Chapter 4 Summary and Analysis

The birth of son Bruno on December 9, 1905 changed Hermann's life. He traveled a great deal and became a part of a biweekly periodical called South Germany. He contributed to the periodical until the beginning of the Great War but quit doing so because of its support of the war.

Hesse spent a great deal of time traveling with friends, many times going for cures. He built a new house in 1907. It was rebuilt where it burned, and his friend Finckh lived next door to Hesse. Hermann continued to experience emotional crises, but he was writing his novel Gertrud in 1907 while his new house was being built. It would not be published until 1910. He also worked on Knulp and a variety of poems during this time. Most of the poems had the theme of solitary.

His second son, Heiner, was born in...