orig. Harry Heine
born Dec. 13, 1797, Düsseldorf, Prussia
died Feb. 17, 1856, Paris, France
German poet.
Born of Jewish parents, he converted to Protestantism to enter careers that he never actually pursued. He established his international literary reputation with The Book of Songs (1827), a collection of bittersweet love poems. His prose Pictures of Travel , 4 vol. (182631), was widely imitated. After 1831 he lived in Paris. His articles and studies on social and political matters, many critical of German conservatism, were censored there, and German spies watched him in Paris. His second verse collection, New Poems (1844), reflected his social engagement. His third, Romanzero (1851), written while suffering failing health and financial reverses, is notably bleak but has been greatly admired. He is regarded as one of Germany's greatest lyric poets, and many of his poems were set as songs by such composers as Franz Schubert , Robert Schumann , and Johannes Brahms .