A restful night for R., though as ever burdened by a mountain of concerns. I called upon Herr Groß to discuss the troublesome matter — yet it appears nothing is to be done.
At the table, thanks be to God, “King Lear” — the first scene; how brilliant, how artistically measured! One perceives later that Gloucester utterly perishes through that very thoughtlessness with which he, like a courtly gentleman, speaks of Edmund’s birth. Did Shakespeare conceive it all thus from the outset? Or, like Beethoven, did he amend his work repeatedly? Perhaps he found sketches already at hand and corrected them anew.
Over coffee, discourse turned to the Jesuits. R. imagines an encounter with their General, who would perhaps say to him: “To attain what you seek, one must possess obedience and discipline.” R. has, in fact, submitted a piece directed against the Jesuits.
Revised English translation by Jo Cousins.