Heine, Heinrich

hi'neh, Heinrich (1799-1856), a German poet. He was born at Dusseldorf of Jewish parents. He received his education in the gymnasium of his native town. He took special interest in English and French. Gulliver's Travels was, he states, the favorite book of his boyhood. He was an admirer of Napoleon, hailing him as the political Messiah of the day. A wealthy uncle, a banker of Hamburg, aimed to interest him in banking and commerce, but the young man had a lighthearted desire to travel and study. He was provided with the means to enter the University of Bonn. Here he appears to have had no definite plan in mind, but reveled in the delights of literature and history. From Bonn he went to Gottingen, but was expelled for some violation of the duelling laws. He then repaired to Berlin, where Hegel was lecturing. The social pleasures of the city appear to have engaged his attention, however, in preference to the duties of the university. He began to contribute poems to the various German periodicals. In 1822 a small volume of these was published. In 1825, in obedience to the wishes of his uncle, the banker, who had never ceased to provide him with funds, he returned to the University of Gottingen and took his degree in law. According to the rules then enforced he was required to forswear the Hebrew religion,--an act for which he has been much criticised, especially as he never took up the practice of law, preferring instead the profession of letters. A Book of Songs, Buch der Lieder, and Pictures of Travel, Reise Bilder, brought him reputation. He settled down at Munich for a time as the editor of a periodical. His editorial views were too little German and too much French to suit the German government. In 1831, in order possibly to escape life imprisonment, he fled to Paris, where he lived for the rest of his life. His collected works fill seven volumes. Heine is considered one of the greatest of German poets. His lyrics are to be found in every German reader. It is perhaps sufficient to establish his claim to immortality to say that he is the author of The Lorelei. The song describes a maiden wraith standing on a rock of the Rhine, charming boatmen with her singing, and making them so forgetful of their rowing that they are drawn into the rapids to their own destruction. See Goethe; Schiller