Page:The Journal of English and Germanic Philology Volume 18.djvu/138

 132 Heine's "Buck Le Grand " was opportune, therefore, for Heine to pause and become reflec- tively conscious of his outlook on men and things, by means of reviewing his past from the cradle to manhood. 'Le Grand' is altogether autobiographical in substance, tho from chapter 8 to 15 the reader is barely aware of its autobio- graphical character. These chapters are devoid of narrative; they present to the reader not the history of Heine's enthusiasms, prejudices and antipathies, but these enthusiasms, prejudices and antipathies themselves. They say to the reader not: Here is what I have been, but: Here is what I am. The difference in style and tone between the five portions of 'Le Grand,' however, contain in themselves convincing evidence to prove that the parts were not conceived and written in logical sequence according to a preconceived plan. It is more than prob- able that originally certain portions of 'Le Grand' were written on the spur of a momentary inspiration, before any conscious plan to present an autobiographical account of himself had taken plastic shape in Heine's mind. His letters dating from this period cor- roborate this assumption. During the year which saw the writing of the 'Nordsee' and 'Le Grand' Heine repeatedly expressed his intention of writing on all conceivable subjects commanding the vital interest of the time. Hegel, Sanscrit, Doctor Gans, Sym- bolism, the philosophy of history are enumerated in a letter to Moser as some of the topics to be worked up (Oct. 14, 1826). While it is true that in writing to Moser Heine had in mind particularly the 'Nordsee' letters of which eventually only a small portion materialized, we actually find these topics touched upon not in the completed 'Nordsee' but in 'Le Grand' (Hegel ch. 15; Sanscrit ch. 5; Doctor Gans ch. 13; Symbolism ch. 5 and 15 the interpretation of the Hindostanes epic ' Mahabharata ' as a symbolic love letter, and of his own love lyrics as a disguised con- fession of his unrequited passion for 'Vernunft'). Under these circumstances it is likely that certain parts of 'Le Grand' were written as independent essays without reference to the autobio- graphical volume that Heine had in mind, and that they were later incorporated in this volume with some modifications, of course because they were in substance, tho not in form, part of his personal confession and for another reason which I will presently endeavor to show.