Page:Edward Prime-Stevenson - The Intersexes.djvu/635

 ; with von Stachelhausen; with the young theologian named Renner; with Reuter, Engelhardt, Hermann, and others—concerning which series we find many entries more or less homosexual and interesting—we may say that all of them belong rather to the unimportant category in our study. Some of them were indeed "merely friendships," however nearly was crossed this boundary. Besides, during the year 1824, Platen changed more and.more, for awhile at least, in his temperament; and for the better. He threw off further his introspection, self-consciousness, worriments of soul. He grew sociable, lively and even popular. His literary repute advanced. He determined on a career in letters. He also travelled much.

Nevertheless there came, before he left off study at Erlangen, what we may regard as the final articulate and recorded homosexual love. What is more, it was one that (like the Cardenio" passion) has a significant place in Platen's poetry. Among the distinctively, intensively homosexual Sonnets will be found a set of not less than twenty-six, addresssed [sic] "To Karl Theodore German." The youth who inspired these is vague to us, except that he was a fellow-student, and that he came on the scene of Platen's homosexual experiences about a year later than "Cardenio;" after Platen had been travelling down in Italy and had made other considerable absences from Erlangen. (Platen often returned thither for study, during a few years.) This "Karl Theodore German" matter came after several other passions had flitted over Platen's, beauty-susceptible soul; including a flame for Reichenberger, and for a theological student named Knobel. We may note that Knobel, after beginning a most promising acquaintance with Platen suddenly and insultingly—though privately—declined to continue it; on grounds that plainly shew that in Erlangen there had been gossip about Platen's sex-nature.

Karl Theodore German, made Platen-pathetically miserable. There was no intimacy, no liking on German's