In 1919, Sorge wrote a poem which began with the line: "Eternally a stranger, fleeing from himself" and read it in the Gerlach's salon before the audience of leftist university professors, Christiane, and Kurt himself. Kurt Gerlach mercilessly mocked Sorge's poetic instincts: "'Fleeing from himself' -- bah! Where would you go? That's bourgeois gibberish, Ika. Man is a product of social relations -- formed in history by history -- not a self, not an essence hoarded in the center of the metaphysical fluff. 'Eternally a stranger' -- bah!" Sorge burned the sheet with his poem and made no literary attempts (his confession notwithstanding) for the rest of his life.
 

 
<<

 BACK TO MAIN STORY
NEXT SORGE NOTE >>