Selected Poems of Heine

Author: (German) Heine (Heine/H.) / Zhang Yushu
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1985-10-01
Features: Danish critic Georg Brandes told us that composers have written over 3,000 songs based on Heine's poems, while only 1,700 songs have been composed for Goethe's poems. By 1887, there were already 2,500 solo songs set to Heine's poetry. This demonstrates how popular and universally appealing Heine's poetry is. His Lyrische Gedichte is not just a garden in full bloom with nightingales singing, but also reveals inner emotions never seen before, taking readers through the subtle twists and turns of a lover's heart. Reading his poems evokes emotional ups and downs, stirring the soul. Here, it depicts the restlessness and impatience of anticipation, the intoxication of joy during reunions, as well as the loneliness and desolation of disappointment and the tremors of the heart when humiliated. The poet's beloved appears in his poems sometimes as a charming rose, lily, or an innocent angel, captivating the poet and making him willing to sacrifice himself for her. Yet at other times, she becomes a venomous snake—hypocritical and sharp. Her smiles, whispers, and glances transform into poison and sharp arrows, inflicting fatal wounds on the poet, making his heart bleed and his intestines twist in agony. Thus, in Heine's love poems, there emerges a world of emotions that Goethe had never discovered, experienced, or therefore described. This is the unique charm of Heine's love poetry and also the main reason why he was able to reclaim the laurel after Goethe.