Collected Works of A. I. Herzen, Volume 4

is at play. His imagination knows no limits; he writes in a fever, pale with fear, trembling before his own inventions, with disheveled hair; he himself, from the bottom of his heart, believes in everything: in the Sandman a folkloric figure who induces sleep or steals eyes, in sorcery, in ghosts, and through this very faith, he subordinates the reader to his authority, strikes their imagination, and leaves behind long-lasting traces. Three elements of human life serve as the foundation for the greater part of Hoffmann's works, and these same elements constitute the soul of the author himself: the inner life of the artist, marvelous psychic phenomena, and supernatural actions. All of this, on one hand, is plunged into the black waves of mysticism, and on the other, is dissolved by humor that is lively, sharp, and burning. Hoffmann's humor is quite distinct from the terrible, destructive humor of Byron, which resembles the laughter of an angel being cast into the abyss, and from the poisonous, hellish, serpentine mockery of Voltaire—that smile of self-satisfaction with pursed lips. His is the humor of an artist falling suddenly from his Eldorado mythical city of gold/utopia to the earth, an artist who, in the midst of dreams, notices that his Galatea is a piece of stone—an artist whose wife, in a moment of rapture, asks for money for the children's shoes. With this humor, Hoffmann permeated all his works and incessantly rushes from the most ardent pathos passionate emotion to the most wicked irony. This humor is natural to Hoffmann; for he is, above all, an artist—true and perfect. Look at his articles on music; I will name two: his "Review of Beethoven" and "Review of Don Juan." 1) There you will see what sounds are to him, you will see how they clothe themselves in forms while remaining bodiless.

"Music is the most romantic of all arts, for its character is infinity. The lyre of Orpheus unlocked the gates of Orcus the underworld. Music opens for man an unknown realm, a new world that has nothing in common with the sensory world, in which all defined feelings disappear, leaving room for an inexpressible, passionate yearning.

"In the works of Haydn, a childish, bright soul is expressed. His symphonies lead us onto boundless, green meadows, into colorful crowds of happy people. Youths and maidens flicker by; laughing children hide behind trees and rose bushes, throwing flowers. Life, filled with love, bliss, life before the fall into sin, eternally young; there is no suffering, no torment, only a languid, sweet longing for a beloved image, drifting in the radiance of the evening dawn; it neither approaches nor flies away, and as long as it does not vanish, night will not fall."

1. Phantasienstücke in Callotsmanier Fantasy Pieces in the Manner of Callot.