Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Carlyle's laugh and other surprises

[12] the humorist first. The German author's favorite type of character-seen to best advantage in his Siebenkas of the “Blumen, Frucht, und Dornenstiicke” --came nearer to the actual Carlyle than most of the grave portraitures yet executed. He, as is said of Siebenkas, disguised his heart beneath a grotesque mask, partly for greater freedom, and partly because he preferred whimsically to exaggerate human folly rather than to share it (dass er die menschliche Thorheit mehr travestiere als nachahme). Both characters might be well summed up in the brief sentence which follows: “A humorist in action is but a satirical improvisatore” (Ein handeinder Humorist ist blos ein satirischer Improvisatore). This last phrase, “a satirical improvisatore,” seems to me better than any other to describe Carlyle.