regard to the imitation of Persian rhetorical figures on the part of
Platen.

In the eagerness to be genuinely Persian, the poet was not content,
however, with imitating only what was striking or beautiful; he
introduces even some features which, though very prominent in Eastern
poetry, will never become congenial to the West. Thus the utter
abjectness of the Oriental lover, who puts his face in the path of his
beloved and invites her (or him) to scatter dust on his head (H. 148.
3), is presented to us with all possible extravagance in these lines of
87:

Sieh mich hier im Staub und setze deine Ferse mir auf's Haupt,
Mich, den letzten von den letzten deiner letzten Sklaven, sieh![139]

To the _saqi_ is assigned a part almost as prominent as that which is
his in the Persian original. It was the introduction of this repulsive
trait (e.g. 82) that gave to Heine the opportunity for the savage,
scathing onslaught on Platen in the well known passage of the
_Reisebilder_.[140]

* * * * *

Otherwise Platen, like Goethe, ignores the mystic side of Hafid, and
infuses into his _Ghaselen_ a thoroughly bacchanalian spirit, taking
frequent occasion to declaim against hypocrisy, fanaticism and the
precepts of the _Quran_. The _credo_ of these poems is the opening
_gazal_ in _Spiegel des Hafis_ (64), where the line "Wir schwoeren ew'gen
Leichtsinn und ew'ge Trunkenheit" may be taken to reflect the sentiment
of the revelling Persian poet, who begs the _sufi_ not to forbid wine,
since from eternity it has been mingled with men's dust (H. 61. 4);
who claims to have been predestined to the tavern (H. 20. 4); who asks
indulgence if he turns aside from the mosque to the wine-house (H. 213.
4); who drinks his wine to the sound of the harp, feeling sure that God
will forgive him (H. 292. 5); who is above the reproach of the boasters
of austerity (H. 106. 3); and who, finally, asks that the cup be placed
in his coffin so that he may drink from it on the day of resurrection
(H. 308. 8). But when Platen flings away the _Quran_ he certainly is
not in accord with his Persian model, for, while Hafid takes issue with
the expounders of the sacred book, he discreetly refrains from assailing
the book itself.

But perhaps the chief significance of these _Ghaselen_, as well as those
of Rueckert, lies in the fact that they introduced a new poetic form into
German literature. It is astonishing to see how complet