
a boy all his life, there might be some excuse.
But for Heine, wide-aw ake in all matters,
over-sophisticated and far too mature, there was
no excuse. His poetry was saturated with blasphemy.
\\\\2t a contrast between him and his countryman
and contemporary David Mendel, who,
under the name of Augustus Neander, had distin-
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