Lotte in Weimar Page #4

This is the Museline I spoke of.

She sings divinely and is the favourite lady-in-waiting

of our Grand-Duchess, the Hereditary Princess.

That one is Julie, her pretty sister,

a painter, called Julemuse.

And here am I,

Adelmuse,

quite unflattering, you will admit.

And the one with her arm round me is Tillemuse -

Ottilie von Pogwisch - a charming head, don't you think?

Very charming.

Very charming.

Nothing. She won't show herself.

If she doesn't show herself,

then we must get in.

The august guest might come out very soon.

Please refrain from annoying her.

I'm asking you nicely.

I saw Uncle Riemer as he left.

What, is he your uncle?

Not really. I have called him that since I was a child,

as I did all the other regular guests

at Mama's Sunday and Thursday teas.

Meyers and Schtzes and Falcks,

Baron Einsiedel, Major von Knebel, Legation Counsellor Bertuch,

Grimm, Prince Pckler,

the Schlegel brothers and the Savignys.

I called them all uncle and aunt, I even said uncle to Wieland.

And you call Goethe uncle too?

No, not him.

But I called the Frau Privy Councillor aunt.

- The Vulpius woman?

- Yes, the lately deceased Frau von Goethe.

Is it true that ...

her conduct left something to be desired?

Yes, she was common.

De mortuis nil nisi bene.

- Pardon?

- Never speak ill of the dead.

A glutton and garrulous, with fearfully red cheeks;

crazy about dancing, and [loved the bottle more than she should]

Sledge rides and student balls;

and the Jena fraternities played all sorts of pranks ...

And Goethe tolerated such goings-on?

He shut his eyes,

and probably sanctioned them to some extent;

on the ground, I suspect, that they gave him a sort of right

to salvage his own emotional freedom.

A poetic genius, it seems to me,

cannot draw his literary inspiration

exclusively from his married life.

My dear child!

You have very broad, very strong-minded views.

I am a Weimarian,

we hold Amor in great esteem.

???

Don't you think it's interesting,

Aunt Vulpius, I mean, Frau Privy Councillcor,

always addressed Goethe with "Sie",

even after they were married.

And he?

He said "Du".

I see.

But the old Privy Councillor had better

not hear of the Muses' Circle meetings.

He doesn't care for it,

he called us "sentimental nanny-goats".

And why shouldn't he learn

about your aesthetic aspirations?

Because of the First Commandment.

How do you mean?

Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.

We are here, dearest lady, once more concerned

with the subject of tyranny.

A tyranny,

probably inseparable from a certain dominating greatness.

He is old, and great, and little inclined

to value what comes after him.

But life goes on,

it does not stop even at the greatest.

And we are children of the new life,

we Muselines and Julemuses and Adelmuse,

a new stock, not at all sentimental nanny-goats.

We are independent and progressive minds,

with the courage of the new times.

We know and love painters

like the good Cornelius, and Overbeck,

whose paintings he, I have heard him say so,

would rather fire his pistol at.

Fire his pistol?

David Caspar Friedrich's paintings, he says,

you might just as well look at them hanging upside down.

"It should not be allowed!" he thunders.

We let the Jovian thunder pass.

We read Uhland's poems

and E.T.A. Hoffmann's grotesque stories.

With great pleasure.

I do not know those authors.

Dearest Frau Councillor

- or may I say, esteemed friend?

My soul is full of self-reproaches;

I am guilty of wasting a great opportunity.

I prattle on carelessly,

and neglect the essential,

because I pray for

and count on your aid and advice.

What or whom is it about?

A dear human soul, my heart's treasure,

in a word:
Tillemuse.

Tillemuse?

Pardon me, that's her muse-name in our circle,

Ottilie von Pogwisch.

And what unhappy fate

is threatening Frulein von Pogwitsch?

Pogwisch. She's about to become engaged.

Pray tell me, to whom?

To Herr Chamberlain von Goethe.

What! No! August, the son.

The son of the great man and the Mamsell.

And what is so apprehensive about this union?

The many defects of August's character.

His wild, gloomy and coarse traits,

his early and regrettably increasing inclinations

for the joys of alcohol.

Ottilie saw herself as the saviour from his daemon.

Until an event occurred,

a young man.

A young man?

This young man, and Ottilie ..

Let me proceed in good order.

Three or four years ago

the hour came of our liberation from Napoleon.

Goethe had left.

Our spiritual hero abandoned us,

as it were, before the enemy.

August, returning from Heidelberg,

again in Weimar,

and paid court to my Ottilie.

Listen to my story,

it's a charming one.

Napoleon had abandoned his army,

defeated in Russia.

Weimar was still occupied by the French,

but the patriotic rising was spreading here too.

Father has left for Karlsbad.

Because he's disgusted with your heated patriotic ado.

Oh, August.

I really don't know if I can agree with you.

Believe me, dear Adele,

during those long moments of silence our souls are united.

It is love.

He's been drinking again, Tillemuse.

Quite a lot.

He's plastered.

It doesn't bother me at all.

Do you want be to be alone?

One never knows.

Here you are, my dears.

# sul mare luccica

# l'astro d'argento

# Placida l'onda

# prospero il vento

# Venite all'agile

# Barchetta mia

# Santa Lucia, Santa Lucia

# Venite all'agile

# Barchetta mia

# Santa Lucia, Santa Lucia

# Con questo zeffiro

# cos soave

# oh! com' bello

# star sulla nave

# Su passeggeri

# venite via

# Santa Lucia, Santa Lucia

# Su passeggeri

# venite via

# Santa Lucia, Santa Lucia

It is love.

Earlier than expected

a handful of Blcher Hussars turned up in Weimar,

rounded up the soldiers of the French garrison ...

- vieille sorcire

- quand je reviendrais je te ferais ???

je te ferais un ???

son dossier

officier de l'arme franaise

??? vieillei sorcire, un dans le cou

But what's he saying?

and chased the captured French from Weimar.

L'empereur Napolon

Vive la France

Weimar is liberated.

Down with Napoleon.

August.

Yes, Weimar is liberated.

But Napoleon wasn't beaten yet.

French cavalry occupied Weimar again,

while Napoleon's main forces were marching on Leipzig,

for the decisive battle.

French cavalry.

They've come from Erfurt.

They're back and restore order.

Half of the city is burning.

They've taken quarters again in the Elephant.

Let's have a look at the chaos.

Heinke.

Ferdinand.

Heinke.

Jurist of Breslau,

volunteer rifleman, wounded in the thigh.

It's no longer bleeding.

- Are the French back in town?

- Yes they are.

I don't want to be taken prisoner.

I want to get well again,

crush Napoleon.

And burn down Paris.

But what will the ladies do with me now?

Don't fear. Sister ??? knows

and approves of our patriotic scheme.

Careful.

Ladies, please,

you must leave now.

And I need hot water.

Let's burn down Paris!

Please! Ladies!

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