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A rich collection of writings from a master German poet

A poet whose verse inspired music by Schubert, Schumann, Mendelssohn, and Brahms, Heinrich Heine was in his lifetime also greatly admired for his elegant prose. Beginning with three meditative works inspired by Heine’s journeys as a young man to Lucca, Venice, and the Harz Mountains, this compilation offers a fascinating look into a brilliant and prophetic mind as it ranges over the history of religion in Germany, Heine’s Jewish heritage, his early childhood, and more ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Good, timely service
This is a nice addition to the huge collected works of Heine. This book arrived in good condition and in good time. For anyone interested in the other side of Heine (not the poet) this is a good place to start.

The Harz Journey and Selected Prose
To non-Germanic readers, Heinrich Heine is predominantly known as a poet.His verse has inspired music by Schubert, Schumann, Mendelssohn and Brahms, the majority of the inspiration coming from his Book of Songs.In The Harz Journey and Selected Prose, a number of works of prose, some unfinished, some complete, have been collected to show the range, wit, satirical skill and intelligence of Heine throughout his life.Heine can be forgiven is the selection is thematically uneven, coming as they do from nearly three decades of his life.Each piece has its merits, though the whole falls shorter than sum of its parts.

The book opens with The Harz Journey, a piece that was written after a three week walking tour when he was twenty-seven.The Harz Journey is by far the most immediately enjoyable of the six pieces.It is witty and insightful, with clever jokes strewn throughout the text, as well as containing sharp observations on ordinary peasant and university life.The satire is never laugh-out-loud funny, rather it is more subtle.'I was also much displeased to see that the multiplication table, which conflicts dangerously with the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, was printed on the last page of the catechism, so that children could be led at an early age into sinful doubts.'The Harz Journey is a collection of loosely stitched together observations and vignettes, with Heine himself noting towards the end that, 'The Harz Journey is and remains a fragment...Individual works may remain fragments, so long as they form a whole when put together.'Inserted within the text are a few poems, which show that in his late twenties, Heine was already skilled with the pen.

Ideas: The Book of Le Grand is much less and much more cohesive.It is confusing and enthralling, a mash of concepts, fragments and ideas which seem to have little in common, though careful rereading shows strong thematic development and continuity.Though the individual snippets - and even the whole, at times - could be taken as dream-like, ephemeral, consisting of the fancies of thought rather than the concreteness of visual description and plot, there is a consistency of expression and strength of intelligence that binds the work together.Ideas can be read as autobiographical in parts, but it can easily be enjoyed as fragments of thought that come together to create a cracked portrait of a man - dare we say Heine?The references are there, of course, but to confuse content with intent would be foolish.'In all the preceding chapters there is not a single line that is not strictly relevant; I write concisely, avoiding everything superfluous, indeed I often miss out on essential matters' - are we to take this seriously?Yes and no, for then Heine goes on to lament his horrible lack of intellectual quotations in the text, for as everyone knows, a piece is only clever if it refers to the ancient Greeks and Romans.Heine's bite is sharp.

The Town of Lucca was, for me, the weakest piece of the book.The writing was clever - though not funny as before, - the imagery was evocative - though not as appealing as The Harz Journey.In short, The Town of Lucca is interesting, and even worthwhile, but coming after the first two pieces, it falls flat.In a similar vein, Differing Conceptions of History is very short, a mere two pages long, so it is difficult to comment on its quality.

On the History of Religion and Philosophy in Germany is very interesting, for the scholar of philosophy and the layman alike.Heine was writing this piece for his French readers, and it is assumed that they have limited knowledge of Germany's history or philosophy.As such, we have a light, popular-minded piece which aims to give an overview, rather than a detailed criticism, of the major themes of philosophy in Germany.Which is quite welcome, all things considered.Heine, the introduction informs us, was aware of Germany's philosophical progress, but he was not a philosophy professor.As such, his depth of knowledge is small, though his intelligence and wit make up for this deficiency.This piece should be considered as a sturdy starting point for the interested reader, as well as an interesting essay from one of the foremost voices in nineteenth century Germanic literature.Heine gives a lengthy description to goblins and other mythological figures, but he also devotes much time and space to Kant, Luther, Judaism and finally, Hegel.He states that 'all these stories illustrate the beliefs and character of the German people', which goes a long way to understanding what it was Heine was attempting to achieve with this piece.His readers, all French, were as Heine's students, learning the basics of a people in whom he firmly loved, no matter how sharp his criticism became.

The final piece is an unfinished Memoirs.There is too little of this to make an accurate judgement, dangling as it does many unfinished threads and broken thoughts.What is there is admirable and entertaining, but it could have been so much more.Heine, in the last eight years of his life, was bedridden and very sick, which perhaps explains the unfinished aspect of the piece.It is a shame, really, that we are given only forty-odd pages of Memoirs, which serve more as an introduction to the themes he wished to present, than an autobiography of Heine.There are details of his extended family - including a rather humorous look at his mother - but little on the man himself.

The Harz Journey and Selected Prose is not cohesive as an overall text, but nor is it meant to be.Rather, it shows a wide spread of Heine's literary talent in prose, virtually ignoring his verse output, which was ample, lasting and profound, both in influence and artistry.What other prose pieces of Heine's remain to be read is unclear, as the majority of his prose works are difficult to find in English translation or, where they can be found, are often of low quality - so sayeth the translator of this book.Recommended highest of all for The Harz Journey, but also worthwhile for the curious snippets of memoir, history and sprawling Ideas, The Harz Journey and Selected Prose is perhaps overall recommended for keen readers interested in studying one of the masters of German literature. ... Read more

Product Description
A translation of Heinrich Heine's love poems. This bilingual edition includes an introduction by Heine scholar Jeffrey L. Sammons. The author aims to capture the meaning of the original, but preserve the poems' rhyme schemes as well as their moods. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

It's a Rash Poet ...
... in any language, who would try to 'imitate' the lyrics of Heinrich Heine. Translation of poetry has to be a form of imitation, as the American poet Robert Lowell demonstrated in his book "Imitations." So it's a brave as well as rash translator who would attempt to translate Heine's lapidary lyrics not only in meaning of the words but also in the verse forms of the original. But that's what Walter Arndt has done, and though he hasn't matched the master, he's come closer than anyone might have expected, poem after poem.

A native German speaker will certainly not need or want, or perhaps approve of, this book. A person who has no German language at all will probably not be persuaded by these translations that Heinrich Heine deserves his reputation as the greatest of all German lyricists. The book will be of great value, however, to those people who have a little German - a year or two of college, or a childhood memory of a grandparent speaking it - who will find Arndt's translation just close enough to make the Deutsch lucidly intelligible.

Here's a sample in the original and in Arndt's imitation:

Ein Fichtenbaum steht einsam
Im Norden auf kahler Höh.
Ihn schläfert; mit weissen Decke
Umhüllen ihn Eis und Schnee.

Er träumt von einer Palme,
Die fern im Morgenland
Einsam und schweigend trauert
Auf brennenden Felsenwand.

A single fir stands lonesome
On barren northerly height.
He drowses; frost and snowstorm
Shroud him in swathes of white.

He dreams about a palm. She,
In the orient, far, alone,
Sorrowing stands and silent
At a blazing scarp of stone.

Well, okay... The German is so much plainer and more natural, made of commoner words, effortless in its irony and bittersweetness. Of course the 'gender' of the two trees is implicit in the syntax of German, so it doesn't need to be forced. It's a faint little flower of a poem, and yet it seems as endlessly suggestive as a poem by Emily Dickinson or a single pansy blooming from a crack in the sidewalk. ... Read more

Product Description
Germany. A Winter Tale (Deutschland. Ein Wintermaerchen) is a satirical verse epic by German author Heinrich Heine (1797-1856). --- Since 1831 Heine had been living in exile in France; because of his critical works, he no longer felt safe from the German censors and police. In 1835 the German Bundestag passed a decree banning his writings. --- In late 1843 Heine went back to Germany for a few weeks to visit his mother and his publisher, Julius Campe, in Hamburg. It was on his return journey that the first draft of Germany. A Winter Tale took shape. The verse epic appeared in 1844, published by Hoffmann and Campe, Hamburg; and before the year was out, the book was banned in Prussia and the stock confiscated. In December 1844 King Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia issued a warrant for Heinrich Heine's arrest. Before the book could be published elsewhere in Germany, outside Prussia, Heine had to shorten and rewrite it. --- Our historic bilingual edition presents the German text in a version dating from 1887 and a translation by Edgar Alfred Bowring from the same year. Heine's 1844 Preface was retranslated by Annette Bridges for our 2007 edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A 19th Century Hippie with Clairvoyant Powers
When Heinrich Heine wrote this epic poem describing his return journey to the Fatherland, the political situation in Europe was dominated by the age of Metternich which exposed the old line status quo.Heine protested these politics and was an advocate for change and non-military solutions.His protest led him to a life in post Napoleon France which suited his basic freedom, but left him homesick for his beloved Germany.
This rather long poem divided over 27 caputs, describes Heine's travels in returning to Germany in order to visit his Mother and his publisher Campe.He meets ghosts of Kings long gone and has dreams of German fantasies and sees horrors of much dreaded enemies of the Fatherland along with old warriors who fought the great battles of Teutonic lore.
His journey is sarcastic and at times tongue in cheek, which during these times suffered the Censor's ax.This seems to be the entire reaction by readers, critics and censors alike.A rather long political and sarcastic look of the current German government of the 1840's, which undoubtedly it was.
However, I don't believe I'm reading something into this work that isn't there.What do I speak of?I do believe Heine saw something of the future (whether intentionally or quite by accident) that would take place 95 years hence with these fateful lines:
* "Yes Germany's future there thou'lt see,
* "Like wondrously rolling phantasmas;
* "But shudder not, if out of filth
* "Arise any foul miasmas!
*
* She spoke, and she laugh'd a singular laugh,
* But I undauntedly hasted
* To hold my head over the terrible hole,
* And there I eagerly placed it
*
* I'll not betray, for silence I vow'd,
* The things that I saw and felt there;
* I scarcely dare to utter a word,
* Good heavens, of what I smelt there!
*
* With deep disgust I think to this day
* Of that smell, which blended together,
* In vile and accursed union, a stench
* Of old cabbage and Russian leather.
I don't know about you, but to me the smell emanates from a union of the Swastika and the Soviet Hammer and Sickle.How prescient to foresee the Nazi-Soviet Pact of 1939.
Does anyone else see this?
... Read more

Product Description
EVERYMAN'S POETRY LIBRARY: This new series of the world's greatest poetry features the hallmarks of Everyman Classics: top-quality production and reader-friendly design along with helpful notes and critiques. Each edition is also a great value, especially for those readers beginning to explore the work of this remarkable poet. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A romantic with a biting sarcasm and cynicism that's funny
I first read Heine more than 20 years ago in a hard bound edition translated by Louis Untermeyer and with some old-fashioned drawings. I found the poems to be really very memorable - they are usually short andcan be terribly sweet and very romantic, but the inevitable venom ofcynicism and sarcasm at the end of each are extremely funny and very wise. There are writers which are good only for fusty old university professors -such as Milton and James Joyce - and there are those who are good foreverybody including fusty old professors.Heine is of the secondvariety.

I speak no German and am just a casual poetry reader.But Ifind the translations in this edition have the same ring as the old versionI read ages ago.It therefore tells me, who cannot judge the capability ofany of the translators, that somehow Heine is consistently translatable andwould require a real bad translator to be mangled.

This particular book(ISBN 0-460-87865-4) has a brief and informative introduction by T. J.Reed, setting out the biographical, cultural, and historical times of thepoet.It has a 10-page chronology of his life and times.It has NO indexof titles and first lines, nor has it any scholarly footnotes explainingvariants and allusions and other stuffs that are useful only for those whopretend not to live in musty libraries.In other words, the book'saccessories are designed to provide only just enough information toincrease your understanding and enjoyment of the real meat inside. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an OCR edition without illustrations or index. It may have numerous typos or missing text. However, purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original rare book from GeneralBooksClub.com. You can also preview excerpts from the book there. Purchasers are also entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Original Published by: Henry Holt in 1917 in 344 pages; Subjects: Literary Criticism / European / German; Literary Criticism / Poetry; Poetry / General; Poetry / American / General; Poetry / Continental European; ... Read more

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Forgotten Books
The Poems of Heinrich Heine.I saw some quotes from this book in the Jewish Museum in Berlin but was unable to buy an English version.Once home I ordered it through Amazon and I am very pleased with the book. ... Read more

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Publisher: New York : R. WorthingtonPublication date: 1881Notes: This is an OCR reprint. There may be typos or missing text. There are no illustrations or indexes.When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. You can also preview the book there. ... Read more

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The book includes two stories by Heinrich Heine1. The Rabbi of Bacherach2. Shyllock and3.the poem Hebrew MedoldiesThis book is illustrated with the lithographs of Max Liebermann(1847-1935), one of of the most prominent turn-of-the-century European painters. He designed this cycle of drawings for the 1923 bibliophile edition of The Rabbi of Bacherach.It is considered an outstandingexample of book illustration. ... Read more

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Heinrich Heine is my favorite poet.
I have a large edition of his poems that I bought in Germany about 5 years ago, and which I have variously kept at my bedside, on my desk or on the toilet tank. I've studied his works, and I also like to go back at odd times and read and relish a couple of his moving short love poems or his pointed politico/historical observational poems.He writes like no other.I also love to play with words, and what Heine does with language--his words, his rhymes--is ingenious and delightful.

Heine was a JewishGerman, born at the end of the 19th century in Duesseldorf, on the Rhein river.Even at this time antisemitism was pervasive in the German culture, and he ended up spending most of his life in Paris, although he loved and missed his "Vaterland" profoundly.Germany figures importantly in his poetry. A good example is "Deutschland, ein Wintermaerchen" (fairy tale), a lengthy and many-faceted allegorical tale with clever allusions to many historical events.

Some of his poems, on the other hand, are shorter and simpler but never boring--little surprises may await the reader at the end: "A girl stood on the beach and sighed forlornly to see the sun go down.My darling, be of good cheer: here it goes down, but on the other side it comes up again."Pardon my translation--much of the fun is lost with the rhyme scheme; but the point is that even beginning German students can enjoy this one.

And everybody will recognize Heine's "Die Lorelei", a lyrical and quasi-mournful poem which was set to music by Friedrich Silcher, and has become a well-known folksong.

In short, Heinrich Heine is a poet whose work can be enjoyed by both student and scholar.He is my favorite because of his adroit articulation and the breadth and depth of his brilliant mind and his limpid soul.

Please note the language
This collection of poetry of Heine's is not translated but in the original German. It however, contains an English introduction with English notes on words in the poetry. Very bizarre publication.

I myself cannot read German (I plan on learning very soon) so I can't read the poetry now. ... Read more

Product Description
Portraying a poet at the height of his creativity, a biography of Heinrich Heine, a popular German poet of the 1800s who revolutionized the language, shares the work of his last eight years when he was confined to his bed with a mysterious ailment. ... Read more

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The Last Days of Heine
This is an absolutely great book and essential reading for anyone who loves Heinrich Heine--or would like to get to know who this legendary poet and wit really was.Above all, Pawel's wonderful work demonstrates all the ways in which the great man's spirit managed to overcome the terrible adversities with which he was forced to live. ... Read more

Product Description
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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One of the foremost poets of late Romanticism and a precursor of the modern cultural critic, Heinrich Heine (1797-1856) was the first major writer in European literature to recognize the effects of mass production on art. This study assesses the history and influence of Heine's work. ... Read more

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This volume is produced from digital images created through the University of Michigan University Library's large-scale digitization efforts. The Library seeks to preserve the intellectual content of items in a manner that facilitates and promotes a variety of uses. The digital reformatting process results in an electronic version of the original text that can be both accessed online and used to create new print copies. The Library also understands and values the usefulness of print and makes reprints available to the public whenever possible. This book and hundreds of thousands of others can be found in the HathiTrust, an archive of the digitized collections of many great research libraries. For access to the University of Michigan Library's digital collections, please see http://www.lib.umich.edu and for information about the HathiTrust, please visit http://www.hathitrust.org ... Read more

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Volks-, Volkstumliche und Kunstlieder. Fur Gesang und Klavier oder fur Klavier allein. Inhalt miteinschlieben: Natur (Tages- und Jahreszeiten), Vaterland un Heimat, Kindheit und Jugend, Liebeslust und -leid, Soldatenlieder, Seemannslieder, Jagerlieder, Gesellschafts-, Trink- und Studentenlieder, Scheiden und Wandern, Festzeiten, Geistliche Lieder, Operngesange, Balladen un Romanzen, Lieder aus den Alpen, Scherz und Humor, Vermischte Lieder. ... Read more