Ah, speak openly with me; the
happiness
of my
life depends upon it!
life depends upon it!
Warner - World's Best Literature - v04 - Bes to Bro
» Bear excused us, said that we desired to get
home soon, that I was fatigued from the journey, but that we
would not drive by Carlsfors without paying our respects to ma
chère mère.
"Well, very good, well, very good! " said ma chère mère, with
satisfaction; "we will shortly talk further about that in the cham-
ber there; but first I must say a few words to the people here.
Hark ye, good friends! " and ma chère mère knocked with the
bow on the back of the violin, till a general silence ensued in
the salon. "My children," she pursued in a solemn manner, "I
have to tell you-a plague upon you! will you not be still there,
at the lower end? -I have to inform you that my dear son,
Lars Anders Werner, has now led home, as his wedded wife,
this Francisca Burén whom you see at his side. Marriages are
made in heaven, my children, and we will supplicate heaven to
complete its work in blessing this conjugal pair. We will this
evening together drink a bumper to their prosperity. That will
do! Now you can continue your dancing, my children.
come you here, and do your best in playing. "
Olof,
While a murmur of exultation and congratulations went
through the assembly, ma chère mère took me by the hand, and
led me, together with Bear, into another room. Here she ordered
punch and glasses to be brought in. In the interim she thrust
her two elbows on the table, placed her clenched hands under
her chin, and gazed steadfastly at me, but with a look which was
rather gloomy than friendly. Bear, perceiving that ma chère
mère's review embarrassed me, broached the subject of the har-
vest or rural affairs. Ma chère mère vented a few sighs, so deep
that they rather resembled groans, appeared to make a violent
effort to command herself, answered Bear's questions, and on the
arrival of the punch, drank to us, saying, with a serious look
and voice, "Son and son's wife, your health! " On this she
grew more friendly, and said in a tone of pleasantry, which
beseemed her very well, "Lars Anders, I don't think people can
say you have bought the calf in the sack. Your wife does not
by any means look in bad case, and has a pair of eyes to buy
fish with. Little she is, it is true; but 'Little and bold is often
more than a match for the great. '"
I laughed, so did ma chère mère also; I began to understand
her character and manner. We gossiped a little while together
in a lively manner, and I recounted some little adventures of
## p. 2334 (#532) ###########################################
2334
FREDRIKA BREMER
travel, which amused her exceedingly. After the lapse of an
hour, we arose to take leave, and ma chère mère said, with a
really charming smile, "I will not detain you this evening,
delighted as I am to see you. I can well imagine that home
is attractive. Stay at home to-morrow, if you will; but the day
after to-morrow come and dine with me. As to the rest, you
know well that you are at all times welcome.
Fill now your
glasses, and come and drink the folks' health.
keep to ourselves, but share joy in common. "
Sorrow we should
We went into the dancing-room with full glasses, ma chère
mère leading the way as herald. They were awaiting us with
bumpers, and ma chère mère addressed the people something in
this strain: "We must not indeed laugh until we get over the
brook; but when we set out on the voyage of matrimony with
piety and good sense, then may be applied the adage that 'Well
begun is half won'; and on that, my friends, we will drink a
skoal to this wedded pair you see before you, and wish that both
they and their posterity may ever 'sit in the vineyard of our
Lord. ' Skoal! "
"Skoal! skoal! " resounded from every side. Bear and I
emptied our glasses, and went about and shook a multitude of
people by the hand, till my head was all confusion. When this
was over, and we were preparing to prosecute our journey, ma
chère mère came after us on the steps with a packet or bundle
in her hand, and said in a friendly manner, "Take this cold
roast veal with you, children, for breakfast to-morrow morning.
After that, you must fatten and consume your own calves. But
forget not, daughter-in-law, that I get back my napkin. No, you
shan't carry it, dear child, you have enough to do with your bag
and mantle. Lars Anders shall carry the roast veal. " And as if
Lars Anders had been still a little boy, she charged him with
the bundle, showed him how he was to carry it, and Bear did as
she said. Her last words were, "Forget not that I get my nap-
kin again! " I looked with some degree of wonder at Bear; but
he smiled, and lifted me into the carriage.
## p. 2335 (#533) ###########################################
FREDRIKA BREMER
2335
THE LANDED PROPRIETOR
From The Home'
L
OUISE possessed the quality of being a good listener in a
higher degree than any one else in the family, and there-
fore she heard more than any one else of his Excellency;
but not of him only, for Jacobi had always something to tell her,
always something to consult her about; and in case she were not
too much occupied with her thoughts about the weaving, he could
always depend upon the most intense sympathy, and the best
advice both with regard to moral questions and economical ar-
rangements, dress, plans for the future, and so forth. He also
gave her good advice which however was very seldom followed
- when she was playing Postilion; he also drew patterns for her
tapestry work, and was very fond of reading aloud to her- but
novels rather than sermons.
―
But he was not long allowed to sit by her side alone; for very
soon a person seated himself at her other side whom we will
call the Landed Proprietor, as he was chiefly remarkable for the
possession of a large estate in the vicinity of the town.
The Landed Proprietor seemed to be disposed to dispute with
the Candidate-let us continue to call him so, as we are all, in
one way or the other, Candidates in this world-the place which
he possessed. The Landed Proprietor had, besides his estate, a
very portly body; round, healthy-looking cheeks; a pair of large
gray eyes, remarkable for their want of expression; and a little.
rosy mouth, which preferred mastication to speaking, which
laughed without meaning, and which now began to direct to
"Cousin Louise "- for he considered himself related to the Lag-
man several short speeches, which we will recapitulate in the
following chapter, headed
STRANGE QUESTIONS
"Cousin Louise, are you fond of fish-bream for instance ? »
asked the Landed Proprietor one evening, as he seated himself
by the side of Louise, who was busy working a landscape in
tapestry.
"Oh, yes! bream is a very good fish," answered she, phleg-
matically, without looking up.
## p. 2336 (#534) ###########################################
2336
FREDRIKA BREMER
"Oh, with red-wine sauce, delicious! I have splendid fishing
on my estate, Oestanvik. Big fellows of bream! I fish for them
myself. "
"Who is the large fish there? " inquired Jacobi of Henrik, with
an impatient sneer; "and what is it to him if your sister Louise
is fond of bream or not? "
A very
"Because then she might like him too, mon cher!
fine and solid fellow is my cousin Thure of Oestanvik. I advise
you to cultivate his acquaintance. What now, Gabrielle dear,
what now, your Highness? "
"What is that which- »
"Yes, what is it? I shall lose my head over that riddle.
Mamma dear, come and help your stupid son! "
"No, no! Mamma knows it already.
She must not say it! "
exclaimed Gabrielle with fear.
"What king do you place above all other kings, Magister? "
asked Petrea for the second time, having this evening her
raptus" of questioning.
"
-
"Charles the Thirteenth," answered the Candidate, and list-
ened for what Louise was going to reply to the Landed Propri-
etor.
-
"Do you like birds, Cousin Louise? " asked the Landed Pro-
prietor.
"Oh yes, particularly the throstle," answered Louise.
"Well, I am glad of that! " said the Landed Proprietor.
"On my estate, Oestanvik, there is an immense quantity of
throstles. I often go out with my gun, and shoot them for my
dinner. Piff, paff! with two shots I have directly a whole dish-
ful. "
Petrea, who was asked by no one "Do you like birds,
cousin? " and who wished to occupy the Candidate, did not let
herself be deterred by his evident confusion, but for the second
time put the following question:-"Do you think, Magister, that
people before the Flood were really worse than they are nowa-
days? »
"Oh, much, much better," answered the Candidate.
"Are you fond of roasted hare, Cousin Louise? " asked the
Landed Proprietor.
"Are you fond of roasted hare, Magister? " whispered Petrea
waggishly to Jacobi.
Brava, Petrea! " whispered her brother to her.
## p. 2337 (#535) ###########################################
FREDRIKA BREMER
2337
"Are you
fond of cold meat, Cousin Louise? " asked the
Landed Proprietor, as he was handing Louise to the supper-
table.
"Are you fond of Landed Proprietor? " whispered Henrik to
her as she left it.
Louise answered just as a cathedral would have answered:
she looked very solemn and was silent.
After supper Petrea was quite excited, and left nobody alone
who by any possibility could answer her. "Is reason sufficient
for mankind? What is the ground of morals?
What is prop-
erly the meaning of 'revelation'? Why is everything so badly
arranged in the State? Why must there be rich and poor? "
etc. , etc.
"Dear Petrea! " said Louise, "what use can there be in asking
those questions? "
It was an evening for questions; they did not end even when
the company had broken up.
"Don't you think, Elise," said the Lagman to his wife when
they were alone, "that our little Petrea begins to be disagreeable
with her continual questioning and disputing? She leaves no one
in peace, and is stirred up herself the whole time. She will
make herself ridiculous if she keeps on in this way. "
"Yes, if she does keep on so. But I have a feeling that she
will change.
I have observed her very particularly for some
time, and do you know, I think there is really something very
uncommon in that girl. "
"Yes, yes, there is certainly something uncommon in her.
Her liveliness and the many games and schemes which she
invents -"
"Yes, don't you think they indicate a decided talent for the
fine arts? And then her extraordinary thirst for learning: every
morning, between three and four o'clock, she gets up in order
to read or write, or to work at her compositions. That is not
at all a common thing. And may not her uneasiness, her eager-
ness to question and dispute, arise from a sort of intellectual
hunger? Ah, from such hunger, which many women must suffer
throughout their lives, from want of literary food,-from such
an emptiness of the soul arise disquiet, discontent, nay, innumer-
able faults. "
"I believe you are right, Elise," said the Lagman, "and no
condition in life is sadder, particularly in more advanced years.
IV-147
## p. 2338 (#536) ###########################################
2338
FREDRIKA BREMER
―――
But this shall not be the lot of our Petrea - that I will promise.
What do you think now would benefit her most? "
"My opinion is that a serious and continued plan of study
would assist in regulating her mind. She is too much left to
herself with her confused tendencies, with her zeal and her in-
quiry. I am too ignorant myself to lead and instruct her, you
. have too little time, and she has no one here who can properly
direct her young and unregulated mind. Sometimes I almost
pity her, for her sisters don't understand at all what is going
on within her, and I confess it is often painful to myself; I wish
I were more able to assist her. Petrea needs some ground on
which to take her stand. Her thoughts require more firmness;
from the want of this comes her uneasiness. She is like a
flower without roots, which is moved about by wind and waves. "
"She shall take root, she shall find ground as sure as it is to
be found in the world," said the Lagman, with a serious and
beaming eye, at the same time striking his hand on the book
containing the law of West Gotha, so that it fell to the ground.
"We will consider more of this, Elise," continued he: "Petrea is
still too young for us to judge with certainty of her talents and
tendencies. But if they turn out to be what they appear, then
she shall never feel any hunger as long as I live and can procure
bread for my family. You know my friend, the excellent Bishop
B—: perhaps we can at first confide our Petrea to his guidance.
After a few years we shall see; she is still only a child. Don't
you think that we ought to speak to Jacobi, in order to get him
to read and converse with her?
converse with her? Apropos, how is it with Jacobi?
I imagine that he begins to be too attentive to Louise. "
"Well, well! you are not so far wrong; and even our cousin
Thure of Oestanvik,-have you perceived anything there ? »
"Yes, I did perceive something yesterday evening; what the
deuce was his meaning with those stupid questions he put to her?
'Does cousin like this? ' or 'Is cousin fond of that? ' I don't
like that at all myself. Louise is not yet full-grown, and already
people come and ask her, 'Does cousin like? Well, it may
signify very little after all, which would perhaps please me best.
What a pity, however, that our cousin is not a little more manly;
for he has certainly got a most beautiful estate, and so near us. "
"Yes, a pity; because, as he is at present, I am almost sure
Louise would find it impossible to give him her hand. "
"You do not believe that her inclination is toward Jacobi ? ”
## p. 2339 (#537) ###########################################
FREDRIKA BREMER
2339
"To tell the truth, I fancy that this is the case. "
"Nay, that would be very unpleasant and very unwise: I am
very fond of Jacobi, but he has nothing and is nothing. "
"But, my dear, he may get something and become something;
I confess, dear Ernst, that I believe he would suit Louise better
for a husband than any one else we know, and I would with
pleasure call him my son. "
"Would you, Elise? then I must also prepare myself to do
the same.
You have had most trouble and most labor with the
children, it is therefore right that you should decide in their
affairs. "
"Ernst, you are so kind! "
"Say just, Elise; not more than just. Besides, it is my opinion.
that our thoughts and inclinations will not differ much.
I con-
fess that Louise appears to me to be a great treasure, and I know
of nobody I could give her to with all my heart; but if Jacobi
obtains her affections, I feel that I could not oppose their union,
although it would be painful to me on account of his uncertain
prospects. He is really dear to me, and we are under great
obligations to him on account of Henrik; his excellent heart, his
honesty, and his good qualities, will make him as good a citizen
as a husband and father, and I consider him to be one of the
most agreeable men to associate with daily. But, God bless me!
I speak as if I wished the union, but that is far from my desire:
I would much rather keep my daughters at home, so long as
they find themselves happy with me; but when girls grow up,
there is never any peace to depend on. I wish all lovers and
questioners a long way off. Here we could live altogether as in
a kingdom of heaven, now that we have got everything in such
order. Some small improvements may still be wanted, but this
will be all right if we are only left in peace. I have been think-
ing that we could so easily make a wardrobe here: do you see on
this side of the wall-don't you think if we were to open-
What are you asleep already, my dear? "
Louise was often teased about Cousin Thure; Cousin Thure
was often teased about Cousin Louise. He liked very much to be
teased about his Cousin Louise, and it gave him great pleasure to
be told that Oestanvik wanted a mistress, that he himself wanted
a good wife, and that Louise Frank was decidedly one of the wis-
est and most amiable girls in the whole neighborhood, and of the
## p. 2340 (#538) ###########################################
FREDRIKA BREMER
2340
most respectable family. The Landed Proprietor was half ready
to receive congratulations on his betrothal. What the supposed
bride thought about the matter, however, is difficult to divine.
Louise was certainly always polite to her "Cousin Thure,"
but more indifference than attachment seemed to be expressed in
this politeness; and she declined, with a decision astonishing to
many a person, his constantly repeated invitations to make a tour.
to Oestanvik in his new landau drawn by "my chestnut horses,"
four-in-hand. It was said by many that the agreeable and
friendly Jacobi was much nearer to Louise's heart than the rich
Landed Proprietor. But even towards Jacobi her behavior was
so uniform, so quiet, and so unconstrained that nobody knew
what to think. Very few knew so well as we do that Louise
considered it in accordance with the dignity of a woman to show
perfect indifference to the attentions or doux propos of men, until
they had openly and fully explained themselves. She despised
coquetry to that degree that she feared everything which had the
least appearance of it. Her young friends used to joke with her
upon her strong notions in this respect, and often told her that
she would remain unmarried.
"That may be! " answered Louise calmly.
One day she was told that a gentleman had said, "I will not
stand up for any girl who is not a little coquettish! "
"Then he may remain sitting! " answered Louise, with a great
deal of dignity.
Louise's views with regard to the dignity of woman, her seri-
ous and decided principles, and her manner of expressing them,
amused her young friends, at the same time that they inspired
them with great regard for her, and caused many little conten-
tions and discussions in which Louise fearlessly, though not with-
out some excess, defended what was right. These contentions,
which began in merriment, sometimes ended quite differently.
A young and somewhat coquettish married lady felt herself
one day wounded by the severity with which Louise judged the
coquetry of her sex, particularly of married ladies, and in revenge
she made use of some words which awakened Louise's astonish-
ment and anger at the same time. An explanation followed be-
tween the two, the consequence of which was a complete rupture
between Louise and the young lady, together with an altered dis-
position of mind in the former, which she in vain attempted to
conceal. She had been unusually joyous and lively during the
## p. 2341 (#539) ###########################################
FREDRIKA BREMER
2341
first days of her stay at Axelholm; but she now became silent
and thoughtful, often absent; and some people thought that she
seemed less friendly than formerly towards the Candidate, but
somewhat more attentive to the Landed Proprietor, although she
constantly declined his invitation "to take a tour to Oestanvik. "
The evening after this explanation took place, Elise was
engaged with Jacobi in a lively conversation in the balcony.
"And if," said Jacobi, "if I endeavor to win her affections,
oh, tell me! would her parents, would her mother see it without
displeasure?
Ah, speak openly with me; the happiness of my
life depends upon it! "
"You have my approval and my good wishes," answered Elise;
"I tell you now what I have often told my husband, that I should
very much like to call you my son! "
"Oh! " exclaimed Jacobi, deeply affected, falling on his knees
and pressing Elise's hand to his lips: "oh, that every act in my
life might prove my gratitude, my love -! "
At this moment Louise, who had been looking for her mother,
approached the balcony; she saw Jacobi's action and heard his
words. She withdrew quickly, as if she had been stung by a
serpent.
From this time a great change was more and more percept-
ible in her. Silent, shy, and very pale, she moved about like a
dreaming person in the merry circle at Axelholm, and willingly
agreed to her mother's proposal to shorten her stay at this place.
Jacobi, who was as much astonished as sorry at Louise's
sudden unfriendliness towards him, began to think the place was
somehow bewitched, and wished more than once to leave it.
A FAMILY PICTURE
From The Home'
HE family is assembled in the library; tea is just finished.
at the pressing request of Gabrielle and Petrea, lays
out the cards in order to tell the sisters their fortune. The
seems to have made up
Candidate seats himself beside her, and
his mind to be a little more cheerful.
looks more like a cathedral than ever.
enters, bows, blows his nose, and kisses the hand of his "gracious
aunt. ”
But then "the object »
The Landed Proprietor
## p. 2342 (#540) ###########################################
FREDRIKA BREMER
2342
Landed Proprietor - Very cold this evening; I think we shall
have frost.
Elise-It is a miserable spring; we have just read a melan-
choly account of the famine in the northern provinces; these
years of dearth are truly unfortunate.
Landed Proprietor-Oh yes, the famine up there. No, let us
talk of something else; that is too gloomy. I have had my peas
covered with straw. Cousin Louise, are you fond of playing
Patience? I am very fond of it myself; it is so composing. At
Oestanvik I have got very small cards for Patience; I am quite
sure you would like them, Cousin Louise.
The Landed Proprietor seats himself on the other side of
Louise. The Candidate is seized with a fit of curious shrugs.
Louise This is not Patience, but a little conjuring by means
of which I can tell future things. Shall I tell your fortune,
Cousin Thure?
――――
Landed Proprietor-Oh yes! do tell my fortune; but don't
tell me anything disagreeable. If I hear anything disagreeable
in the evening, I always dream of it at night. Tell me now
from the cards that I shall have a pretty little wife; - a wife
beautiful and amiable as Cousin Louise.
The Candidate (with an expression in his eyes as if he would
send the Landed Proprietor head-over-heels to Oestanvik)—I don't
know whether Miss Louise likes flattery.
Landed Proprietor (who takes no notice of his rival) — Cousin
Louise, are you fond of blue?
Louise Blue?
It is a pretty color; but I almost like green
-
better.
Landed Proprietor-Well, that's very droll; it suits exceed-
ingly well. At Oestanvik my drawing-room furniture is blue;
beautiful light-blue satin. But in my bedroom I have green
Cousin Louise, I believe really-
moreen.
The Candidate coughs as though he were going to be suffo-
cated, and rushes out of the room. Louise looks after him and
sighs, and afterwards sees in the cards so many misfortunes for
Cousin Thure that he is quite frightened. "The peas frosted! "-
"conflagration in the drawing-room"- and at last "a basket"
["the mitten "]. The Landed Proprietor declares still laughingly
that he will not receive "a basket. " The sisters smile and make
their remarks.
—
## p. 2343 (#541) ###########################################
2343
CLEMENS BRENTANO
(1778-1842)
HE intellectual upheaval in Germany at the beginning of this
century brought a host of remarkable characters upon the
literary stage, and none more gifted, more whimsical, more
winning than Clemens Brentano, the erratic son of a brilliant family.
Born September 8th, 1778, at Ehrenbreitstein, Brentano spent his
youth among the stimulating influences which accompanied the
renaissance of German culture. His grandmother, Sophie de la Roche,
had been the close friend of Wieland, and his mother the youthful
companion of Goethe. Clemens, after a vain attempt to follow in
the mercantile footsteps of his father, went to Jena, where he met
the Schlegels; and here his brilliant but unsteady literary career
began.
In 1803 he married the talented Sophie Mareau, but three years
later his happiness was terminated by her death. His next matri-
monial venture was, however, a failure: an elopement in 1808 with
the daughter of a Frankfort banker was quickly followed by a
divorce, and he thereafter led the uncontrolled life of an errant poet.
Among his early writings, published under the pseudonym of
'Marie,' were several satires and dramas and a novel entitled 'Godwi,'
which he himself called "a romance gone mad. " The meeting
with Achim von Arnim, who subsequently married his sister Bettina,
decided his fate: he embarked in literature once and for all in close
association with Von Arnim. Together they compiled a collection of
several hundred folk-songs of the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eight-
eenth centuries, under the name of 'Des Knaben Wunderhorn' (The
Boy's Wonderhorn), 1806-1808. That so musical a people as the Ger-
mans should be masters of lyric poetry is but natural,-every long-
ing, every impression, every impulse gushes into song; and in 'Des
Knaben Wunderhorn' we hear the tuneful voices of a naïve race,
singing what they have seen or dreamed or felt during three hundred
years. The work is dedicated to Goethe, who wrote an almost
enthusiastic review of it for the Literary Gazette of Jena. ་་ Every
lover or master of musical art," he says, "should have this volume
upon his piano. "
The Wunderhorn' was greeted by the German public with ex-
traordinary cordiality. It was in fact an epoch-making work, the
pioneer in the new field of German folk poetry. It carried out in a
## p. 2344 (#542) ###########################################
2344
CLEMENS BRENTANO
purely national spirit the efforts which Herder had made in behalf of
the folk-songs of all peoples. It revealed the spirit of the time. 1806
was the year of the battle of Jena, and Germany in her hour of deep-
est humiliation gave ear to the encouraging voices from out her own
past. "The editors of the Wunderhorn,'" said their friend Görres,
"have deserved of their countrymen a civic crown, for having saved
from destruction what yet remained to be saved;" and on this civic
crown the poets' laurels are still green.
Brentano's contagious laughter may even now be heard re-echoing
through the pages of his book on The Philistine' (1811). His dra-
matic power is evinced in the broadly conceived play 'Die Gründung
Prags' (The Founding of Prague: 1815); but it is upon two stories,
told in the simple style of the folk-tale, that his widest popularity is
founded. 'Die Geschichte vom braven Casperl und der schönen
Annerl' (The Story of Good Casper and Pretty Annie) and his fable
of Gockel, Hinkel, und Gackeleia,' both of the year 1838, are still
an indispensable part of the reading of every German boy and girl.
Like his brilliant sister, Brentano is a fascinating figure in litera-
ture. He was amiable and winning, full of quips and cranks, and
with an inexhaustible fund of stories. Astonishing tales of advent-
ure, related with great circumstantiality of detail, and of which he
himself was the hero, played an important part in his conversation.
Tieck once said he had never known a better improvisatore than
Brentano, nor one who could "lie more gracefully. ”
When Brentano was forty years of age a total change came over
his life. The witty and fascinating man of the world was trans-
formed into a pious and gloomy ascetic. The visions of the stig-
matized nun of Dülmen, Katharina Emmerich, attracted him, and
he remained under her influence until her death in 1824. These vis-
ions he subsequently published as the Life of the Virgin Mary. '
The eccentricities of his later years bordered upon insanity. He
died in the Catholic faith in the year 1842.
## p. 2345 (#543) ###########################################
CLEMENS BRENTANO
THE NURSE'S WATCH
From The Boy's Wonderhorn ›
THE
HE moon it shines,
My darling whines;
The clock strikes twelve:- God cheer
The sick both far and near.
God knoweth all;
-
Mousy nibbles in the wall;
The clock strikes one:- - like day,
Dreams o'er thy pillow play.
The matin-bell
Wakes the nun in convent cell;
The clock strikes two:--they go
To choir in a row.
The wind it blows,
The cock he crows;
The clock strikes three: -the wagoner
In his straw bed begins to stir.
The steed he paws the floor,
Creaks the stable door;
The clock strikes four:-'tis plain
The coachman sifts his grain.
The swallow's laugh the still air shakes,
The sun awakes;
The clock strikes five:- the traveler must be gone,
He puts his stockings on.
The hen is clacking,
The ducks are quacking;
The clock strikes six:-awake, arise,
Thou lazy hag; come, ope thy eyes.
Quick to the baker's run;
The rolls are done;
The clock strikes seven:-
'Tis time the milk were in the oven.
Put in some butter, do,
And some fine sugar, too;
The clock strikes eight:-
Now bring my baby's porridge straight.
2345
Englished by Charles T. Brooks.
## p. 2346 (#544) ###########################################
2346
CLEMENS BRENTANO
THE CASTLE IN AUSTRIA
From The Boy's Wonderhorn >
HERE lies a castle in Austria,
Right goodly to behold,
Walled up with marble stones so fair,
With silver and with red gold.
TH
Therein lies captive a young boy,
For life and death he lies bound,
Full forty fathoms under the earth,
Midst vipers and snakes around.
His father came from Rosenberg,
Before the tower he went:-
"My son, my dearest son, how hard
Is thy imprisonment! "
-
"O father, dearest father mine,
So hardly I am bound,
Full forty fathoms under the earth,
'Midst vipers and snakes around! »
His father went before the lord:-
"Let loose thy captive to me!
I have at home three casks of gold,
And these for the boy I'll gi'e. "
"Three casks of gold, they help you not:
That boy, and he must die!
He wears round his neck a golden chain;
Therein doth his ruin lie. "
"And if he thus wear a golden chain,
He hath not stolen it; nay!
A maiden good gave it to him
For true love, did she say. "
They led the boy forth from the tower,
And the sacrament took he:-
"Help thou, rich Christ, from heaven high,
It's come to an end with me! "
They led him to the scaffold place,
Up the ladder he must go:—
## p. 2347 (#545) ###########################################
CLEMENS BRENTANO
2347
"O headsman, dearest headsman, do
But a short respite allow! "
"A short respite I must not grant;
Thou wouldst escape and fly:
Reach me a silken handkerchief
Around his eyes to tie. "
"Oh, do not, do not bind mine eyes!
I must look on the world so fine;
I see it to-day, then never more,
With these weeping eyes of mine. "
His father near the scaffold stood,
And his heart, it almost rends:-
"O son, O thou my dearest son,
Thy death I will avenge! "
-
"O father, dearest father mine!
My death thou shalt not avenge:
'Twould bring to my soul but heavy pains;
Let me die in innocence.
"It is not for this life of mine,
Nor for my body proud;
'Tis but for my dear mother's sake:
At home she weeps aloud. "
Not yet three days had passed away,
When an angel from heaven came down :
"Take ye the boy from the scaffold away;
Else the city shall sink under ground! "
And not six months had passed away,
Ere his death was avenged amain;
And upwards of three hundred men
For the boy's life were slain.
Who is it that hath made this lay,
Hath sung it, and so on?
That, in Vienna in Austria,
Three maidens fair have done.
## p. 2348 (#546) ###########################################
2348
ELISABETH BRENTANO (BETTINA VON ARNIM)
(1785-1859)
O PICTURE of German life at the beginning of this century
would be complete which did not include the distinguished
women who left their mark upon the time. Among these
Bettina von Arnim stands easily foremost. There was something
triumphant in her nature, which in her youth manifested itself in her
splendid enthusiasm for the two great geniuses who dominated her
life, Goethe and Beethoven,-- and which, in the lean years when
Germany was overclouded, maintained itself by an inexhaustible
optimism. Her merry willfulness and wit
covered a warm heart and a vigorous mind;
and both of her great idols understood her
and took her seriously.
Elisabeth Brentano was the daughter of
Goethe's friend, Maximiliane de la Roche.
She was born at Frankfort-on-the-Main in
1785, and was brought up after the death
of her mother under the somewhat peculiar
influence of the highly-strung Caroline von
Günderode. Through her filial intimacy
with Goethe's mother, she came to know
the poet; and out of their friendship grew
the correspondence which formed the basis
of Bettina's famous book, 'Goethe's Brief-
wechsel mit einem Kinde' (Goethe's Correspondence with a Child).
She attached herself with unbounded enthusiasm to Goethe, and he
responded with affectionate tact. To him Bettina was the embodi-
ment of the loving grace and willfulness of 'Mignon. '
ELISABETH BRENTANO
In 1811 these relations were interrupted, owing to Bettina's atti-
tude toward Goethe's wife. In the same year she married Achim
von Arnim, one of the most refined poets and noblest characters of
that brilliant circle. The marriage was an ideal one; each cherished
and delighted in the genius of the other, but in 1831 the death of
Von Arnim brought this happiness to an end. Goethe died in the
following year, and Germany went into mourning. Then in 1835
Bettina appeared before the world for the first time as an authoress,
in Goethe's Correspondence with a Child. ' The dithyrambic exalt-
ation, the unrestrained but beautiful enthusiasm of the book came
## p. 2349 (#547) ###########################################
ELISABETH BRENTANO
2349
like an electric shock. Into an atmosphere of spiritual stagnation,
these letters brought a fresh access of vitality and hope. Bettina's
old friendly relations with Goethe had been resumed later in life,
and in a letter written to her niece she gives a charming account of
the visit to the poet in 1824, which proved to be her last. This
letter first saw the light in 1896, and an extract from it has been
included below.
The inspiration which went out from Bettina's magnetic nature
was profound. She had her part in every great movement of her
time, from the liberation of Greece to the fight with cholera in Berlin.
During the latter, her devotion to the cause of the suffering poor in
Berlin opened her eyes to the miseries of the common people; and
she wrote a work full of indignant fervor, 'Dies Buch gehört dem
König' (This Book belongs to the King), in consequence of which her
welcome at the court of Frederick William IV. grew cool. A subse-
quent book, written in a similar vein, was suppressed. But Bettina's
love of the people, as of every cause in which she was interested,
was genuine and not to be quenched; she acted upon the maxim
once expressed by Emerson, "Every brave heart must treat society
as a child, and never allow it to dictate. " Emerson greatly admired
Bettina, and Louisa M. Alcott relates that she first made acquain-
tance with the famous 'Correspondence' when in her girlhood she
was left to browse in Emerson's library. Bettina's influence was
most keenly felt by the young, and she had the youth of Germany
at her feet. She died in 1859.
There is in Weimar a picture in which are represented the
literary men of the period, grouped as in Raphael's School of
Athens, with Goethe and Schiller occupying the centre. Upon the
broad steps which lead to the elevation where they are standing, is
the girlish figure of Bettina bending forward and holding a laurel
wreath in her hand. This is the position which she occupies in the
history of German literature.
DEDICATION: TO GOETHE
From 'Goethe's Correspondence with a Child'
THOU
HOU, who knowest love, and the refinement of sentiment, oh
how beautiful is everything in thee! How the streams of
life rush through thy sensitive heart, and plunge with force.
into the cold waves of thy time, then boil and bubble up till
mountain and vale flush with the glow of life, and the forests
stand with glistening boughs upon the shore of thy being, and
## p. 2350 (#548) ###########################################
ELISABETH BRENTANO
2350
all upon which rests thy glance is filled with happiness and life!
O God, how happy were I with thee! And were I winging my
flight far over all times, and far over thee, I would fold my
pinions and yield myself wholly to the domination of thine eyes.
Men will never understand thee, and those nearest to thee
will most thoroughly disown and betray thee; I look into the
future, and I hear them cry, "Stone him! " Now, when thine
own inspiration, like a lion, stands beside thee and guards thee,
vulgarity ventures not to approach thee. Thy mother said
recently, "The men to-day are all like Gerning, who always says,
'We, the superfluous learned';" and she speaks truly, for he is
superfluous. Rather be dead than superfluous! But I am not so,
for I am thine, because I recognize thee in all things. I know
that when the clouds lift themselves up before the sun-god, they
will soon be depressed by his fiery hand; I know that he endures
no shadow except that which his own fame seeks; the rest of
consciousness will overshadow thee. I know, when he descends
in the evening, that he will again appear in the morning with
golden front. Thou art eternal, therefore it is good for me to
be with thee.
When, in the evening, I am alone in my dark room, and the
neighbors' lights are thrown upon my wall, they sometimes light
up thy bust; or when all is silent in the city, here and there a
dog barks or a cock crows: I know not why, but it seems some-
thing beyond human to me; I know what I shall do to still my
pain.
I would fain speak with thee otherwise than with words; I
would fain press myself to thy heart. I feel that my soul is
aflame. How fearfully still is the air before the storm! So stand
now my thoughts, cold and silent, and my heart surges like the
Dear, dear Goethe! A reminiscence of thee breaks the
spell; the signs of fire and warfare sink slowly down in my sky,
and thou art like the in-streaming moonlight. Thou art great
and glorious, and better than all that I have ever known and
experienced up to this time. Thy whole life is so good!
sea.
## p. 2351 (#549) ###########################################
ELISABETH BRENTANO
TO GOETHE
2351
CASSEL, August 13th, 1807.
Hо can interpret and measure what is passing within me?
WHO I am happy now in remembrance of the past, which I
To my
scarcely was when that past was the present.
sensitive heart the surprise of being with thee, the coming and
going and returning in a few blessed days-this was all like
clouds flitting across my heaven; through my too near presence I
feared it might be darkened by my shadow, as it is ever darker
when it nears the earth; now, in the distance, it is mild and
lofty and ever clear.
I would fain press thy dear hand with both of mine to my
bosom, and say to thee, "How peace and content have come to
me since I have known thee! "
I know that the evening has not come when life's twilight
gathers in my heart: oh, would it were so! Would that I had
lived out my days, that my wishes and joys were fulfilled, and
that they could all be heaped upon thee, that thou mightst be
therewith decked and crowned as with evergreen bays.
When I was alone with thee on that evening I could not
comprehend thee: thou didst smile at me because I was moved,
and laughed at me because I wept; but why? And yet it was
thy laughter, the tone of thy laughter, which moved me to tears;
and I am content, and see, under the cloak of this riddle, roses
burst forth which spring alike from sadness and joy. Yes, thou
art right, prophet: I shall yet with light heart struggle up
through jest and mirth; I shall weary myself with struggling as
I did in my childhood (ah, it seems as if it were but yester-
day! ) when with the exuberance of joy I wandered through the
blossoming fields, pulling up the flowers by the roots and throw-
ing them into the water. But I wish to seek rest in a warm,
firm earnestness, and there at hand standest
hand standest thou, smiling.
prophet!
I say to thee yet once more: Whoever in this wide world
understands what is passing within me, who am so restful in
thee, so silent, so unwavering in my feeling? I could, like the
mountains, bear nights and days in the past without disturbing
thee in thy reflections. And yet when at times the wind bears
## p. 2352 (#550) ###########################################
ELISABETH BRENTANO
2352
the fragrance and the germs together from the blossoming world
up to the mountain heights, they will be intoxicated with delight
as I was yesterday. Then I loved the world, then I was as glad
as a gushing, murmuring spring in which the sun for the first
time shines.
Farewell, sublime one who blindest and intimidatest me!
From this steep rock upon which my love has in life-danger
ventured, I cannot clamber down. I cannot think of descending,
for I should break my neck in the attempt.
BETTINA'S LAST MEETING WITH GOETHE
From a Letter to her Niece in 1824, first published in 1896
N THE evening I was alone again with Goethe. Had any one
observed us, he would have had something to tell to poster-
ity. Goethe's peculiarities were exhibited to the full: first he
would growl at me, then to make it all up again he would caress
me, with the most flattering words. His bottle of wine he kept
in the adjoining room, because I had reproached him for his
drinking the night before: on some pretext or other he disap-
peared from the scene half a dozen times in order to drink a
glass. I pretended to notice nothing; but at parting I told him
that twelve glasses of wine wouldn't hurt him, and that he had
had only six. "How do you know that so positively? " he said.
"I heard the gurgle of the bottle in the next room, and I heard
you drinking, and then you have betrayed yourself to me, as
Solomon in the Song of Songs betrayed himself to his beloved,
by your breath. "
"You are an arrant rogue," he said; "now
take yourself off," and he brought the candle to light me out.
home soon, that I was fatigued from the journey, but that we
would not drive by Carlsfors without paying our respects to ma
chère mère.
"Well, very good, well, very good! " said ma chère mère, with
satisfaction; "we will shortly talk further about that in the cham-
ber there; but first I must say a few words to the people here.
Hark ye, good friends! " and ma chère mère knocked with the
bow on the back of the violin, till a general silence ensued in
the salon. "My children," she pursued in a solemn manner, "I
have to tell you-a plague upon you! will you not be still there,
at the lower end? -I have to inform you that my dear son,
Lars Anders Werner, has now led home, as his wedded wife,
this Francisca Burén whom you see at his side. Marriages are
made in heaven, my children, and we will supplicate heaven to
complete its work in blessing this conjugal pair. We will this
evening together drink a bumper to their prosperity. That will
do! Now you can continue your dancing, my children.
come you here, and do your best in playing. "
Olof,
While a murmur of exultation and congratulations went
through the assembly, ma chère mère took me by the hand, and
led me, together with Bear, into another room. Here she ordered
punch and glasses to be brought in. In the interim she thrust
her two elbows on the table, placed her clenched hands under
her chin, and gazed steadfastly at me, but with a look which was
rather gloomy than friendly. Bear, perceiving that ma chère
mère's review embarrassed me, broached the subject of the har-
vest or rural affairs. Ma chère mère vented a few sighs, so deep
that they rather resembled groans, appeared to make a violent
effort to command herself, answered Bear's questions, and on the
arrival of the punch, drank to us, saying, with a serious look
and voice, "Son and son's wife, your health! " On this she
grew more friendly, and said in a tone of pleasantry, which
beseemed her very well, "Lars Anders, I don't think people can
say you have bought the calf in the sack. Your wife does not
by any means look in bad case, and has a pair of eyes to buy
fish with. Little she is, it is true; but 'Little and bold is often
more than a match for the great. '"
I laughed, so did ma chère mère also; I began to understand
her character and manner. We gossiped a little while together
in a lively manner, and I recounted some little adventures of
## p. 2334 (#532) ###########################################
2334
FREDRIKA BREMER
travel, which amused her exceedingly. After the lapse of an
hour, we arose to take leave, and ma chère mère said, with a
really charming smile, "I will not detain you this evening,
delighted as I am to see you. I can well imagine that home
is attractive. Stay at home to-morrow, if you will; but the day
after to-morrow come and dine with me. As to the rest, you
know well that you are at all times welcome.
Fill now your
glasses, and come and drink the folks' health.
keep to ourselves, but share joy in common. "
Sorrow we should
We went into the dancing-room with full glasses, ma chère
mère leading the way as herald. They were awaiting us with
bumpers, and ma chère mère addressed the people something in
this strain: "We must not indeed laugh until we get over the
brook; but when we set out on the voyage of matrimony with
piety and good sense, then may be applied the adage that 'Well
begun is half won'; and on that, my friends, we will drink a
skoal to this wedded pair you see before you, and wish that both
they and their posterity may ever 'sit in the vineyard of our
Lord. ' Skoal! "
"Skoal! skoal! " resounded from every side. Bear and I
emptied our glasses, and went about and shook a multitude of
people by the hand, till my head was all confusion. When this
was over, and we were preparing to prosecute our journey, ma
chère mère came after us on the steps with a packet or bundle
in her hand, and said in a friendly manner, "Take this cold
roast veal with you, children, for breakfast to-morrow morning.
After that, you must fatten and consume your own calves. But
forget not, daughter-in-law, that I get back my napkin. No, you
shan't carry it, dear child, you have enough to do with your bag
and mantle. Lars Anders shall carry the roast veal. " And as if
Lars Anders had been still a little boy, she charged him with
the bundle, showed him how he was to carry it, and Bear did as
she said. Her last words were, "Forget not that I get my nap-
kin again! " I looked with some degree of wonder at Bear; but
he smiled, and lifted me into the carriage.
## p. 2335 (#533) ###########################################
FREDRIKA BREMER
2335
THE LANDED PROPRIETOR
From The Home'
L
OUISE possessed the quality of being a good listener in a
higher degree than any one else in the family, and there-
fore she heard more than any one else of his Excellency;
but not of him only, for Jacobi had always something to tell her,
always something to consult her about; and in case she were not
too much occupied with her thoughts about the weaving, he could
always depend upon the most intense sympathy, and the best
advice both with regard to moral questions and economical ar-
rangements, dress, plans for the future, and so forth. He also
gave her good advice which however was very seldom followed
- when she was playing Postilion; he also drew patterns for her
tapestry work, and was very fond of reading aloud to her- but
novels rather than sermons.
―
But he was not long allowed to sit by her side alone; for very
soon a person seated himself at her other side whom we will
call the Landed Proprietor, as he was chiefly remarkable for the
possession of a large estate in the vicinity of the town.
The Landed Proprietor seemed to be disposed to dispute with
the Candidate-let us continue to call him so, as we are all, in
one way or the other, Candidates in this world-the place which
he possessed. The Landed Proprietor had, besides his estate, a
very portly body; round, healthy-looking cheeks; a pair of large
gray eyes, remarkable for their want of expression; and a little.
rosy mouth, which preferred mastication to speaking, which
laughed without meaning, and which now began to direct to
"Cousin Louise "- for he considered himself related to the Lag-
man several short speeches, which we will recapitulate in the
following chapter, headed
STRANGE QUESTIONS
"Cousin Louise, are you fond of fish-bream for instance ? »
asked the Landed Proprietor one evening, as he seated himself
by the side of Louise, who was busy working a landscape in
tapestry.
"Oh, yes! bream is a very good fish," answered she, phleg-
matically, without looking up.
## p. 2336 (#534) ###########################################
2336
FREDRIKA BREMER
"Oh, with red-wine sauce, delicious! I have splendid fishing
on my estate, Oestanvik. Big fellows of bream! I fish for them
myself. "
"Who is the large fish there? " inquired Jacobi of Henrik, with
an impatient sneer; "and what is it to him if your sister Louise
is fond of bream or not? "
A very
"Because then she might like him too, mon cher!
fine and solid fellow is my cousin Thure of Oestanvik. I advise
you to cultivate his acquaintance. What now, Gabrielle dear,
what now, your Highness? "
"What is that which- »
"Yes, what is it? I shall lose my head over that riddle.
Mamma dear, come and help your stupid son! "
"No, no! Mamma knows it already.
She must not say it! "
exclaimed Gabrielle with fear.
"What king do you place above all other kings, Magister? "
asked Petrea for the second time, having this evening her
raptus" of questioning.
"
-
"Charles the Thirteenth," answered the Candidate, and list-
ened for what Louise was going to reply to the Landed Propri-
etor.
-
"Do you like birds, Cousin Louise? " asked the Landed Pro-
prietor.
"Oh yes, particularly the throstle," answered Louise.
"Well, I am glad of that! " said the Landed Proprietor.
"On my estate, Oestanvik, there is an immense quantity of
throstles. I often go out with my gun, and shoot them for my
dinner. Piff, paff! with two shots I have directly a whole dish-
ful. "
Petrea, who was asked by no one "Do you like birds,
cousin? " and who wished to occupy the Candidate, did not let
herself be deterred by his evident confusion, but for the second
time put the following question:-"Do you think, Magister, that
people before the Flood were really worse than they are nowa-
days? »
"Oh, much, much better," answered the Candidate.
"Are you fond of roasted hare, Cousin Louise? " asked the
Landed Proprietor.
"Are you fond of roasted hare, Magister? " whispered Petrea
waggishly to Jacobi.
Brava, Petrea! " whispered her brother to her.
## p. 2337 (#535) ###########################################
FREDRIKA BREMER
2337
"Are you
fond of cold meat, Cousin Louise? " asked the
Landed Proprietor, as he was handing Louise to the supper-
table.
"Are you fond of Landed Proprietor? " whispered Henrik to
her as she left it.
Louise answered just as a cathedral would have answered:
she looked very solemn and was silent.
After supper Petrea was quite excited, and left nobody alone
who by any possibility could answer her. "Is reason sufficient
for mankind? What is the ground of morals?
What is prop-
erly the meaning of 'revelation'? Why is everything so badly
arranged in the State? Why must there be rich and poor? "
etc. , etc.
"Dear Petrea! " said Louise, "what use can there be in asking
those questions? "
It was an evening for questions; they did not end even when
the company had broken up.
"Don't you think, Elise," said the Lagman to his wife when
they were alone, "that our little Petrea begins to be disagreeable
with her continual questioning and disputing? She leaves no one
in peace, and is stirred up herself the whole time. She will
make herself ridiculous if she keeps on in this way. "
"Yes, if she does keep on so. But I have a feeling that she
will change.
I have observed her very particularly for some
time, and do you know, I think there is really something very
uncommon in that girl. "
"Yes, yes, there is certainly something uncommon in her.
Her liveliness and the many games and schemes which she
invents -"
"Yes, don't you think they indicate a decided talent for the
fine arts? And then her extraordinary thirst for learning: every
morning, between three and four o'clock, she gets up in order
to read or write, or to work at her compositions. That is not
at all a common thing. And may not her uneasiness, her eager-
ness to question and dispute, arise from a sort of intellectual
hunger? Ah, from such hunger, which many women must suffer
throughout their lives, from want of literary food,-from such
an emptiness of the soul arise disquiet, discontent, nay, innumer-
able faults. "
"I believe you are right, Elise," said the Lagman, "and no
condition in life is sadder, particularly in more advanced years.
IV-147
## p. 2338 (#536) ###########################################
2338
FREDRIKA BREMER
―――
But this shall not be the lot of our Petrea - that I will promise.
What do you think now would benefit her most? "
"My opinion is that a serious and continued plan of study
would assist in regulating her mind. She is too much left to
herself with her confused tendencies, with her zeal and her in-
quiry. I am too ignorant myself to lead and instruct her, you
. have too little time, and she has no one here who can properly
direct her young and unregulated mind. Sometimes I almost
pity her, for her sisters don't understand at all what is going
on within her, and I confess it is often painful to myself; I wish
I were more able to assist her. Petrea needs some ground on
which to take her stand. Her thoughts require more firmness;
from the want of this comes her uneasiness. She is like a
flower without roots, which is moved about by wind and waves. "
"She shall take root, she shall find ground as sure as it is to
be found in the world," said the Lagman, with a serious and
beaming eye, at the same time striking his hand on the book
containing the law of West Gotha, so that it fell to the ground.
"We will consider more of this, Elise," continued he: "Petrea is
still too young for us to judge with certainty of her talents and
tendencies. But if they turn out to be what they appear, then
she shall never feel any hunger as long as I live and can procure
bread for my family. You know my friend, the excellent Bishop
B—: perhaps we can at first confide our Petrea to his guidance.
After a few years we shall see; she is still only a child. Don't
you think that we ought to speak to Jacobi, in order to get him
to read and converse with her?
converse with her? Apropos, how is it with Jacobi?
I imagine that he begins to be too attentive to Louise. "
"Well, well! you are not so far wrong; and even our cousin
Thure of Oestanvik,-have you perceived anything there ? »
"Yes, I did perceive something yesterday evening; what the
deuce was his meaning with those stupid questions he put to her?
'Does cousin like this? ' or 'Is cousin fond of that? ' I don't
like that at all myself. Louise is not yet full-grown, and already
people come and ask her, 'Does cousin like? Well, it may
signify very little after all, which would perhaps please me best.
What a pity, however, that our cousin is not a little more manly;
for he has certainly got a most beautiful estate, and so near us. "
"Yes, a pity; because, as he is at present, I am almost sure
Louise would find it impossible to give him her hand. "
"You do not believe that her inclination is toward Jacobi ? ”
## p. 2339 (#537) ###########################################
FREDRIKA BREMER
2339
"To tell the truth, I fancy that this is the case. "
"Nay, that would be very unpleasant and very unwise: I am
very fond of Jacobi, but he has nothing and is nothing. "
"But, my dear, he may get something and become something;
I confess, dear Ernst, that I believe he would suit Louise better
for a husband than any one else we know, and I would with
pleasure call him my son. "
"Would you, Elise? then I must also prepare myself to do
the same.
You have had most trouble and most labor with the
children, it is therefore right that you should decide in their
affairs. "
"Ernst, you are so kind! "
"Say just, Elise; not more than just. Besides, it is my opinion.
that our thoughts and inclinations will not differ much.
I con-
fess that Louise appears to me to be a great treasure, and I know
of nobody I could give her to with all my heart; but if Jacobi
obtains her affections, I feel that I could not oppose their union,
although it would be painful to me on account of his uncertain
prospects. He is really dear to me, and we are under great
obligations to him on account of Henrik; his excellent heart, his
honesty, and his good qualities, will make him as good a citizen
as a husband and father, and I consider him to be one of the
most agreeable men to associate with daily. But, God bless me!
I speak as if I wished the union, but that is far from my desire:
I would much rather keep my daughters at home, so long as
they find themselves happy with me; but when girls grow up,
there is never any peace to depend on. I wish all lovers and
questioners a long way off. Here we could live altogether as in
a kingdom of heaven, now that we have got everything in such
order. Some small improvements may still be wanted, but this
will be all right if we are only left in peace. I have been think-
ing that we could so easily make a wardrobe here: do you see on
this side of the wall-don't you think if we were to open-
What are you asleep already, my dear? "
Louise was often teased about Cousin Thure; Cousin Thure
was often teased about Cousin Louise. He liked very much to be
teased about his Cousin Louise, and it gave him great pleasure to
be told that Oestanvik wanted a mistress, that he himself wanted
a good wife, and that Louise Frank was decidedly one of the wis-
est and most amiable girls in the whole neighborhood, and of the
## p. 2340 (#538) ###########################################
FREDRIKA BREMER
2340
most respectable family. The Landed Proprietor was half ready
to receive congratulations on his betrothal. What the supposed
bride thought about the matter, however, is difficult to divine.
Louise was certainly always polite to her "Cousin Thure,"
but more indifference than attachment seemed to be expressed in
this politeness; and she declined, with a decision astonishing to
many a person, his constantly repeated invitations to make a tour.
to Oestanvik in his new landau drawn by "my chestnut horses,"
four-in-hand. It was said by many that the agreeable and
friendly Jacobi was much nearer to Louise's heart than the rich
Landed Proprietor. But even towards Jacobi her behavior was
so uniform, so quiet, and so unconstrained that nobody knew
what to think. Very few knew so well as we do that Louise
considered it in accordance with the dignity of a woman to show
perfect indifference to the attentions or doux propos of men, until
they had openly and fully explained themselves. She despised
coquetry to that degree that she feared everything which had the
least appearance of it. Her young friends used to joke with her
upon her strong notions in this respect, and often told her that
she would remain unmarried.
"That may be! " answered Louise calmly.
One day she was told that a gentleman had said, "I will not
stand up for any girl who is not a little coquettish! "
"Then he may remain sitting! " answered Louise, with a great
deal of dignity.
Louise's views with regard to the dignity of woman, her seri-
ous and decided principles, and her manner of expressing them,
amused her young friends, at the same time that they inspired
them with great regard for her, and caused many little conten-
tions and discussions in which Louise fearlessly, though not with-
out some excess, defended what was right. These contentions,
which began in merriment, sometimes ended quite differently.
A young and somewhat coquettish married lady felt herself
one day wounded by the severity with which Louise judged the
coquetry of her sex, particularly of married ladies, and in revenge
she made use of some words which awakened Louise's astonish-
ment and anger at the same time. An explanation followed be-
tween the two, the consequence of which was a complete rupture
between Louise and the young lady, together with an altered dis-
position of mind in the former, which she in vain attempted to
conceal. She had been unusually joyous and lively during the
## p. 2341 (#539) ###########################################
FREDRIKA BREMER
2341
first days of her stay at Axelholm; but she now became silent
and thoughtful, often absent; and some people thought that she
seemed less friendly than formerly towards the Candidate, but
somewhat more attentive to the Landed Proprietor, although she
constantly declined his invitation "to take a tour to Oestanvik. "
The evening after this explanation took place, Elise was
engaged with Jacobi in a lively conversation in the balcony.
"And if," said Jacobi, "if I endeavor to win her affections,
oh, tell me! would her parents, would her mother see it without
displeasure?
Ah, speak openly with me; the happiness of my
life depends upon it! "
"You have my approval and my good wishes," answered Elise;
"I tell you now what I have often told my husband, that I should
very much like to call you my son! "
"Oh! " exclaimed Jacobi, deeply affected, falling on his knees
and pressing Elise's hand to his lips: "oh, that every act in my
life might prove my gratitude, my love -! "
At this moment Louise, who had been looking for her mother,
approached the balcony; she saw Jacobi's action and heard his
words. She withdrew quickly, as if she had been stung by a
serpent.
From this time a great change was more and more percept-
ible in her. Silent, shy, and very pale, she moved about like a
dreaming person in the merry circle at Axelholm, and willingly
agreed to her mother's proposal to shorten her stay at this place.
Jacobi, who was as much astonished as sorry at Louise's
sudden unfriendliness towards him, began to think the place was
somehow bewitched, and wished more than once to leave it.
A FAMILY PICTURE
From The Home'
HE family is assembled in the library; tea is just finished.
at the pressing request of Gabrielle and Petrea, lays
out the cards in order to tell the sisters their fortune. The
seems to have made up
Candidate seats himself beside her, and
his mind to be a little more cheerful.
looks more like a cathedral than ever.
enters, bows, blows his nose, and kisses the hand of his "gracious
aunt. ”
But then "the object »
The Landed Proprietor
## p. 2342 (#540) ###########################################
FREDRIKA BREMER
2342
Landed Proprietor - Very cold this evening; I think we shall
have frost.
Elise-It is a miserable spring; we have just read a melan-
choly account of the famine in the northern provinces; these
years of dearth are truly unfortunate.
Landed Proprietor-Oh yes, the famine up there. No, let us
talk of something else; that is too gloomy. I have had my peas
covered with straw. Cousin Louise, are you fond of playing
Patience? I am very fond of it myself; it is so composing. At
Oestanvik I have got very small cards for Patience; I am quite
sure you would like them, Cousin Louise.
The Landed Proprietor seats himself on the other side of
Louise. The Candidate is seized with a fit of curious shrugs.
Louise This is not Patience, but a little conjuring by means
of which I can tell future things. Shall I tell your fortune,
Cousin Thure?
――――
Landed Proprietor-Oh yes! do tell my fortune; but don't
tell me anything disagreeable. If I hear anything disagreeable
in the evening, I always dream of it at night. Tell me now
from the cards that I shall have a pretty little wife; - a wife
beautiful and amiable as Cousin Louise.
The Candidate (with an expression in his eyes as if he would
send the Landed Proprietor head-over-heels to Oestanvik)—I don't
know whether Miss Louise likes flattery.
Landed Proprietor (who takes no notice of his rival) — Cousin
Louise, are you fond of blue?
Louise Blue?
It is a pretty color; but I almost like green
-
better.
Landed Proprietor-Well, that's very droll; it suits exceed-
ingly well. At Oestanvik my drawing-room furniture is blue;
beautiful light-blue satin. But in my bedroom I have green
Cousin Louise, I believe really-
moreen.
The Candidate coughs as though he were going to be suffo-
cated, and rushes out of the room. Louise looks after him and
sighs, and afterwards sees in the cards so many misfortunes for
Cousin Thure that he is quite frightened. "The peas frosted! "-
"conflagration in the drawing-room"- and at last "a basket"
["the mitten "]. The Landed Proprietor declares still laughingly
that he will not receive "a basket. " The sisters smile and make
their remarks.
—
## p. 2343 (#541) ###########################################
2343
CLEMENS BRENTANO
(1778-1842)
HE intellectual upheaval in Germany at the beginning of this
century brought a host of remarkable characters upon the
literary stage, and none more gifted, more whimsical, more
winning than Clemens Brentano, the erratic son of a brilliant family.
Born September 8th, 1778, at Ehrenbreitstein, Brentano spent his
youth among the stimulating influences which accompanied the
renaissance of German culture. His grandmother, Sophie de la Roche,
had been the close friend of Wieland, and his mother the youthful
companion of Goethe. Clemens, after a vain attempt to follow in
the mercantile footsteps of his father, went to Jena, where he met
the Schlegels; and here his brilliant but unsteady literary career
began.
In 1803 he married the talented Sophie Mareau, but three years
later his happiness was terminated by her death. His next matri-
monial venture was, however, a failure: an elopement in 1808 with
the daughter of a Frankfort banker was quickly followed by a
divorce, and he thereafter led the uncontrolled life of an errant poet.
Among his early writings, published under the pseudonym of
'Marie,' were several satires and dramas and a novel entitled 'Godwi,'
which he himself called "a romance gone mad. " The meeting
with Achim von Arnim, who subsequently married his sister Bettina,
decided his fate: he embarked in literature once and for all in close
association with Von Arnim. Together they compiled a collection of
several hundred folk-songs of the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eight-
eenth centuries, under the name of 'Des Knaben Wunderhorn' (The
Boy's Wonderhorn), 1806-1808. That so musical a people as the Ger-
mans should be masters of lyric poetry is but natural,-every long-
ing, every impression, every impulse gushes into song; and in 'Des
Knaben Wunderhorn' we hear the tuneful voices of a naïve race,
singing what they have seen or dreamed or felt during three hundred
years. The work is dedicated to Goethe, who wrote an almost
enthusiastic review of it for the Literary Gazette of Jena. ་་ Every
lover or master of musical art," he says, "should have this volume
upon his piano. "
The Wunderhorn' was greeted by the German public with ex-
traordinary cordiality. It was in fact an epoch-making work, the
pioneer in the new field of German folk poetry. It carried out in a
## p. 2344 (#542) ###########################################
2344
CLEMENS BRENTANO
purely national spirit the efforts which Herder had made in behalf of
the folk-songs of all peoples. It revealed the spirit of the time. 1806
was the year of the battle of Jena, and Germany in her hour of deep-
est humiliation gave ear to the encouraging voices from out her own
past. "The editors of the Wunderhorn,'" said their friend Görres,
"have deserved of their countrymen a civic crown, for having saved
from destruction what yet remained to be saved;" and on this civic
crown the poets' laurels are still green.
Brentano's contagious laughter may even now be heard re-echoing
through the pages of his book on The Philistine' (1811). His dra-
matic power is evinced in the broadly conceived play 'Die Gründung
Prags' (The Founding of Prague: 1815); but it is upon two stories,
told in the simple style of the folk-tale, that his widest popularity is
founded. 'Die Geschichte vom braven Casperl und der schönen
Annerl' (The Story of Good Casper and Pretty Annie) and his fable
of Gockel, Hinkel, und Gackeleia,' both of the year 1838, are still
an indispensable part of the reading of every German boy and girl.
Like his brilliant sister, Brentano is a fascinating figure in litera-
ture. He was amiable and winning, full of quips and cranks, and
with an inexhaustible fund of stories. Astonishing tales of advent-
ure, related with great circumstantiality of detail, and of which he
himself was the hero, played an important part in his conversation.
Tieck once said he had never known a better improvisatore than
Brentano, nor one who could "lie more gracefully. ”
When Brentano was forty years of age a total change came over
his life. The witty and fascinating man of the world was trans-
formed into a pious and gloomy ascetic. The visions of the stig-
matized nun of Dülmen, Katharina Emmerich, attracted him, and
he remained under her influence until her death in 1824. These vis-
ions he subsequently published as the Life of the Virgin Mary. '
The eccentricities of his later years bordered upon insanity. He
died in the Catholic faith in the year 1842.
## p. 2345 (#543) ###########################################
CLEMENS BRENTANO
THE NURSE'S WATCH
From The Boy's Wonderhorn ›
THE
HE moon it shines,
My darling whines;
The clock strikes twelve:- God cheer
The sick both far and near.
God knoweth all;
-
Mousy nibbles in the wall;
The clock strikes one:- - like day,
Dreams o'er thy pillow play.
The matin-bell
Wakes the nun in convent cell;
The clock strikes two:--they go
To choir in a row.
The wind it blows,
The cock he crows;
The clock strikes three: -the wagoner
In his straw bed begins to stir.
The steed he paws the floor,
Creaks the stable door;
The clock strikes four:-'tis plain
The coachman sifts his grain.
The swallow's laugh the still air shakes,
The sun awakes;
The clock strikes five:- the traveler must be gone,
He puts his stockings on.
The hen is clacking,
The ducks are quacking;
The clock strikes six:-awake, arise,
Thou lazy hag; come, ope thy eyes.
Quick to the baker's run;
The rolls are done;
The clock strikes seven:-
'Tis time the milk were in the oven.
Put in some butter, do,
And some fine sugar, too;
The clock strikes eight:-
Now bring my baby's porridge straight.
2345
Englished by Charles T. Brooks.
## p. 2346 (#544) ###########################################
2346
CLEMENS BRENTANO
THE CASTLE IN AUSTRIA
From The Boy's Wonderhorn >
HERE lies a castle in Austria,
Right goodly to behold,
Walled up with marble stones so fair,
With silver and with red gold.
TH
Therein lies captive a young boy,
For life and death he lies bound,
Full forty fathoms under the earth,
Midst vipers and snakes around.
His father came from Rosenberg,
Before the tower he went:-
"My son, my dearest son, how hard
Is thy imprisonment! "
-
"O father, dearest father mine,
So hardly I am bound,
Full forty fathoms under the earth,
'Midst vipers and snakes around! »
His father went before the lord:-
"Let loose thy captive to me!
I have at home three casks of gold,
And these for the boy I'll gi'e. "
"Three casks of gold, they help you not:
That boy, and he must die!
He wears round his neck a golden chain;
Therein doth his ruin lie. "
"And if he thus wear a golden chain,
He hath not stolen it; nay!
A maiden good gave it to him
For true love, did she say. "
They led the boy forth from the tower,
And the sacrament took he:-
"Help thou, rich Christ, from heaven high,
It's come to an end with me! "
They led him to the scaffold place,
Up the ladder he must go:—
## p. 2347 (#545) ###########################################
CLEMENS BRENTANO
2347
"O headsman, dearest headsman, do
But a short respite allow! "
"A short respite I must not grant;
Thou wouldst escape and fly:
Reach me a silken handkerchief
Around his eyes to tie. "
"Oh, do not, do not bind mine eyes!
I must look on the world so fine;
I see it to-day, then never more,
With these weeping eyes of mine. "
His father near the scaffold stood,
And his heart, it almost rends:-
"O son, O thou my dearest son,
Thy death I will avenge! "
-
"O father, dearest father mine!
My death thou shalt not avenge:
'Twould bring to my soul but heavy pains;
Let me die in innocence.
"It is not for this life of mine,
Nor for my body proud;
'Tis but for my dear mother's sake:
At home she weeps aloud. "
Not yet three days had passed away,
When an angel from heaven came down :
"Take ye the boy from the scaffold away;
Else the city shall sink under ground! "
And not six months had passed away,
Ere his death was avenged amain;
And upwards of three hundred men
For the boy's life were slain.
Who is it that hath made this lay,
Hath sung it, and so on?
That, in Vienna in Austria,
Three maidens fair have done.
## p. 2348 (#546) ###########################################
2348
ELISABETH BRENTANO (BETTINA VON ARNIM)
(1785-1859)
O PICTURE of German life at the beginning of this century
would be complete which did not include the distinguished
women who left their mark upon the time. Among these
Bettina von Arnim stands easily foremost. There was something
triumphant in her nature, which in her youth manifested itself in her
splendid enthusiasm for the two great geniuses who dominated her
life, Goethe and Beethoven,-- and which, in the lean years when
Germany was overclouded, maintained itself by an inexhaustible
optimism. Her merry willfulness and wit
covered a warm heart and a vigorous mind;
and both of her great idols understood her
and took her seriously.
Elisabeth Brentano was the daughter of
Goethe's friend, Maximiliane de la Roche.
She was born at Frankfort-on-the-Main in
1785, and was brought up after the death
of her mother under the somewhat peculiar
influence of the highly-strung Caroline von
Günderode. Through her filial intimacy
with Goethe's mother, she came to know
the poet; and out of their friendship grew
the correspondence which formed the basis
of Bettina's famous book, 'Goethe's Brief-
wechsel mit einem Kinde' (Goethe's Correspondence with a Child).
She attached herself with unbounded enthusiasm to Goethe, and he
responded with affectionate tact. To him Bettina was the embodi-
ment of the loving grace and willfulness of 'Mignon. '
ELISABETH BRENTANO
In 1811 these relations were interrupted, owing to Bettina's atti-
tude toward Goethe's wife. In the same year she married Achim
von Arnim, one of the most refined poets and noblest characters of
that brilliant circle. The marriage was an ideal one; each cherished
and delighted in the genius of the other, but in 1831 the death of
Von Arnim brought this happiness to an end. Goethe died in the
following year, and Germany went into mourning. Then in 1835
Bettina appeared before the world for the first time as an authoress,
in Goethe's Correspondence with a Child. ' The dithyrambic exalt-
ation, the unrestrained but beautiful enthusiasm of the book came
## p. 2349 (#547) ###########################################
ELISABETH BRENTANO
2349
like an electric shock. Into an atmosphere of spiritual stagnation,
these letters brought a fresh access of vitality and hope. Bettina's
old friendly relations with Goethe had been resumed later in life,
and in a letter written to her niece she gives a charming account of
the visit to the poet in 1824, which proved to be her last. This
letter first saw the light in 1896, and an extract from it has been
included below.
The inspiration which went out from Bettina's magnetic nature
was profound. She had her part in every great movement of her
time, from the liberation of Greece to the fight with cholera in Berlin.
During the latter, her devotion to the cause of the suffering poor in
Berlin opened her eyes to the miseries of the common people; and
she wrote a work full of indignant fervor, 'Dies Buch gehört dem
König' (This Book belongs to the King), in consequence of which her
welcome at the court of Frederick William IV. grew cool. A subse-
quent book, written in a similar vein, was suppressed. But Bettina's
love of the people, as of every cause in which she was interested,
was genuine and not to be quenched; she acted upon the maxim
once expressed by Emerson, "Every brave heart must treat society
as a child, and never allow it to dictate. " Emerson greatly admired
Bettina, and Louisa M. Alcott relates that she first made acquain-
tance with the famous 'Correspondence' when in her girlhood she
was left to browse in Emerson's library. Bettina's influence was
most keenly felt by the young, and she had the youth of Germany
at her feet. She died in 1859.
There is in Weimar a picture in which are represented the
literary men of the period, grouped as in Raphael's School of
Athens, with Goethe and Schiller occupying the centre. Upon the
broad steps which lead to the elevation where they are standing, is
the girlish figure of Bettina bending forward and holding a laurel
wreath in her hand. This is the position which she occupies in the
history of German literature.
DEDICATION: TO GOETHE
From 'Goethe's Correspondence with a Child'
THOU
HOU, who knowest love, and the refinement of sentiment, oh
how beautiful is everything in thee! How the streams of
life rush through thy sensitive heart, and plunge with force.
into the cold waves of thy time, then boil and bubble up till
mountain and vale flush with the glow of life, and the forests
stand with glistening boughs upon the shore of thy being, and
## p. 2350 (#548) ###########################################
ELISABETH BRENTANO
2350
all upon which rests thy glance is filled with happiness and life!
O God, how happy were I with thee! And were I winging my
flight far over all times, and far over thee, I would fold my
pinions and yield myself wholly to the domination of thine eyes.
Men will never understand thee, and those nearest to thee
will most thoroughly disown and betray thee; I look into the
future, and I hear them cry, "Stone him! " Now, when thine
own inspiration, like a lion, stands beside thee and guards thee,
vulgarity ventures not to approach thee. Thy mother said
recently, "The men to-day are all like Gerning, who always says,
'We, the superfluous learned';" and she speaks truly, for he is
superfluous. Rather be dead than superfluous! But I am not so,
for I am thine, because I recognize thee in all things. I know
that when the clouds lift themselves up before the sun-god, they
will soon be depressed by his fiery hand; I know that he endures
no shadow except that which his own fame seeks; the rest of
consciousness will overshadow thee. I know, when he descends
in the evening, that he will again appear in the morning with
golden front. Thou art eternal, therefore it is good for me to
be with thee.
When, in the evening, I am alone in my dark room, and the
neighbors' lights are thrown upon my wall, they sometimes light
up thy bust; or when all is silent in the city, here and there a
dog barks or a cock crows: I know not why, but it seems some-
thing beyond human to me; I know what I shall do to still my
pain.
I would fain speak with thee otherwise than with words; I
would fain press myself to thy heart. I feel that my soul is
aflame. How fearfully still is the air before the storm! So stand
now my thoughts, cold and silent, and my heart surges like the
Dear, dear Goethe! A reminiscence of thee breaks the
spell; the signs of fire and warfare sink slowly down in my sky,
and thou art like the in-streaming moonlight. Thou art great
and glorious, and better than all that I have ever known and
experienced up to this time. Thy whole life is so good!
sea.
## p. 2351 (#549) ###########################################
ELISABETH BRENTANO
TO GOETHE
2351
CASSEL, August 13th, 1807.
Hо can interpret and measure what is passing within me?
WHO I am happy now in remembrance of the past, which I
To my
scarcely was when that past was the present.
sensitive heart the surprise of being with thee, the coming and
going and returning in a few blessed days-this was all like
clouds flitting across my heaven; through my too near presence I
feared it might be darkened by my shadow, as it is ever darker
when it nears the earth; now, in the distance, it is mild and
lofty and ever clear.
I would fain press thy dear hand with both of mine to my
bosom, and say to thee, "How peace and content have come to
me since I have known thee! "
I know that the evening has not come when life's twilight
gathers in my heart: oh, would it were so! Would that I had
lived out my days, that my wishes and joys were fulfilled, and
that they could all be heaped upon thee, that thou mightst be
therewith decked and crowned as with evergreen bays.
When I was alone with thee on that evening I could not
comprehend thee: thou didst smile at me because I was moved,
and laughed at me because I wept; but why? And yet it was
thy laughter, the tone of thy laughter, which moved me to tears;
and I am content, and see, under the cloak of this riddle, roses
burst forth which spring alike from sadness and joy. Yes, thou
art right, prophet: I shall yet with light heart struggle up
through jest and mirth; I shall weary myself with struggling as
I did in my childhood (ah, it seems as if it were but yester-
day! ) when with the exuberance of joy I wandered through the
blossoming fields, pulling up the flowers by the roots and throw-
ing them into the water. But I wish to seek rest in a warm,
firm earnestness, and there at hand standest
hand standest thou, smiling.
prophet!
I say to thee yet once more: Whoever in this wide world
understands what is passing within me, who am so restful in
thee, so silent, so unwavering in my feeling? I could, like the
mountains, bear nights and days in the past without disturbing
thee in thy reflections. And yet when at times the wind bears
## p. 2352 (#550) ###########################################
ELISABETH BRENTANO
2352
the fragrance and the germs together from the blossoming world
up to the mountain heights, they will be intoxicated with delight
as I was yesterday. Then I loved the world, then I was as glad
as a gushing, murmuring spring in which the sun for the first
time shines.
Farewell, sublime one who blindest and intimidatest me!
From this steep rock upon which my love has in life-danger
ventured, I cannot clamber down. I cannot think of descending,
for I should break my neck in the attempt.
BETTINA'S LAST MEETING WITH GOETHE
From a Letter to her Niece in 1824, first published in 1896
N THE evening I was alone again with Goethe. Had any one
observed us, he would have had something to tell to poster-
ity. Goethe's peculiarities were exhibited to the full: first he
would growl at me, then to make it all up again he would caress
me, with the most flattering words. His bottle of wine he kept
in the adjoining room, because I had reproached him for his
drinking the night before: on some pretext or other he disap-
peared from the scene half a dozen times in order to drink a
glass. I pretended to notice nothing; but at parting I told him
that twelve glasses of wine wouldn't hurt him, and that he had
had only six. "How do you know that so positively? " he said.
"I heard the gurgle of the bottle in the next room, and I heard
you drinking, and then you have betrayed yourself to me, as
Solomon in the Song of Songs betrayed himself to his beloved,
by your breath. "
"You are an arrant rogue," he said; "now
take yourself off," and he brought the candle to light me out.
