Never before have Hesse's most beautiful texts about love, as expressed in his stories, fairy tales, and poems, as well as in his novels from "Peter Camenzind" to "Narcissus and Goldmund," been compiled in a thematic volume. Our collection does not include all of these representations, but it does offer a characteristic selection of the diverse manifestations of love as Hesse experienced, described, and interpreted them throughout his life. The volume is organized chronologically, making the development of romantic attraction at different stages of life evident. It ranges from the idealizing fascination of adolescence to the crisis-prone symbiosis of marriage, and finally to the altruistic forms of selfless love that are no longer focused on a partner: "Meaning gives life.".