_In creating Albert Zorn, the central figure in this romance, I
have followed the life and career of Heinrich Heine. I have
chosen him not only because he singularly typifies the poet with
the “_Weltschmerz_” in his heart, nor because his was an
arresting personality, but because he is preeminently the symbol
of the spirit of his age and his people—the symbol of the
spirit of all ages and all peoples. For, whenever and wherever a
Samson arises, the smug, hypocritical, pharasaical Philistines
are ever ready to fetter him and put out his eyes—and often
there is a Delilah to betray him._
_E. B._
PART ONE
A POET IN THE MAKING