the experience of reading in Britain, from 1450 to 1945...

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Stefan George : 'Du schlank un rein wie eine flamme'

Poems transcribed in E. M. Forster's Commonplace Book (1943) include Stefan George's verses opening 'Du schlank und rein wie eine flamme,' and Baudelaire's 'Hymne' ('A la tres-chere, a la tres-belle'), with accompanying comment: 'The George and the Baudelaire above express, the one with studied starkness, the other with studied affectation, the masculine and feminine of the same idealism [...] Given over to habits of comfort, I feel insincere when I enjoy these poems. They are not for me or for anyone who is not prepared to sacrifice comfort.'

Century: 1900-1945     Reader/Listener/Group: Edward Morgan Forster      Print: Book

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