Book the Fifth

1779 to 1793

"Wenn sich der Most auch ganz absurd gebärdet, Es giebt zuletzt doch noch 'nen Wein."

"Von jener Macht, die alle Wesen bindet,

Befreit der Mensch sich der sich überwindet."

"Postquam me experientia docuit, omnia, quæ in communi vita frequenter occurrunt, vana et futilia esse: quum viderem omnia, a quibus et quæ timebam, nihil neque boni neque mali in se habere, nisi quatenus ab iis animus movebatur; constitui tandem inquirere, an aliquid daretur quod verum bonum et sui communicabile esset, et a quo solo rejectis ceteris omnibus animus afficeretur; imo an aliquid daretur, quo invento et acquisito continua ac summa in æternum fruerer lætitia."

SPINOZA.

CHAPTER I.

NEW BIRTH.

THE changes slowly determining the evolution of character, when from the lawlessness of Youth it passes into the clear stability of Manhood, resemble the evolution of harmony in the tuning of an orchestra, when from stormy discords, wandering in pursuit of concord, all the instruments gradually subside into the true key round a small centre the hurrying sounds revolve, one by one falling into that centre, and increasing its circle, at first slowly, and afterward with everaccelerated velocity, till victorious concord emerges from the tumult. Or they may be likened to the gathering splendour of the dawn, as at first slowly, and afterward with silent velocity, it drives the sullen darkness to the rear, and with a tidal sweep of light takes tranquil possession of the sky. Images such as these represent the dawn of a new epoch in Goethe's life; an epoch when the wanderings of an excitable nature are gradually falling more and more within the circle of law; when aims, before vague, now become clear; when in the recesses of his mind much that was fluent becomes crystallised by the earnestness which gives a definite purpose to his life. All men of genius go through this process of crystallisation. Their youth is disturbed by the turbulence of errors and of passions; if they outlive these errors, they convert them into advantages. Just as the sides of great mountain ridges are rent by fissures filled with. molten rock, which, when the lava cools, act like vast supporting ribs strengthening the mountain mass,

so in men of genius, passions first rend, and afterward buttress life. The diamond, it is said, can only be polished by its own dust; is not this symbolical of the truth that only by its own fallings-off can genius properly be taught? And is not our very walk, as Goethe says, a series of falls?

He was now (1779) entering his thirtieth year. Life glowly emerged from the visionary mists through which hitherto it had been seen; the solemn earnestness of manhood took the place of the vanishing thoughtlessness of youth, and gave a more commanding unity to his existence. He had "resolved to deal with Life no longer by halves, but to work it out in its totality, beauty, and goodness vom Halben zu entwöhnen, und im Ganzen, Guten, Schönen resolut zu leben." It is usually said that the residence in Italy was the cause of this change; but the development of his genius was the real cause. The slightest acquaintance with the period we are now considering suffices to prove that long before he went to Italy the change had taken place. An entry in his Diary at this date is very significant: "Put my things in order, looked through my papers, and burnt all the old chips. Other times, other cares! Calm retrospect of Life, and the extravagances, impulses, and eager desires of youth; how they seek satisfaction in all directions! How I have found delight, especially in mysteries, in dark imaginative connections; how I only half-seized hold of Science, and then let it slip; how a sort of modest self-complacency runs through all I wrote; how short-sighted I was in divine and human things; how many days wasted in sentiments and shadowy passions; how little good I

1 The Duchess Amalia writing to his mother, this year, says: "Your news of the marriage of the daughter of Mad. La Roche is so wonderful that it baffles reason. I showed your letter to Doctor Wolff (Goethe), but the court life has so softened his manners that he never gnashed his teeth, nor even swore, but shrugged his shoulders over the deplorable adventure."