3. The Poem

Within the body of the Princess’s poem, several prominent themes can be identified, many of them recognizably inspired by Lebensreform, especially in its more völkisch manifestations: creation of a New Man and a New World, liberation from ”unnatural,” life-denying beliefs and social conventions; rejection of modern liberal, capitalist, urban civilization, regarded as responsible for encouraging egoism, undermining community ties, and destroying the nobler human qualities and values; recovery .