BUT for the great sorrow of the marriage of his
Geliebtethat deep wound which never wholly
healed -- Heine's two years in Berlin were among the
pleasantest of his life. Intellectually as well as physically
he lived every moment. Had he, indeed, been more
chary of abandon to the manifold excitements and
pleasures which lay in wait for him, he would probably
have saved himself much after-bitterness and pain.

But at last the nervous headaches which had com-
menced in childhood became more frequent and more
intolerable. He realized that a change was necessary
nor did he disguise from himself the fact that he was
doing nothing towards adoption of a definite profession.
By this time, moreover, his family was in straitened
circumstances. His parents had had to leave Dëssel-
dorf, and had ultimately settled in the dull little town
of Lëneburg, where they lived partly on their own small
capital, and partly on the assistance given by Salomon
Heine. Here Heinrich determined to go for awhile, to
recoup his strength and to think over his prospects.

When he left Berlin about the beginning of May, 1823,

-62-