suggesting outside interference. The nickname of the girl,
"Heiterethei," given her on account of her bright and sunny disposition,
explains the title of the story. And it must not be left unsaid that,
despite the underlying seriousness of the character-development
portrayed, the story as a whole is characterized by a sovereign play of
humor, at times a bit grotesque and boisterous, maybe, but none the less
irresistible in its quaint charm and deeper meaning.

In _Between Heaven and Earth_, Ludwig finally achieved his masterpiece,
creating a work in which vision and workmanship are both on the highest
level and thoroughly worthy of each other. No "hero" in the traditional
sense, no glamor of what is commonly regarded as "poetic," no broad
social background, no philosophic outlook, but within a narrow, and if
you will, commonplace range, the author here permits us to get same of
the profoundest glimpses of human life and character. It is a story of
slaters working on steep roofs and tall church spires; and as does their
scaffolding, so the poet tries to move along "between heaven and earth,"
his feet and eyes firmly fastened to life's realities, his heart and
soul lifted into the realm of the ideal, the eternal. Thus interpreted,
the title of the story may indeed be taken as a symbol of that principle
of "poetic realism" which Ludwig strove for and of which the story is
one of the best embodiments. The technique of the work, to be sure, is
that of Ludwig's day, not of our own. There are long descriptions and
reflections and a good deal of direct psychological analysis, in all of
which the narrator does not hesitate to speak from his subjective point
of view. Such a method modern theorists would feign stamp as a crime
against the spirit of epic art, as though a novel were a drama, and
genuine narration did not by nature participate of both the objective
and subjective manner of presentation. But even if these things were
undeniable flaws of technique, which we are far from admitting, they
certainly cannot mar genuine art in its essential beauty and appeal. The
Thuringian landscape and the life of the small town embedded in it, the
tragic happenings in the Nettenmair family, the slow processes of
soul-life in the two hostile brothers and the martyred woman between
them--all this is made to live before our eyes with such simple and yet
absolutely adequate means that we get from it that deep and satisfying
feeling of harmony