This volume represents the pinnacle of Ernst Stadler's brief poetic career. With "The Departure," the young poet emerged as a leading figure of literary expressionism. Religiously oriented, Stadler did not allow himself to be guided by ominous premonitions in his poems, as some other expressionist poets did, but instead focused on the departure towards a new and better existence. Stadler, the poet of this departure, was born in 1883 and was killed by a shell during the First Battle of Flanders in 1914. This is a reprint of the original edition from 1920.