The Works of Heinrich Heine

Excerpt from The Works of Heinrich Heine, Vol. 2<br><br>No modern German writer has exerted an influence comparable to that of Heine, and it is not less true that since Goethe no author has penetrated so generally through every class of society. Universality of popularity is the surest test of the existence of genius, just as a faithful reflex of the spirit of the age in which it was conceived is the surest test of the genuineness of a work of art. That which grows from and is extolled by a class may owe its birth to prejudice, and its subsequent life to the spirit of rivalry to which it ministers, and we consequently find at times writers endowed with the faintest talent achieving a world-wide reputation, not by the force of innate genius, but by dexterously turning to account the enthusiasm of a faction.<br><br>About the Publisher<br><br>Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com<br><br>This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.