Page:Poetical works of Mathilde Blind.djvu/37

Rh After her return from Switzerland Mathilde spent several years with her family in England—an existence varied by frequent visits to the Continent, upon one occasion extending as far as Italy, and by a happy summer, of which she long afterwards spoke with rapture, spent in Wales with her friend, the present Mrs. Wolfsohn. Otherwise, her time seems to have been chiefly given to self-culture; at one time she studied Kant with enthusiasm; and she became well versed in the Bible, Shakespeare, and Goethe. Of her early poetical productions the most remarkable were a spirited German ode composed for the celebration of the Schiller Centenary at Bradford, and a tragedy on Robespierre, commended by Louis Blanc. One powerful stimulus to her development was afforded by acquaintance with the numerous distinguished foreign exiles, who, about this time, were frequently to be fomid at her stepfather's house. Mazzini, always potent with the young, exerted a prodigious influence upon her; she was also intimately acquainted with the Polish patriot Langiewicz, Louis Blanc, and many eminent Germans. One of these—Mrs. Freiligrath-Kroeker, daughter of Ferdinand Freiligrath — has favoured us with some charming though general reminiscences:—

"Mathilde Blind takes a prominent place in my girl-life, although she was several years older than I was. But our tastes and inclinations drew us together, and we had great talks on literature—that is to say, she talked and I listened—and I well remember how I looked up with admiration as she quoted Goethe and Schiller, or commented on the wit and beauty of Heine. She was—at the time I am speaking of, about the end of the fifties—well grounded in German literature, from which afterwards she rather drifted away. She had