The Harz journey and selected prose

A poet whose verse inspired music by Schubert, Schumann, Mendelssohn and Brahms, Heinrich Heine (1797-1856) was in his lifetime equally admired for his elegant prose. This collection charts the development of that prose, beginning with three meditative works from the Travel Pictures, inspired by Heine's journeys as a young man to Lucca, Venice and the Harz Mountains. Exploring the development of spirituality, the laterOn the History of Religion and Philosophyin Germany spans the earliest religious beliefs of the Germanic people to the philosophy of Hegel, and warns with startling force of the dangers of yielding to 'primeval Germanic paganism'. Finally, theMemoirsconsider Heine's Jewish heritage and describe his early childhood. As rich in humour, satire, lyricism and anger as his greatest poems, together the pieces offer a fascinating insight into a brilliant and prophetic mind.

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