iled to his fate: "Es ist mir nichts
geglueckt in dieser Welt, aber es haette mir doch noch schlimmer gehen
koennen."[197]

In his poems, references to his physical sufferings are remarkably
infrequent. We look in vain in the "Buch der Lieder," in the "Neue
Gedichte," in fact in all his lyrics written before the "Romanzero," not
only for any allusion to his illness, but even for any complaint against
life which might have been directly occasioned by his physical
condition. What is there then in these earlier poems that might fitly be
called Weltschmerz? Very little, we shall find.

Their inspiration is to be found almost exclusively in Heine's
love-affairs, decent and indecent. Now the pain of disappointed love is
the motive and the theme of very many of Hoelderlin's and Lenau's lyrics,
poems which are heavy with Weltschmerz, while most of Heine's are not.
To speak only of the poet's most important attachments, of his
unrequited love for his cousin Amalie, and his unsuccessful wooing of
her sister Therese,--there can be no doubt that these unhappy loves
brought years of pain and bitterness into his life, sorrow probably as
genuine as any he ever experienced, and yet how little, comparatively,
there is in his poetry to convince us of the fact. Nearly all these
early lyrics are variations of this love-theme, and yet it is the
exception rather than the rule when the poet maintains a sincere note
long enough to engender sympathy and carry conviction. Such are his
beautiful lyrics "Ich grolle nicht,"[198] "Du hast Diamanten und
Perlen."[199] Let us see how Lenau treats the same theme:

Die dunklen Wolken hingen
Herab so bang und schwer,
Wir beide traurig gingen
Im Garten hin und her.

So heiss und stumm, so truebe,
Und sternlos war die Nacht,
So ganz wie unsre Liebe
Zu Thraenen nur gemacht.

Und als ich musste scheiden
Und gute Nacht dir bot,
Wuenscht' ich bekuemmert beiden
Im Herzen uns den Tod.[200]

We believe implicitly in the poet's almost inexpressible grief, and
because we are convinced, we sympathize. And we feel too that the poet's
sorrow is so overwhelming and has so filled his soul that it has
entirely changed his views of life and of nature, or has at least
contributed materially to such a change,--that it has assumed larger
proportions and may rightly be called Weltschmerz. Compare with this the
first and third stanzas of Heine's "Der arme Peter:"