Sprach ich, was ich gefuehlet:
Ich hab mit dem Tod in der eignen Brust
Den sterbenden Fechter gespielet.[268]

In summing up our impressions of the two poets we shall scarcely escape
the feeling that while Byron is pleased to display his troubles and his
heart-aches before the curious gaze of the world, they are at least in
the main real troubles and sincere heart-aches, whereas Heine, on the
other hand, does a large business in Weltschmerz on a very small
capital.

Nor is Heine the man more convincing as to his sincerity than Heine the
poet. No more striking instance of this fact could perhaps be found than
his letter to Laube on hearing the news of Immermann's death.[269]
"Gestern Abend erfuhr ich durch das _Journal des Debats_ ganz zufaellig
den Tod von Immermann. Ich habe die ganze Nacht durch geweint. Welch ein
Unglueck!... Welch einen grossen Dichter haben wir Deutschen verloren,
ohne ihn jemals recht gekannt zu haben! Wir, ich meine Deutschland, die
alte Rabenmutter! Und nicht nur ein grosser Dichter war er, sondern auch
brav und ehrlich, und deshalb liebte ich ihn. Ich liege ganz darnieder
vor Kummer." But scarcely has he turned the page with a short
intervening paragraph, when he continues: "Ich bin, sonderbar genug,
sehr guter Laune," and concludes the letter with some small talk. Now if
he was sincere, as we may assume he was, in the asseveration of his
grief at the death of his friend, then either that grief must have been
anything but profound, or we have the clearest sort of evidence of the
poet's incapacity for serious feeling of more than momentary duration.
It is safe to assert that Heine never set himself a high artistic task,
and remained true to his purpose until the task was accomplished. In
other words, Heine betrays a lack of will-energy along artistic lines,
which in the case of Hoelderlin and Lenau was more evident in their
attitude toward the practical things of life.

But the fact that Heine never created a monumental literary work of
enduring worth is not attributable solely to a fickleness of artistic
purpose or lack of will-energy. We find its explanation rather in the
poet's own statement: "Die Poesie ist am Ende doch nur eine schoene
Nebensache."[270] and to this principle, consciously or unconsciously,
Heine steadily adhered. Certain it is that he took a much lower view of
his art than did Hoelderlin or Lenau. Hence we find him ever ready to
degrade his muse by making it