118a. Friedrich Schlegel to Wilhelm Schlegel in Amsterdam: Leipzig, November 1792 [*]
Your letter was a bright ray of light in the darkness, and your money arrived at just the right time as well. I need more of both. I must ask you for another 15 ducats, that is, if it is possible for you to save me. [1]
And let me also ask that you write me often and much; I need external strength so much now, and yet am utterly alone here in that regard. You are the only person able to give me strength. And you can do so not just by writing about me; for I will likely no longer be able to be rambling and subtle enough for you to focus on the right spot. Share your life with me as well. I ask for such especially now, when you are happy, but I intend to ask as well if you have unhappiness to share. [2]
You are still long overdue in relating to me the end of your story. [3] Her own letters, [4] if you could share them, could probably portray her most accurately for me.
In any event, it was [Caroline] B[öhmer]’s letters alone through which I became acquainted with her at least to a certain extent. That probably follows an old tradition, namely, that I again receive half of one of her letters to read. I find everything that comes from her to be remarkable. Her animated portrayal of Goethe concurs with my own suspicions as well as Körner’s, and with the stories of others. [5] My own love for him is no longer the same. The quintessence of his works is the imprint of a selfish soul that has grown cold. Werther, Götz, Faust, Iphigenie, [6] and several lyrical pieces all represent the beginning of a great man — who quickly, however, became a courtier. . . .
Notes
[*] Sources: Walzel, 58–59; KFSA 23:68. Back.
[1] Friedrich’s letters over the years regularly attest his chronic financial dependence on Wilhelm. Back.
[2] Presumably allusions to Wilhelm’s opportunity to be around Sophie Tischbein in Amsterdam, with whom he was apparently amorously involved on some level, and to his unsuccessful courtship of Caroline (concerning the latter, see Friedrich’s letter to Wilhelm on 5 December 1791 [letter 110a]). Back.
[3] Of Wilhelm’s relationship with Caroline. Back.
[4] That is, Caroline’s. Back.
[5] Presumably an allusion to Caroline’s negative assessment of Goethe’s play Der Gross-Cophta. Ein Lustspiel in 5 Aufzügen (Berlin 1792); see esp. her letter to Luise Gotter from Mainz on 20 April 1792 (letter 112) with note 10. Back.
[6] In order: Die Leiden des jungen Werthers (Leipzig 1774; rev. ed. 1786); Götz von Berlichingen mit der eisernen Hand. Ein Schauspiel (Darmstadt 1773); “Faust. Ein Fragment,” Goethe’s Schriften, vol. 7 (Leipzig 1790), 1–160; Iphigenie auf Tauris. Ein Schauspiel, in Goethe’s Schriften, vol. 3 (Leipzig 1787), 1–136. Back.
Translation © 2011 Doug Stott