HEINRICH HEINE - Repositories

Citizen of the World
Fragments of hours in the life of Heine have survived,
the fragments which found embodiment in
manuscripts now yellowed with age; and, in addition,
the legend of Heine, in ever new transformations,
winds its way past generations of men far
removed from him in space and ever further in
time. These fragments — echoes of experiences in
the form of songs and ballads — still resound from
the lips of young lovers in the wonderful month
of May and still warm aged cynics beside wintry
hearths. This legend of a strange seer and a brave
warrior of the pen still excites and stimulates readers
and writers of our day and still influences public
opinion on burning issues of politics, society, and
morahty.
The legend of Heine may perhaps prove to be no
less important in the history of intellectual life than
the so-called reality of Heine, even as the legend
of Hamlet, which Shakespeare immortalized, far
outweighs in importance the shadowy activities of
the historic Prince of Denmark, and even as the
legend of Faust, which Marlowe versified and
Goethe perpetuated, carries profounder significance
for us than the alchemistic exploits of the
sixteenth century humanist and charlatan.
The English have extracted from Heine the wls-
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