 Especially during the Athenaeum period, Schlegel’s writings are witty, original, and sagacious in both form and content (e.g., Die Sprachen, Die Gemälde). After this period, i.e., once he started lecturing at the University, his style seems to lose its boldness and wit, gaining perhaps in depth and erudition. Some scholars suggest that these two developments are not unconnected (cf. Paulin 2016: 126).  Thus, while stressing their formal perfection, critics of his literary writings (Gedichte, 1800; Ion, 1803; Poetische Werke, 1811) tend to justify his lack of success as a poet. It is as if A.W. Schlegel was not able to follow the aesthetics standards that he himself had developed theoretically. Other scholars, however, consider his play Ion a great success. But, on the whole, Heinrich Heine’s view that both Friedrich and August Wilhelm Schlegel “were critics and interpreters rather than poets” (Heine [1833] 1985: 2) seems to be widely accepted (cf. Craig 2000: 863; Ziolkowski 2016: 270), even by those who are critical towards Heine’s extremely negative and sarcastic outbursts against the Schlegels.