even employed, and very cleverly, for humorous
effect, for instance, in the poem "Jehuda ben Halevy," cited before. In
this Heine asks Hitzig for the etymology of the name Schlemihl, but
meets with nothing but evasive replies until:

Endlich alle Knoepfe rissen
An der Hose der Geduld,

and the poet begins to swear so profanely that the pious Hitzig
surrenders unconditionally and hastens to supply the desired
information. This image of the "trousers of patience" reminds us
strikingly of such Persian phrases as [Arabic] "the cowl of
meditation" (_Gul._ ed. Platts, p. 4), [Arabic] "the carpet of desire"
(ib. p. 113), etc., which are a particular ornament of the highly
artificial rhymed prose, employed in works like the _Gulistan_ and
_Baharistan_. In the latter, for instance, we read of a youth whose
mental equilibrium had been impaired by the charms of a handsome girl:
[Arabic] "he tore the garment of prudence and put on the rags of
disgrace."[202]

The description of a countess in words like those which Heine puts into
the mouth of a Berlin chamber-musician: "Cypressenwuchs,
Hyacinthenlocken, der Mund ist Ros' und Nachtigall zu gleicher Zeit," ...
(_Briefe aus Berlin_. No. 3, vol. v. p. 205) furnishes another instance
in point.

And lastly, we must mention one of the best known of Heine's poems, the
trilogy "Der Dichter Firdusi," the subject of which is the famous legend
of Mahmud's ingratitude to Persia's greatest singer and his tardy
repentance. We may add that scholars are not inclined to accept this
legend as historical in all its parts; certainly not in its artistic and
effective ending. This, of course, has nothing to do with the literary
merit of the poem, which is deservedly ranked as one of Heine's happiest
efforts.[203]

* * * * *

After all, however, it is clear that Heine is in no sense an
orientalizing poet or a follower of the Hafizian tendency which became
the vogue under the influence of Goethe, Rueckert and Platen. With him
the Oriental element never was more than an incidental feature, strictly
subordinated to his own poetic individuality, and never dominating or
effacing it, as is the case with most of the professedly "Persian"
singers,--those "Perser von dem Main, der Elbe, von der Isar, von der
Pleisse"--who thought, as has justly been remarked, that they had
penetrated into the Persian spirit by merely mentioning _guls_ and
_bulbuls_. Heine had no use