applied in such a sweet, lovely, pretty fashion! One woman is placed
between two men, for in that way Loeben could best bring out his
philosophy of friendship. The only change, it seems, that he ever made
in this arrangement was to place one man between two women. The
sick-bed is poetized as the cradle of knowledge, for in it, or on it,
we become introspective and learn life. Old chronicles, tournaments,
jewelry, precious stones, Maryism, nature from every conceivable point
of view, dreams and premonitions, visions and hallucinations, religion
of the renunciatory type, the pain that clarifies, the friendship that
weeps, Catholic painting and lute music, and love--human and
divine--these are the main themes in this tale. Lyrics and episodic
stories are interpolated, obsolete words and stylistic archaisms
occur. In short, the novelette reads like an amalgamation of Novalis
without his philosophy, Waekenroder without his suggestiveness, and
Tieck without his constructive ability.

The story[21] entitled Leda is again typical of Loeben. Briefly
stated, the plot is as follows: Leda, the daughter of a Roman duke,
loves Cephalo, who is a gentleman but not a nobleman, and is loved by
him. Her father, however, has forced her to become engaged to Alberto,
a man of high degree, whom she does not love. The wedding is imminent,
and Leda is sorely perplexed. Her father does not know why she is so
indifferent to the approaching event and accordingly sends her to a
distant and lonely castle in the hope that she may become interested,
at least, in her own nuptials. While there she drowns herself in the
swan lake. Alberto drops out of the story, and Cephalo becomes the
intimate friend of the duke. Previous to this Alberto had ordered a
certain painter to paint a picture of "Leda and the Swan." Danae, the
daughter of an old, unscrupulous antiquarian, was seen by Cephalo
while posing as a model for Leda. Enraged at this, she tells her