s, was even more pronounced in Lenau than in Hoelderlin. This shows
itself in the extreme irregularity of his habits of life. For instance,
it was his custom to work long past the midnight hour, and then take his
rest until nearly noon. He could never get his coffee quite strong
enough to suit him, although it was prepared almost in the form of a
concentrated tincture and he drank large quantities of it. He smoked to
excess, and the strongest cigars at that; in short, he seems to have
been entirely without regard for his physical condition. Or was it
perverseness which prompted him to prefer close confinement in his room
to the long walks which he ought to have taken for his health? Even his
recreation, which consisted chiefly in playing the violin, brought him
no nervous relaxation, for it is said that he would often play himself
into a state of extreme nervous excitement.

All these considerations corroborate the opinion of those who knew him
best, that his Weltschmerz, and eventually his insanity, had its origin
in a pathological condition. Indeed this was the poet's own view of the
case. In a letter to his brother-in-law, Anton Schurz, dated 1834, he
says: "Aber, lieber Bruder, die Hypochondrie schlaegt bei mir immer
tiefere Wurzel. Es hilft alles nichts. Der gewisse innere Riss wird
immer tiefer und weiter. Es hilft alles nichts. Ich weiss, es liegt im
Koerper; aber--aber--"[88] In its origin then, Lenau's Weltschmerz
differs altogether from that of Hoelderlin, who exhibits no such symptoms
of neurasthenia.

Lenau's nervous condition was seriously aggravated at an early date by
the outcome of his unfortunate relations with the object of his first
love, Bertha, who became his mistress when he was still a mere boy. His
grief on finding her faithless was doubtless as genuine as his conduct
with her had been reprehensible, for he cherished for many long years
the memory of his painful disappointment. The general statement, "Lenau
war stets verlobt, fand aber stets in sich selbst einen Widerstand und
unerklaerliche Angst, wenn die Verbindung endgiltig gemacht werden
sollte,"[89] is inaccurate and misleading, inasmuch as it fails to take
into proper account the causes, mediate and immediate, of his hesitation
to marry. Lenau was only once "verlobt," and it was the stroke of facial
paralysis[90] which announced the beginning of the end, rather than any
"unerklaerliche Angst," that convinced him of the inexpediency of that