The Pilgrims of the Rhine

The novel follows the story of a young woman named Margrave, who becomes embroiled in a mysterious and romantic adventure while traveling along the Rhine River. She meets a group of pilgrims who are on a mission to uncover the secrets of the river and its mystical powers. As they journey together, Margrave finds herself drawn into a world of magic, mystery, and romance, where she must confront her own destiny and the dark forces that seek to control the Rhine's power.

By Edward Bulwer-lytton · First published 1834 · Genre: Romance, Travel, Historical Fiction · 43 chapters

Contents

• THE IDEAL WORLD, - ITS REALM IS EVERYWHERE AROUND US; ITS INHABITANTS ARE THE IMMORTAL PERSONIFICATIONS OF ALL BEAUTIFUL THOUGHTS; TO THAT WORLD WE ATTAIN BY THE REPOSE OF THE SENSES
• IN WHICH THE READER IS INTRODUCED TO QUEEN NYMPHALIN
• OUR DREAMS BELONG TO THE IDEAL. - THE DIVINER LOVE FOR WHICH YOUTH SIGHS NOT ATTAINABLE IN LIFE, BUT THE PURSUIT OF THAT LOVE BEYOND THE WORLD OF THE SENSES PURIFIES THE SOUL AND AWAKES THE GENIUS. - PETRARCH. - DANTE
• THE LOVERS
• GENIUS, LIFTING ITS LIFE TO THE IDEAL, BECOMES ITSELF A PURE IDEA: IT MUST COMPREHEND ALL EXISTENCE, ALL HUMAN SINS AND SUFFERINGS; BUT IN COMPREHENDING, IT TRANSMUTES THEM. - THE POET IN HIS TWO-FOLD BEING, - THE ACTUAL AND THE IDEAL. - THE INFLUENCE OF GENIUS OVER THE STERNEST REALITIES OF EARTH; OVER OUR PASSIONS; WARS AND SUPERSTITIONS. - ITS IDENTITY IS WITH HUMAN PROGRESS. - ITS AGENCY, EVEN WHERE UNACKNOWLEDGED, IS UNIVERSAL
• FEELINGS
• FORGIVENESS TO THE ERRORS OF OUR BENEFACTORS
• THE MAID OF MALINES
• THE IDEAL IS NOT CONFINED TO POETS. - ALGERNON SIDNEY RECOGNIZES HIS IDEAL IN LIBERTY, AND BELIEVES IN ITS TRIUMPH WHERE THE MERE PRACTICAL MAN COULD BEHOLD BUT ITS RUINS; YET LIBERTY IN THIS WORLD MUST EVER BE AN IDEAL, AND THE LAND THAT IT PROMISES CAN BE FOUND BUT IN DEATH
• ROTTERDAM. - THE CHARACTER OF THE DUTCH. - THEIR RESEMBLANCE TO THE GERMANS. - A DISPUTE BETWEEN VANE AND TREVYLYAN, AFTER THE MANNER OF THE ANCIENT NOVELISTS, AS TO WHICH IS PREFERABLE, THE LIFE OF ACTION OR THE LIFE OF REPOSE. - TREVYLYAN'S CONTRAST BETWEEN LITERARY AMBITION AND THE AMBITION OF PUBLIC LIFE
• YET ALL HAVE TWO ESCAPES INTO THE IDEAL WORLD; NAMELY, MEMORY AND HOPE. - EXAMPLE OF HOPE IN YOUTH, HOWEVER EXCLUDED FROM ACTION AND DESIRE. - NAPOLEON'S SON
• GORCUM. - THE TOUR OF THE VIRTUES: A PHILOSOPHER'S TALE
• EXAMPLE OF MEMORY AS LEADING TO THE IDEAL, - AMIDST LIFE HOWEVER HUMBLE, AND IN A MIND HOWEVER IGNORANT. - THE VILLAGE WIDOW
• COLOGNE. - THE TRACES OF THE ROMAN YOKE. - THE CHURCH OF ST. MARIA. - TREVYLYAN'S REFLECTIONS ON THE MONASTIC LIFE. - THE TOMB OF THE THREE KINGS. - AN EVENING EXCURSION ON THE RHINE
• HENCE IN HOPE, MEMORY, AND PRAYER, ALL OF US ARE POETS
• THE SOUL IN PURGATORY; OR LOVE STRONGER THAN DEATH
• APPLICATION OF THE POEM TO THE TALE TO WHICH IT IS PREFIXED. - THE RHINE, - ITS IDEAL CHARACTER IN ITS HISTORICAL AND LEGENDARY ASSOCIATIONS
• THE SCENERY OF THE RHINE ANALOGOUS TO THE GERMAN LITERARY GENIUS. - THE DRACHENFELS
• APPLICATION OF THE POEM CONTINUED. - THE IDEAL LENDS ITS AID TO THE MOST FAMILIAR AND THE MOST ACTUAL SORROW OF LIFE. - FICTION COMPARED TO SLEEP, - IT STRENGTHENS WHILE IT SOOTHES
• THE LEGEND OF ROLAND. - THE ADVENTURES OF NYMPHALIN ON THE ISLAND OF NONNEWERTH. - HER SONG. - THE DECAY OF THE FAIRY-FAITH IN ENGLAND
• WHEREIN THE READER IS MADE SPECTATOR WITH THE ENGLISH FAIRIES OF THE SCENES AND BEINGS THAT ARE BENEATH THE EARTH
• THE WOOING OF MASTER FOX.*
• THE TOMB OF A FATHER OF MANY CHILDREN
• THE FAIRY'S CAVE, AND THE FAIRY'S WISH
• THE BANKS OF THE RHINE. - FROM THE DRACHENFELS TO BROHL. - AN INCIDENT THAT SUFFICES IN THIS TALE FOR AN EPOCH
• GERTRUDE. - THE EXCURSION TO HAMMERSTEIN. - THOUGHTS
• LETTER FROM TREVYLYAN TO - -
• COBLENTZ. - EXCURSION TO THE MOUNTAINS OF TAUNUS; ROMAN TOWER IN THE VALLEY OF EHRENBREITSTEIN. - TRAVEL, ITS PLEASURES ESTIMATED DIFFERENTLY BY THE YOUNG AND THE OLD. - THE STUDENT OF HEIDELBERG; HIS CRITICISMS ON GERMAN LITERATURE
• THE FALLEN STAR; OR THE HISTORY OF A FALSE RELIGION
• GLENHAUSEN. - THE POWER OF LOVE IN SANCTIFIED PLACES. - A PORTRAIT OF FREDERICK BARBAROSSA. - THE AMBITION OF MEN FINDS NO ADEQUATE SYMPATHY IN WOMEN
• VIEW OF EHRENBREITSTEIN. - A NEW ALARM IN GERTRUDE'S HEALTH. - TRARBACH
• THE DOUBLE LIFE. - TREVYLYAN'S FATE. - SORROW THE PARENT OF FAME. - NIEDERLAHNSTEIN. - DREAMS
• THE LIFE OF DREAMS
• THE BROTHERS
• THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL. - A COMMON INCIDENT NOT BEFORE DESCRIBED. - TREVYLYAN AND GERTRUDE
• IN WHICH THE READER WILL LEARN HOW THE FAIRIES WERE RECEIVED BY THE SOVEREIGNS OF THE MINES. - THE COMPLAINT OF THE LAST OF THE FAUNS. - THE RED HUNTSMAN. - THE STORM. - DEATH
• THURMBERG. - A STORM UPON THE RHINE. - THE RUINS OF RHEINFELS. - PERIL UNFELT BY LOVE. - THE ECHO OF THE LURLEI-BERG. - ST. GOAR. - KAUB, GUTENFELS, AND PFALZGRAFENSTEIN. - A CERTAIN VASTNESS OF MIND IN THE FIRST HERMITS. - THE SCENERY OF THE RHINE TO BACHARACH
• THE VOYAGE TO BINGEN. - THE SIMPLE INCIDENTS IN THIS TALE EXCUSED. - THE SITUATION AND CHARACTER OF GERTRUDE. - THE CONVERSATION OF THE LOVERS IN THE TEMPEST. - A FACT CONTRADICTED. - THOUGHTS OCCASIONED BY A MADHOUSE AMONGST THE MOST BEAUTIFUL LANDSCAPES OF THE RHINE
• ELLFELD. - MAYENCE. - HEIDELBERG. - A CONVERSATION BETWEEN VANE AND THE GERMAN STUDENT. - THE RUINS OF THE CASTLE OF HEIDELBERG AND ITS SOLITARY HABITANT
• NO PART OF THE EARTH REALLY SOLITARY. - THE SONG OF THE FAIRIES. - THE SACRED SPOT. - THE WITCH OF THE EVIL WINDS. - THE SPELL AND THE DUTY OF THE FAIRIES
• GERTRUDE AND TREVYLYAN, WHEN THE FORMER IS AWAKENED TO THE APPROACH OF DEATH
• A SPOT TO BE BURIED IN
• THE CONCLUSION OF THIS TALE

More by Edward Bulwer-lytton

• A Strange Story (1861)
• Rienzi (1834)
• The Last Days of Pompeii (1834)
• The Coming Race (1871)
• The Lady of Lyons (1838)
• Zanoni (1842)
• Athens: Its Rise and Fall Book I Vol I (1837)
• Athens: Its Rise and Fall Book II Vol I (1837)
• All works by Edward Bulwer-lytton