Thursday, January 24:
R. is still disturbed at night. But he works with enjoyment.
At lunch he tells me, “I shall alter the words den Erlöser, den ihr preist into Liebes-Geist, der euch speist, for den ihr preist is flat, it is there just for the sake of the rhyme.”
Our final words yesterday had to do with the Godhead; I: “I must believe in it: my unworthiness and my happiness lead me to believe.” He: “The first part, your unworthiness, you can cross out; Godhead is Nature, the will which seeks salvation and, to quote Darwin, selects the strongest to bring this salvation about.”
At lunch we admired once again the objectivity of Shakespeare’s genius; Henry V, hero and model, thoroughly unsympathetic. His Lancaster instinct makes him feel he should appear better than he is, and he leads a wild life purposely, as it were, in order to make an impression. The ending of Henry V, with its marriage scene, incredible in its veracity.
If only R. could sleep well again at night! We ate alone together upstairs, both lunch and supper. We start The Heart of Midlothian by W. Scott and find much enjoyment in it. R. tells me of the alteration in his text, now fixed. When I wish him a very good night, he says he is all contentment now, and little disturbances do not affect him.