Gerhart Hauptmann's "Vita Nuova".

The article presents information on works of Gerhart Hauptmann, German dramatist, novelist and poet. The legend of "Poor Henry," was first treated by Hartman in an epic poem which is among the few real masterpieces of mediaeval literature. Hartman tells of a rich and powerful lord, Heinrich von Aue, who, like job, in the midst of worldly affluence and splendor, is visited by a terrible affliction, being infected with leprosy; who, unlike Job, abandons himself to grief and hatred and rebelliousness against God, but is finally healed, both bodily and mentally, through the pure faith and sell-surrender of a simple peasant girl.