MARIENBAD ELEGY

"To me is all, I to myself am lost,
Who the immortals' favorite first was thought;
They, tempting, sent Pandoras to my cost,
So rich in wealth, with danger far more fraught;
They urged me to those lips, with rapture crown'd, Deserted me, and hurl'd me to the ground."

(Fra "Marienbader Elegie" ("Elegie" betyr klagesang) skrevet av Johann Wolfgang von Goethe i 1823.)

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IMMORTAL BELOVED

"Good morning, on July 7
Though still in bed, my thoughts go out to you, my Immortal Beloved, now and then joyfully, then sadly, waiting to learn whether or not fate will hear us - I can live only wholly with you or not at all - Yes, I am resolved to wander so long away from you until I can fly to your arms and say that I am really at home with you, and can send my soul enwrapped in you into the land of spirits - Yes, unhappily it must be so - You will be the more contained since you know my fidelity to you. No one else can ever possess my heart - never - never - Oh God, why must one be parted from one whom one so loves. And yet my life in V(ienna) is now a wretched life - Your love makes me at once the happiest and the unhappiest of men - At my age I need a steady, quiet life - can that be so in our relationship?? - Angel, I have just heard that the post goes every day - and therefore I must close, so that you may receive the letter immediately. Be calm; for only by calmly considering our lives can we achieve our purpose to live together - Be calm - love me - Today - yesterday - what tearful longing for you - for you - you - my life - my all - all good wishes to you - Oh, do continue to love me--never misjudge your lover's most faithful heart.
ever yours
ever mine
ever ours. .."

(Berømt kjærlighetsbrev skrevet i 1812 av Ludwig van Beethoven rett før den siste adskillelse fra kvinne som antas å være Antonie Brentano.)