Heinrich Heine's Last Days (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1898. Excerpt: ... HEINRICH HEINE'S LAST DAYS I "YAS it indifference, or that preoccupation rendered him superior to matters of taste? Or, was it simply the sad effect of the embarrassment which weighed on the household and called so imperatively for economy? In these days of knick-knacks and trifles, when every artist makes for himself, if not a picturesque, at least a comfortable nest, the home of the poet resembled a third-class lodging. Destitute of refinement, and with no attempt at comfort, it was fitted up with bits of second-hand furniture, recalling the de 9 generate period which gave mahogany the place of honour, and banished deal to the garret. When I saw Heinrich Heine for the first time, he was living on the fifth floor of a house in the Avenue Matignon, near the Rond Point in the Champs Elysdes. His windows, which overlooked the avenue, opened on to a narrow balcony, which in hot weather was embellished by a striped awning, such as one sees in front of small cafe's. The appartement consisted of three or four rooms, one of which was the dining-room, the two others being occupied by the master and mistress of the house. A low couch behind a screen covered with painted paper, a few chairs, and, opposite the door, a walnut wood writing-table, this was all the furniture in the sick man's room. I had almost forgotten two framed engravings of the early part of LouisPhilippe's reign--" The Harvesters," and "The Fishers," after Leopold Robert. Thus far, the arrangement of the home betrayed no trace of a woman's presence. That was to be found in the other room, in the imitation lace trimmings of the yellow cotton blinds, in the brackets draped with brown velvet, but, above all, in the full-length portrait of Frau Heine herself, hung in a favourable light, with dress and...