Heinrich
after documents, letters and writings
by Heinrich von Kleist
cast ...
Stimmings near Potsdam 1811
...
Berlin 1806 - 1811
...
Aspern 1809
Fortress Mainz 1797 - 1799
Frankfurt/Oder 1799 - 1811
the Theatre de Soleil
Paris 1801
...
Weimar 1808
...
the Riebisch couple, hired laborers
Henriette Vogel
Ernst von Pfuel
Ulrike von Kleist
Heinrich
but I swear to you ...
it is quite impossible for me
to live any longer.
My soul is so injured
that I, I'd almost say ...
whenever I stick my nose
out of the window
the daylight is hurtful to me
that shines upon it.
Some people might think this morbid and eccentric.
By having been in constant contact
with beauty and decorum since my earliest youth,
in my thoughts and writings,
I have become so sensitive
that the slightest attacks
a person's feelings are subject to
during the course of things
are hurting me doubly and triply.
[letter to Marie von Kleist, 10 Nov. 1811]
Mummy, let me in!
Mummy, let me in!
Highborn
Freiherr
august
august
Herr
Privy Councilor
State Chancellor
Even though ...
even though
the distance
far away from ???
who certainly
certainly
is solely
guilty
guilty
of the disgrace
highborn
highborn
Freiherr
damages
claim for damages
since the
fatherland
fatherland
is threatened by danger
highborn Freiherr
born
Freiherr
without doubt will succeed
Your venerable Excellency, to ...
to ...
to convince
convince
that
convince
Berlin, 19 Sept. 1811
Herr von Kleist
asks for ...
a private loan
of 20 pieces francs d'or.
To be filed
since the persona von Kleist,
is no longer alive.
Berlin,
Hardenberg
to be filed
to be filed
to be filed
to be filed
to be filed
K ... K ... K
Kleist
In the midst of this triumphal song
my soul starts singing at this moment of death,
I think of you once more
and want to unbosom myself to you,
as much as possible.
Everything else on earth,
the whole and the lonely,
I've totally overcome within my heart.
Yes, it is true:
I've cheated on you,
or rather,
I've cheated on myself,
but as I've told you a thousand times
that I won't survive this,
I'm giving you now,
by taking leave of you,
the proof of it.
I've exchanged you with another woman friend,
but if this is of any comfort to you,
not with one who wants to live with me,
but who, sensing that I won't be true to her either,
like I wasn't true to you,
wants to die with me.
I can't tell you more,
my relationship to the lady doesn't permit it.
Only know that much:
that my soul, by being touched by hers,
has wholly ripened to death,
that I've measured all the splendour
of the human soul within hers,
and I die because on earth,
there remains nothing for me to learn or acquire.
Farewell.
[letter to Marie von Kleist, 19 Nov. 1811]
in pairs - and not a word!
good morning, Frl. von Kleist
good morning, Frl. von Kleist
I cannot die,
feeling as content and gay as I feel now,
without having reconciled with the whole world,
and therefore, before all others, my dear Ulrike,
without having reconciled with you too.
Really, what you've done for me
was beyond the forces of a sister,
but within the forces of a human being,
in order to save me.
The truth is:
on earth, no one could help me.
And now farewell.
May ...
Heaven ...
grant you ...
a death ...
with only ...
half of the joy ...
and ...
inner serenity ...
resembling mine.
Stimmings
near Potsdam,
on the morning
morning
of my death.
Your
Heinrich.
[letter to Ulrike von Kleist, 21. Nov. 1811]
more coffee!
wait!
more coffee!
That's Madame.
yes?
and now you can help me get dressed
Monsieur
don't bother, Heinrich
I'm embarrassed
the robe
afterwards the lady and the gentleman came down,
paid the bill
and when I enquired if they would be here for lunch
they refused.
then we'll have a much better appetite for dinner
won't you have a nice cup of broth?
with pleasure
in the evening the guests ...
when two people say the same thing
they'll stay together for another year
as the saying goes
on the morning of my death
how many are there today?
good morning
how late is it?
it's half past eight
I must know the exact time
the bell will ring right now
you see
thank you
it's half past eight
Heinrich
on the morning of my death
the landlord isn't in?
they've both gone out
can I do something for you, sir?
how late is it?
I don't have a watch
it must be about 11
like the Persian king's bride,
anointed with oil,
when she is led to his chamber,
pouring down over all his carpets
what a weird phrase
It's from a play.
[Kthchen of Heilbronn]
a play?
oh my!
on the morning of my death
how late is it?
past 12
then the messenger's been here already?
yes, just now.
Did you want to send a message?
no, not really
no.
you can still see him ride off
from your room
on the morning of my death
that Vogel woman in this tragedy,
like some stupid accident
Ernst?
I shall never get married.
You be a wife to me,
my children, grandchildren.
Besides, after the remarks I made earlier,
I claim
that between the two,
there existed a sympathy of souls and a spiritual love,
and that both considered the dissolution
of their bodies as the highest good
and strove towards it.
The Lieutenant of the Royal Guards Regiment
Herr von Kleist
the former Lieutenant
my dear Kleist
I brought new sheet music
I used to sing this as a child
go on, play something
sing something
[Ich steh an deiner Krippen hier]
# I lay in deepest deadly night
# you were my sun
# the sun which brought me
# light, life, joy and bliss
# O sun, you've prepared within me
# the dear light of faith
# how beautiful are your rays.
you may have her, if you like
I cede her to you
that wasn't necessary
# take away the straw,
take away the hay
# I want to gather some flowers
# for my Saviour to rest upon them
# upon sweet violets
# with roses, carnations, rosemary
# from beautiful gardens I shall ...
# bestrew him from above
this is so beautiful
one could shoot oneself
it is
isn't it
so dead
what is death?
it's like sleeping
only much more beautiful
much much more beautiful
it's an incurable disease
Vogel has been finding me repugnant
since two years
he'd be glad to get rid of me
that was the reason for his act
forget about it
now I distinguish neither colours nor shapes
and now all lies in darkness below me
[Prinz Friedrich von Homburg]
it takes more diligence
I don't have that
hue ... blue ... bluer
one ... mine ... his
yours ... new ... his
Napoleon stood here
the Austrians advanced
but there wasn't any snow
no, it was in May
pardon me
I'm sorry
you were there
I was
but you didn't fight
no, we just came ... we
we took a walk across the battlefield
we?
Dahlmann and I
I met Heinrich Kleist in 1809 shortly before
the outbreak of the war between France and Austria
he didn't know what to do with himself
in this Napoleonic world
Heinrich!
leave the dead alone!
they're defeated!
Napoleon is defeated!
they're defeated!
here's it's all ???
and there are cart tracks on the riverbank
hey, old man!
did the French pass through here?
the French?
yes, from there to here?
from here to there?
the French?
do you understand?
he misunderstood you
your passport
[Austrian accent]
- are you together?
- together
it's valid
- Frenchmen?
- we're Germans
I'm a German,
I'll read something to you
if you allow me
he's a German poet from Prussia
a former Lieutenant of the Royal Prussian Guards
he's left Prussia
because Prussia doesn't fight against Napoleon
we're enemies of the French
Heinrich, you don't have to read something
they'll understand me
they've shed blood for the fatherland
I'll read a dialog to them
here
on the arch-enemy
question:
who are your enemies, my son?
answer: Napoleon,
and as long as he's their emperor, the French
question: is there nobody else whom you hate?
answer: nobody in the whole world
question: all the same,
when you left school yesterday
you fell out with somebody,
if I'm not mistaken
answer: I, my father?
with whom?
question: with your brother,
you've told me yourself
take him away
answer: yes, with my brother
he didn't ... my bird,
like I told him to
question: so your brother is your enemy,
who did this to you?
not Napoleon, the Corsican,
not the French people he rules
no, my father, what is he saying
answer: I don't know how to answer this
silence!
he can even shout!
question: what do the grown-up
Germans have time for now?
Lieutenant von Kleist from Prussia
but a great admirer of the Austrian Emperor
answer: to restore the empire which has been shattered
question: and the children?
answer: to pray that they may succeed
Herr von Kleist?
I even have something better
if this wasn't to your liking
wait
I only must search for it
here
here
answer:
I am a German
A German? You must be joking.
you were born in Meien
and Meien lies in Saxony
I thought you were a Prussian?
von Kleist?
a relative of the Kleist of Magdeburg?
he mustn't get involved in politics
either he joins the fight
or he's a civilian and a subject
and he's to await his fate
but that's just the point
what makes the Frenchmen superior,
that they're no longer subjects
he's still a friend of the French
we won't decide the matter here
take him to Fieldmarshall Hehler ???
this is the new drama
the Battle of Hermann
[of the Teutoburg Forest]
and those are poems
to the Emperor Franz
to the Archduke Charles
Germania to her children
and this is rather nice
"furry bear and panther beast
- the arrow ... how goes it
- "the arrow has vanquished.
"only for money in the wire trellis
"the young are still on display.
"you no longer see any snakes,
"otters and the like,
"nor the dragon's ghoulish host
"with swollen stomachs.
"only the Frenchman is still around
"in the German Empire.
"brothers, take up the mace
"so that he too shall yield.
nice, nice
splendid
oh you bridegroom of the goddess of victory ...
what's the matter with your friend?
he's dreaming
a dreamer
a dreamer, yes
a poet
and daily, like fir trees before the storm
[Robert Guiskard]
the heads of your faithful sink into the dust
he who fell won't rise anymore
and where he fell, he fell into his grave
he struggles, with infinite ...
Heinrich got us the passport
which bound us like a married couple
Heinrich
during those several days of wandering
we actually permeated each other
took possession of each other
you see him bare his horrible teeth against God and men
against the friend, the brother, father, mother, children,
against even the approaching bride he was raging.
I always think
that you fought in the first campaigns
of the Revolutionary Wars
as Prussian Guards officer
and that you didn't stay with them
what did you say?
you didn't listen
I did
you could have served the fatherland better
yes yes
no no
do you want to die with me?
live, Heinrich
ah
victory or death
the Corporal of the Prussian Guards Regiment
Bernd Heinrich Wilhelm von Kleist
is promoted to Ensign
the Ensign of the Prussian Guards Regiment
Bernd Heinrich Wilhelm von Kleist
is promoted to Second Lieutenant
does he know the penalty for desertion?
I do
and why has he ...
what's the Prussian Army to me!
I wanted to get back to my potato fields
I wanted to get back into bed with my wife
I wanted to see my children
if the Officer knows what I mean
the punishment will teach him
the value of the Prussian Army
they made me drunk
they sewed me into a sack
and when I woke up
I already wore the uniform
that's the Prussian Army!
take him away ???
- my dear Rhl ...
- Ernst von Pfuel, you've been with him a lot lately
more than with us
we hardly see you anymore
don't worry
worry?
why? because of Pfuel?
you're jealous
Herr von Pfuel
- Ernst
- Heinrich
he's from a good family
you don't like him?
but I expect great things of him
he's my friend, like you are
[Mozart - clarinet quintet KV 581]
Heinrich?
I shall never get married
you be a wife to me,
my children, my grandchildren
Ernst
don't throw yourself at fate's feet
it's ungenerous
and it will crush you
let one sacrifice be enough
preserve the ruins of your soul
let them remind us of the lust
and romantic times of our lives
and when one day a good war
calls you to the battlefield ...
your homeland, then go
they will appreciate your value
when the emergency calls to arms
accept my offer
if you don't ...
then I shall feel
that nobody in the world loves me
I want to tell you even more
[but it's not fit for a letter, to Pfuel, 7 Jan. 1805]
Heinrich
you've handed in your resignation
yes I have
yes yes yes
yes
through these observations the soldier's profession
[letter to Martini, 19 March 1799]
which I never liked, became hateful to me
because it carries inside itself
something unnatural to my whole being,
so hateful that by and by it became annoying to me
having to participate in its aims.
The most miraculous feats of military discipline
which are a cause of astonishment
for all connoisseurs,
became subject to my heartfelt contempt;
the officers I took to be only drilling masters,
the soldiers to be only slaves,
and when the entire regiment was performing its routine,
it seemed to me like a living monument to tyranny.
Heinrich
to have a life-plan means
[letter to Ulrike, May 1799]
a voyager who knows the destiny of his voyage
and the road to it
he has an itinerary
what the itinerary is to a voyager,
the life-plan is to a man
to leave for a voyage
without an itinerary
means to expect
that pure chance will lead us to our destiny
which we don't know ourselves
living without a life-plan
means to expect from pure chance
to make us as happy
as we ourselves couldn't imagine
Heinrich!
my soul, you're in Berlin!
my God, Heinrich
I've handed in my resignation
I want to study
but not right now!
how did you know I was here?
I've already been at home
- but when did you set out?
- this morning
without food?
Heinrich!
Heinrich!
what are you writing, Heinrich?
something on physics
for the Zenge girl?
yes
what trouble you're taking for her
wait
I'll read to you what you wrote to me
about her recently
my dear Ulrike
the only company I see daily are the Zenges
[letter to Ulrike, 12 Nov. 1799]
and I would have given up on this company too,
because of my embarrassment,
if I hadn't been resolved
to get rid of this disagreeable emotion
because during my life-path
I'll encounter all sorts of people
and I must be able to make use of everyone of them.
the eldest Zenge girl, Minette
even displays some fine feelings
which are occasionally receptive to beauty
at least, I'm content
when she's listening to me with interest
even though I get nothing from her in return
Heinrich?
yes?
but of all this there remains nothing
once the whole crowd has gathered
one couldn't call their intermingling babblings a conversation
that's her
I'll open the door
good day, Herr von Kleist
I've come to fetch today's composition
what about the composition, Wilhelmine?
won't you read it?
I will
then take it out
Wilhelmine
- yes?
- what are you reading?
- from Herr von Kleist
- what's he saying?
- he says ...
- what is it?
- that the girl ...
- yes yes, what next?
that he's been fondly in love with me for a long time
and that I'd make him happy
by giving him my hand in marriage
aren't you glad?
it feels so strange
what does he want of you this time?
Wilhelmine?
he's such a noble person
with the patience of an angel
read it to me
when a woman is adorable,
it doesn't automatically make her interesting
[letter to Wilhelmine, summer 1800]
and how can a woman obtain and sustain her husband's interest?
don't you know?
go to him and ask him
he's your fianc after all
but he already wrote it
so ... the answer
with interest
it's like with all things on earth
it's not enough
that they were created in Heaven:
He must also sustain them
if they are to last
and nothing needs the most careful nourishment more
than that mysterious thing which produces it,
we don't know how,
and which often disappears again,
we don't know how,
the interest.
and then he goes on and on
he means it more in general
yes I know
but it still hurts
and then there are other questions
he wants me to answer
question:
what is more desirable?
to have been happy for a short time
or never ever?
question:
when the husband uses his brutal right of the stronger
against the wife, with the weapons of violence
doesn't the wife too have a right against the husband?
one might call the right of the weaker
and which she could exercise
with the weapons of meekness
question:
what binds people more to each other
with the bonds of trust,
virtues or weaknesses?
I want to do everything right
what do you say to this?
when a girl is asked
what she demands of a future marriage
in order to be most happy in it,
she must decide first: 1.
what characteristics her future husband should have:
whether he should be extraordinary in mind and body,
or ordinary, and to what degree etc.
furthermore
whether he should be rich, noble etc.
what office he should hold:
whether a military office,
a civilian office, or none at all
none at all?
whether in town or in the country
and how, in each case,
its location ought to be arranged,
whether in the mountains
or on the plains,
or at the seaside, etc.
your composition has been returned
it couldn't be delivered
the Kleists have left
it doesn't matter
we'll send it on
all you did was write to each other anyway
even while he was here
Heinrich laughed ???
my heart is not ???
it is a ??? of my heart
since all this is nothing but a wish
fantasy has its unlimited field of action
and must not bind itself
to any fetters of reality
Pannwitz is dead
Pannwitz with whom you had lessons as a child
he's killed himself
because of melancholia, they say
Heinrich, sir, this is not the carriage
it is a part of my heart ???
we promised each other
we'd die together
children promise each other many things
marriage and death
Butzbach
my horses!
my horses!
so a human life would depend on a donkey's bray
[letter to Wilhelmine, 21 July 1801]
and if it had been terminated
I would have lived for this?
that would have been the Creator's intent,
regarding this dark mysterious earthly life?
hey there
it's nothing
come
I should have learned this, done this,
and nothing else?
from Frankfurt to Potsdam
from Potsdam to Dresden
from Dresden to Leipzig
from Leipzig to Halle
from Halle to Halberstadt
from Halberstadt to Wernigerode
Ilsenburg and Goslar
then ...
then to Gttingen
Kassel
in Butzbach the accident
then Rdesheim
Frankfurt on the Main
Mannheim
Heidelberg
Dorlach
Chalons-sur-Marne
and then ... Paris
a fellow student?
travelling companion
in eight days, without a stop,
we'll make Straburg-Paris, 120 miles
yes, young man
but with a wife, you can't do that
it will be impossible
it's my innate failure
never to be able to grasp the moment
[letter to Adolfine von Werdeck, 29 July 1801]
and to live always in a place
where I'm not at the moment
and in a time which has passed already
or hasn't come yet
when I was staying in my fatherland
I used to be in Paris almost all the time
and now, even though I'm staying in Paris,
I'm almost always in my fatherland
you really are bitten to death?
[Penthesilea]
not kissed to death?
so it was a mistake
kisses, bites,
that's a rhyme
and he who loves dearly
may well take the one for the other
you, my dear sweet bridegroom,
you forgive me
by Diana, I just mistook one word for another
because I wasn't master of the swift lips
but now I'll tell you clearly
how I meant it
this is, beloved, what I meant,
and nothing more, by Jupiter
if you were a man and not my sister
write a letter to Wilhelmine
yes
you really want to ... me, when I was stifling you,
like a dove, quietly
no limb you possess,
out of lust, insatiable Odiana
touched none of your limbs, doing it
will you write to Wilhelmine?
no
I'm writing about you
look, Prothoe, look
the remains of a lip, speak
doesn't it seem to you
as if he were smiling
By Olympos, he's reconciled with me
and that other part,
it's smiling too
so be it, you're right too
your idol,
if you consider everything carefully
I've devoured you out of love
kisses and bites,
that's a rhyme
heart and pains too
come, Heinrich
I attended the 14th of July,
the anniversary the storming of the Bastille
[letter to Karoline von Schlieben, 18 July 1801]
they celebrate on the same day
the feast of regained liberty and peace
I am not sure myself
how such days could be met with dignity,
but this I know:
that there can hardly be
a more undignified fashion.
they didn't lack any obelisks, triumphal arches, decorations,
illuminations, fireworks and aerial balls and cannonades
on the contrary
but none of those efforts
reminded one of the principal idea.
the intention to distract the people's minds
through a nauseating series of pleasures
was predominating
and if the Government had the impudence
to oblige a man of honour to attend,
through the mts de cocagne, the jeux de caroussels,
the thatres forains, the escamoteurs, the danseurs de corde,
to be reminded of the gods' sacred gifts
of freedom and peace,
this would be more insulting
than to hit him in his face with a fist.
c'est bon, la fte, la libert,
regagner de la paix
nous allons vous interprter pour la dernire fois
l'histoire difiante de notre grand Consul
Napolon Bonaparte
la France est enfin enceinte
Ajaccio, une jeune femme ???
et qui sert de ???
met au monde un bel enfant
qui reoit le nom de Napolon
dj l'enfant Napolon est trois personnes
orgeilleux et rvolt
il ne daigne s'associer aux jeux de ses compagnons
que pour ordonner de batailles
la ville de Toulons est occupe par les Anglais
la jeune Rpublique Franaise est en danger
Bonaparte, jeune officier
prend le commandement de l'artillerie
et investit Toulons
il n'a que 24 ans, il est nomm Gnral de Brigade
venu de si lointain
une belle Crole
un produit de Barnabass ???
elle ??? la vie de notre grand soldat
c'est Josphine de Beauharnais
vos papiers, Messieurs
c'est mon frre
son nom est inscrit sur le papier
about Heinrich's and my stay in Paris
I can't say anything but
that we were staying at La Place
and that I accompanied him in male attire
nobody in Paris except the blind flute player
recognized my female sex
and addressed me as Madame
vour jouez comme un dieu
vous tes un veritable artiste,
Monsieur
merci, Madame
c'est pas une dame
c'est un Monsieur
c'est une dame.
I'm as good as a man
there's no great thing in the world
Ulrike wouldn't be capable of
[letter to Adolfine von Werdeck, 29 July 1801]
a noble, wise, generous girl
the soul of a hero
in a woman's body
and I would have no part of all this
if I didn't feel this intensely.
but a person can possess much,
give much
still, one cannot always, as Goethe says,
rest at his bosom.
she's a girl who writes and acts
orthographically,
plays and thinks according to measure,
a being who has nothing feminine
but the hips,
and she never felt
how sweet a handshake can be.
there is no being in the world
I honour as much as my sister,
but what mistake did nature commit
by forming a being who is neither man nor woman,
and like an amphibian
is tossed between the species.
what is remarkable in this creature
is the conflict between the will and the force.
but let's keep silent about it,
it almost sounds like an admonishment,
and even the slightest remark
sounds too bitter for a being
who has no fault but this one:
to be too great for her sex.
Heinrich
if you were a man
then I could talk to you
couldn't you pretend that I am a man?
c'est bien, la maison est pleine
s'il vous plat, vous venez la voir,
c'est celle l-bas
sometimes I walk through the city with open eyes
and see a lot that is ridiculous
[letter to Adolfine von Werdeck, 29 July 1801]
and even more disgusting
and from time to time something beautiful
I walk the long, narrow streets,
covered with excrement and dust,
passing the narrow but high buildings
carrying six floors, as if multiplying space
I wriggle through a crowd of people
who scream, run, push and turn each other,
without taking offense
on my way back I pass through the Palais Royal
where one can meet all Paris
with all its gruesome pleasures
here, every sensual need
can be satisfied to a nauseating degree
every virtue is mocked with abandon
all infamies are committed as if on principle
then it's evening
and I feel a burning desire
to get away from all this
from all those roofs and chimneys
and from all those disgusting things
and to see nothing but the sky all around
but is there a place in this city
where one doesn't see them?
vive la Nation
# vive la vie
# vive l'amour
my dear little Ulrike,
I am worried when I think of your lonely voyage
[letter to Ulrike, 16 Dec. 1801]
perhaps you're writing to me at this moment
that you forgive me everything
because it's your unconquered virtue,
I know, Ulrike,
how unhappy this voyage had to end
which never gave you much pleasure
depuis le temps que tu passes par ici,
regarde, qu'est-ce que c'est que a
et a, qu'est-ce que c'est que a?
- veux-tu me donner le journal que te le demande?
- je ne te donnerais pas, de toute faon, je ne l'ai pas
is he dead?
yes
did Heinrich write?
yes
from Paris?
yes, but he isn't there anymore
he wants to become a farmer
and you a farmer's wife?
yes, that's what he writes
do you want that?
ah
oh you whom I still love above all
[letter to Pfuel, 1 Jan. 1805]
how we flew into each other's arms a year ago
how the world opened up for us,
unlimited
like a race course, trembling
with the desire for the contest on our minds
and now we lie on top of each other
our glances reaching out to the race's finish
which never seemed so brilliant to us
as now
wrapped in the dust of our fall
that you're here!
and I have nothing further to say to you?
[letter to Lohse, 29 Dec. 1801]
ah yes, there is something
but don't worry,
you shall never hear me complain
I want to say farewell to you,
for ever
and while doing this I feel so peaceful
and full of love, like in an hour close to death
I ask for your forgiveness
I know that there is guilt upon my soul too
not an ugly one
but one, this one,
that I didn't honour your goodness according to its dignity
because it wasn't the best
oh forgive me
it's my foolish exalted character
who can never enjoy what's there,
but only what's not there
don't say that God shall pardon me
you pardon me,
it will suit you divinely
I forgive you everything
oh, everything
I don't love you?
how could you ever convince another
that I don't love you!
what else have we been looking for,
on our beautiful path!
wasn't it repose before the passion?
why did it have to be you? why you?
everything in the world was so indifferent to me
even the highest things, so indifferent
how could it happen,
that often I sat down and occupied myself with nonentities
as if my life were at stake
oh, it's disgusting, disgusting
again I feel so bitter, so hostile, so ugly
and yet, you could have enticed all the noble notes
from the instrument which you just tore apart
you know ...
what the old men do
after they have been courting for riches
and lucrative posts for 50 years
they settle down onto a hearth
and cultivate a field
tell me
couldn't one be wiser
and go earlier to that place
where in the end one is bound to go
but that's what we're doing right now
among the Persian magicians
there was a religious law
one couldn't do anything more useful
to the Goddess than this:
to cultivate a field
to father a child
and to plant a tree
you've restored the age of the Greeks in my heart
[letter to Pfuel, 7 Jan. 1805]
I could have slept with you, my dear boy
that much all my soul has been embracing you
I looked at your beautiful body,
when you got into the lake at Thun,
with truly maidenly feelings
your small wiry head
upon a thick neck
a pair of broad shoulders
a sinewy body
the whole an exemplary model of strength
as if you'd been modeled after the most beautiful bull
that ever was bled for Zeus
Now Lycurgus' laws on the love of adolescents
has become clear to me,
through the feelings which you awoke within me
come to me!
I can't
I'll write him that
I can't be a farmer's wife
I'll write him that
... defiled! You must be mad!
[Robert Guiskard]
Do I look like one who's got the plague?
I who stand before you in the fullness of life
I who am in control of each of my limbs
You don't want to drag me, in the bloom of my youth,
to join the putrescent on the field
Heinrich
defiled by the plague's breath
You must be mad, you!
Do I look like one who's got the plague?
I who stand before you in the fullness of life
I who am in control of each of my limbs
defiled by the plague's breath
You must be mad, you!
Good day, Herr von Pfuel
take me across the lake
??? then vintner the would have heard something
??? [Swiss dialect]
on the ???
running up and down
reciting
Ernst
Ernst
Ernst!
Ernst
Ernst
Ernst
I'll come with you
to Geneva
Milano, Paris
wherever you want
we'll get your things
that would be very nice, till death
you've burned the Guiskard, Heinrich
Aeschylus and Shakespeare
your greatest work
Ernst?
Ernst?
this is no good, Herr Kleist
this isn't smooth enough
and you've fined down too much already
but this isn't your true profession
Napoleon has entered Hanover with his troops
or rather, his General Mortier
they say he's now got both kings ???
what do you say to this, Herr Kleist?
I don't know
which side are you on?
I don't know
he's going to abolish serfdom
- yes
- but he's drinking the people's life-blood
that's also true
go home to your family
Herr von Kleist
I don't want to watch you ruin yourself
all those circumstances
[Wieland to Wedekind, 10 April 1804]
his pride, violently pressed down by fate,
his terrible tension,
the eccentricity of his whole life,
he's been moving in restlessly to and fro,
ever since he quitted the army,
his fruitless striving for an unreachable
mirage of perfection,
his Guiscard which has become his ide fixe,
on top of it, his ruined health,
force me to believe that his good genius
gave him the idea to work for a carpenter in Koblenz
allons enfants de la patrie,
le jour de gloire est arriv
contre nous de la tyrannie,
l'tendard sanglant est lev!
L'tendard sanglant est lev!
Entendez-vous dans les campagnes
mugir ces froces soldats?
Ils viennent jusque dans vos bras
gorger vos fils, vos ...
sit down behind me
otherwise, I cannot think
Heinrich!
I'm working on a strange phenomenon
listen to this:
[On the Gradual Production of Thoughts Whilst Speaking]
Often I sit at my desk over the files
and search in a complicated legal suit
for the angle from which it can best be judged.
I usually look towards the light
as the brightest spot I can find,
striving to enlighten my inner being.
And look what happens:
As soon as I talk it over with my sister,
sitting behind me, working,
I realize what I wouldn't have
found out by brooding for hours.
It isn't as if she was telling me herself.
Neither does she lead me to the decisive point
by skillful questioning,
even though the latter case may occasionally occur.
But since I have a vague hunch
which is somehow connected
with what I'm searching for,
then once I have embarked
on the formulation of the thought,
it is as if the need to lead
what has been begun to some conclusion,
transforms my hazy imaginations
into complete clarity in such a way
that my insight is completed
together with my rambling period.
didn't you mention that we're invited
at Wilhelmine's and her husband's tonight?
as you like, Heinrich
she used to be your fiance
she didn't make a bad match
her husband is the successor of Prof. Kant,
after all
Prof. Krug
in return, we've kept you
you're knitting, Wilhelmine?
- my wife is ...
- Wilhelmine?
I've written a play about a woman
who is loved by a man and a god
Amphitryon
Wilhelmine is expecting a child
Heinrich!
we are very happy
aren't we, Wilhelmine?
- your predecessor ...
- Herr Prof. Kant
his philosophy has deeply moved me four years ago
I told Wilhelmine about it
in a letter
I remember
Heinrich
read it, Wilhelmine
she showed me all your letters,
Herr von Kleist
you're quite a brain
one must admit
yes, a brain
if all men had instead of eyes green glasses
[letter to Wilhelmine, 22 March 1801]
then they would have to judge:
the objects they see through them are green
and never would they be able to decide
whether their eyes show them the objects as they are,
or whether they aren't adding something,
belonging not to them, but to the eyes.
Likewise it goes with the intellect:
We cannot know if what we call truth,
is truly the truth
or if it only seems like it.
I was desperate at the time.
those thoughts ...
so my great predecessor has confused
your youthful mind.
I strive towards a good relationship
with my students
and towards happiness at home,
which is ridiculed so often
I hear you belong to the so-called patriots
you have my sympathy
my sympathy, but you see ...
since the Frenchman is in the country
and since even Herr von Goethe
comes to an arrangement with them
"voil un homme!"
he's supposed to have said
so you see:
Bonaparte to Herr von Goethe
after all
"voil un homme"
you're no longer wearing male attire,
Frl. von Kleist?
this way you look a bit more feminine
really more feminine
please, let's have some harmony,
at least in here
this is a fight you're fighting
with other weapons than I do
you possess the language
be silent
so be it
as if my eyelids had been cut off
[Feelings in front of C.D. Friedrich's landscapes of the soul]
the lonely centre
inside a lonely circle
take care, Heinrich,
that they don't arrest you
they're searching for me
they might know
that you're my friend
your friend?
Heinrich stayed for another half year
and then went to Berlin,
accompanied by Pfuel and two other officers
Pfuel parted from then
before they reached Berlin
Heinrich
what shall we do now?
they'd never let him enter Berlin
he hates the French
and they hate him
come
I hate them too
because of him?
because Pfuel hates them?
Napoleon?
the three arrive, are arrested
and taken to France
without having given the slightest reason for arrest
this is our city
we're officers of the Prussian Army,
everybody knows us
je ne comprends rien du tout
il dit que nous sommes des officiers
de l'arme prussienne
que c'est notre ville,
Berlin
et que pour cette raison,
nous n'avons pas de passport
c'tait jamais ncessaire
d'avoir un passport pour nous
vour parlez bien franais
trop bien pour un officier
de l'arme prussienne
il dit qu'il est prussien
mais il parle franais come un Parisien
en plus ils n'ont pas de passports,
parles-leurs
I speak a bit German
you speak German with me
are you German?
we're former officers of the Prussian Army
we've resigned voluntarily
this gentleman is a poet
a German poet
his name!
his name is von Kleist
I want to know from this gentleman
il parle franais comme sa premire langue
s'il est prussien
je suis Galles ???
gentlemen, I hope you understand
that we'll have to arrest you
unfortunately we cannot let you pass
you've no passport, no documents
please don't put up any resistance
je suis un officier prussien
je demande tre trait comme un officier
according to some,
they mistook him for Pfuel
whom the French knew quite well and feared too,
being an important patriot
according to others, he aroused suspicion
because he got embarrassed so easily,
stammering, blushing
had a baby face and in fact,
spoke French more fluently than German
des papiers!
de l'encre!
I want to write!
I want to roll the Ida onto the Ossa
[Penthesilea]
du papier, de l'encre!
when, with golden flaming hair,
Helios flies past my face
flees ... je veux crire!
Mlle de Kleist
I'll get up, travel to Berlin,
go to the French administration and won't rest
until I have freed Heinrich
vous tes courageuse, Mlle de Kleist
il parat que vous aimez votre frre
he isn't a spy
he's a poet
he hasn't done anything against the Emperor
he's been writing
that's all
but the written word is all-powerful
sometimes it is a more powerful weapon
than all the guns
but he isn't successful with his writings
nobody wants to read it
he isn't dangerous
that might be the shortcomings of his readers
so you like his writings?
it is ...
I'd say ...
very German
my dear Mademoiselle
we must consider carefully
whether we can release him from the fortress
according to the report of the commandant
at Fort de Joux, he's busy writing from morning till night
perhaps he's never been so industrious before
and will never be like that again
but this is ...
inhuman!
but true
those prison cells
are like graves
perhaps this is just what he needs
Toussaint Louverture
has died in such a cell
he wasn't a Prussian
like your brother
I'll see to it
that he is released soon
a bit against my convictions
my girl companions
[Penthesilea]
ten thousand suns
to ...
one ...
ball of fire
molten down
molten down
so brilliant
nothing but a victory
my victory over him
M. Kleist
vous tes libre
you girls, approach, with baskets full of roses
[Penthesilea]
where can I find the wreaths for so many brows?
out with you, into the fields
and breath upon the soil to make the roses grow
which spring is yet refusing me,
rush to your office, priestesses of Diana,
open up the temple's gates
let them fly open like the gates of Paradise,
filled with brilliant light and incense
oh let me, Prothoe, let my heart, for two moments,
dive into this stream of lust, like a soiled child
with each break of its splendid waves,
a stain is washed away from my bosom
this is for Heinrich
Heinrich won't come
but he's been released
Heinrich won't come
and he doesn't need cake,
he needs money
he always needs money
well ...
then ...
you should marry, Frl. von Kleist
no!
never!
Heinrich!
what's the matter?
what's happened?
she's dead
she's dead
who is?
who else but Penthesilea
but you've killed her yourself
yes ... indeed
the Erinyes are fleeing, the horrible ones
[Penthesilea]
a storm is raging,
as if the gods were near
I want to join their chorus right now
I never was as ripe for death as now
they say, misfortune purifies the mind
I, beloved, I didn't feel it that way
it made me feel bitter towards gods and men,
revolted me in inexplicable passion
how strange, each joyful face I saw
was hateful to me
the child playing in its mother's lap
seemed to conspire against my pains
how much I want to see everything around me
content and happy
oh Prothoe, a human being can be great,
a hero in suffering
but he's only divine
when he's blessed
Heinrich von Kleist
the greatest poet of the Germans
for his 30th birthday
the father said, before he died:
[The Broken Jug]
listen, Marthe,
find a brave husband for my girl
and if she turns into a wanton whore
then give a penny to the grave digger
and let me turn over with my body
upon my soul, I'm turning in my grave
do you want to honour father and mother,
according to the fourth commandment, my Eve?
speak up then, I let the boot maker into my chamber,
or a third man
but it wasn't the bridegroom
I pity her. Leave the jug, I beg of you
I am to have broken it?
you mean man, shame on you
very well, I broke the jug
phooey, Ruprecht, shame on you
that you didn't trust me
didn't I give you my hand and said "yes"
when you asked for it
"Eve, do you want me?"
Mlle Elsermann is wearing an excellent costume,
Herr von Goethe
tonight's sorbet didn't agree with me
[Saxon accent]
too much lemon - too sour
Weimar - The Prisoner - The Broken Jug
this is really boring, Privy Councilor
exceedingly boring
It always pleases me that you're willing
to promote young talent
but this pitiful ...
who is the insolent person
who dares whistle in my presence
Constable, arrest the fellow
my dear Privy Councilor,
this is getting unprofitable
fortunately, at the Weimar theatre
anything like that hasn't been staged yet
it won't happen again
venerable highborn sir
[letter to Goethe, 24 Jan. 1808]
esteemed Privy Councilor
on my heart's knees I present to you ...
[the play fragment Phoebus]
may the feeling which makes my hands tremble,
compensate for what they are offering
may the feeling which makes my hands tremble,
compensate for what they are offering
on my heart's knees I present to you ...
on my heart's knees
on my heart's knees
I'll ... I'll challenge him to a duel
even though he's a civilian
and not noble
I'll challenge him
it's his fault
he's turned one act into three
he's destroyed everything
you're unfair, Heinrich
no, it's his jealousy
but I'll tear the laurel wreath from his head
Heinrich!
serve him my challenge
I won't
but I'll leave you alone
you're unfair and ungrateful
I have a right to criticize him
because I've raised him and loved him
but either his development has been disturbed
by the times, as has happened to many
or whatever other reason there may be
enough
he doesn't keep his promise
the Kleist of the Broken Jug
has a lapidary style
somehow clipped,
with much humour, wit and a bit of talent,
he's amusing himself
without having the slightest idea
how others feel about it
exactly
the Berlin Evening News
a cent for the Nation
editor: Heinrich von Kleist
the Berlin Evening News
a cent for the Nation,
editor: Heinrich von Kleist
In the last issue I read the story
of the brandy tippler and the bells of Berlin
pomegranates ... pomegranates
caraway ... caraway ... caraway
that was first class, first class
what's the Lieutenant busy writing?
still the play?
true, a sun
[Prinz Friedrich von Homburg]
people are saying
is also shining there
and over more colourful fields than ours.
I believe it
only a pity that the eye is rotting
that is supposed to look upon such splendor.
My, Lieutenant, that's beautiful
and there's a lot of truth in it too
but the parson would call it profane
who's talking like this
in the drama?
a Prince of Prussia
oh
the Court won't appreciate it
do you really think so?
I do
good workmanship
when I die, you may have it
Heinrich
sit down
so this is the gentleman your brother
yes
I've come to say farewell
Heinrich always comes only to say farewell
or when he needs money
you do need money,
don't you, Heinrich?
I do
so you still haven't entered a proper profession yet?
I ... I'll take up an office again
what would he do
if it weren't for the family
and in a higher sense,
the great family of our Prussian fatherland
who also takes a lost son
to her bosom
and even slaughters a calf for him
just listen to her, Heinrich
we all have supported you long enough
it's high time for a change
it will change very soon
the good roast
it mustn't be wasted
Herr von Kleist
I thought you were with your sister
in Frankfurt
I've done a few errands
you still want to?
I've done an errand too
I've had it made for Vogel
his birthday will be three days later
and he shouldn't go empty-handed, after all
then all preparations have been met
yes
yours ever, Henriette
and we'll proceed as agreed
III miles from Berlin
# the dawn shines upon my early death
# soon the trumpet will sound
# then I will have to part from life
# I and some comrade
# hardly imagined, hardly imagined
# there was an end prepared to lust
# only yesterday sitting on proud horses
# today shot through the chest
# tomorrow into the cool grave
# oh how soon, oh how soon
# beauty and shape will vanish
# are you proud of your cheeks
# shining like milk and purple
# ah, the roses will all fade
hey! hey!
they shot themselves
tell the master to call the police
Anna!
let your wife carry them
go on with your search
but this is all
take it to the table
don't touch them,
they might still be loaded
I suppose he knows about pistols
it's still loaded
here you are,
there's no more danger
a man like him
used to be an Ensign in Mainz
his name had an L, Leih ...
but I may be wrong
do you have a statement to make
for the police?
by God, no,
only that the pistol on the table was loaded
the two corpses lay 100 yards from the road,
to the left
near the so-called Little Wannsee,
on a hillock
which is covered with trees at its noon side
the male person
a coat of brown cloth
a white muslin waistcoat
pants of grey cloth
and round soft boots
the mouth covered slightly with blood
the female person
in a white cambric dress
over it with a coat of blue cloth
dressed
and a blood spot
the size of a Thaler
below the left breast
on her dress
which at this spot
seems to be burnt
name?
Ribisch
Johann Friedrich
tell me what you know
thus I saw the two strangers
who shot themselves here on 21. November
right after their arrival on 20. November,
I saw them here myself
because the landlord ordered me
to make a fire in their room
after that, I didn't see anything of them
except on the afternoon of 21. November
when I met them on the path
the dress is brand new, Heinrich
I've had it especially made
what if one is dead and smells of manure?
please move aside
how silly you are
but try to understand, Heinrich
for you such things are unimportant
thank you
just imagine the foolishness
the two people want to have coffee up there
in November
I guess the people are paying for it
that's what I said to her and ...
went my way
Your Grace ???
your turn will be later
careful
what will happen to them?
they'll be cut up
to see what's inside
Jesus!
proceed
shortly afterwards my wife called me
and asked me to help her
carry table and chairs to the lake
I took the table,
my wife the chairs
and carried them up the hillock
where the two strangers stood still
yes, that's right
one might almost call it festive
in fact, I've rarely seen two people
who were so friendly with each other
like those two on the hill
they kept on calling each other
"my child, my dear child"
and were extraordinarily cheerful
old man, tell the landlord
to fill this bottle with rum
my dear child, do you want to drink more rum,
haven't you had enough?
my dear child, if you don't want to,
then I don't want either
leave it, old man,
don't bring us anything
wife, take away the dishes
but you haven't had any milk
drink it, just drink it
just look at her milky beard
little mother, here's the cup
take it with you, wash it out and bring it back
thank you very much,
madam, sir
and now farewell
May the Heaven grant you
a serene and fresh morning
a shower of rain
during the heat of noon
and a quiet cool star-filled evening
under which one can fall asleep
softly and easily
Heinrich Kleist
Heinrich