Cosima's Diaries

Diary Entry of April 18, 1871

Overview

Richard's sudden shivering fit in Bayreuth turns the night into one of alarm and medical uncertainty. The doctor is amused and astonished to discover that his patient is the famous Richard Wagner, while Richard answers with characteristic irony. As Richard improves in bed, Cosima reads Goethe to him and receives Frau Raila, linking illness, travel, and war memory.

Content

Tuesday, April 18:

Terrible night of worry and alarm. R. wakes up suddenly with fits of shivering; I send for the doctor, who is pensive, wants to wait and see how it goes, but cannot help laughing and saying: “The things that can happen to one! Who could have told me that I should this night be making the acquaintance of R. Wagner?”

As he came in, he asked, “Are you the Richard Wagner, I mean the particular R. Wagner?” Whereupon R.: “If you mean the one who has written such pretty things, yes, I am he.”

R. gets somewhat better, but has to stay in bed. I read Goethe’s Italian Journey to him and receive a visit from Frau Raila, whose husband is a captain and was wounded at Sedan.