My Minna!
I have just read your letter; both my last ones you may have already received; perhaps you are now on your journey with Amalie, which would be the best, although this letter would miss you; or perhaps you are still in Dresden; I hope that you are at least getting ready to start; if you are still hesitating, my wife, may God give strength to my lines to spur you quickly on your way and prevent every hour of delay. Forget everything, my poor wife, I take no heed of the past, no heed of the present, nothing—nothing any more—only one burning desire, one longing is still alive in my heart; I count every minute until I can hold you in my arms. How am I to wait until then? I am sick again, with no one to take care of me! Keep warm, both of you, only love me, hurry, and come soon! That long, miserable trip! Just see what silly stuff I am turning out in my emotion and joy, nice, silly stuff, and I am weeping all the time. You found me worthy of your limitless good faith, you smoothed out every wrinkle of care, which hid so much misery and pain, and do I deserve it? No: in return I can give you limitless faithfulness, nothing more. See what you can do with it! But to do this you must come here—how often have I had to say this!
You are not listening to me, you are supposing that I haven't given much thought to how we can live here? When I rented my lodgings (for a year) I first took note of both large rooms, the kitchen so that you may sometimes prepare for me something in the evening, a Bratwurst or a bit of pancake, or a cheesecake, and now I have rented an apartment for Amalie right by the staircase of our home. So she will be close by if we ever want to stuff ourselves. But a year from now we'll be sure to rent a large apartment where we may all squat together, and if Amalie tries any nonsense she'll catch it, won't she? So, wrap her up well so that she doesn't leave her voice somewhere on the road, for here you don't get anything forwarded; that's also why you must bring our things with you from Königsberg. So, obey all my instructions, even if you can't stand old Möller. This is the only way to get our things here. You can also give a piece of your mind to old Karl. Have the carriage come right to the door here on the broad Schmiede Strasse at the house of the wine dealer, Zau (don't begin to think that I tipple!!). There you inquire after the bad and incompetent Kapellmeister. Bring along the beds too, for they are devilishly expensive here. We will cut them apart; yes, that's what we'll do. What else shall I write about—my Minna, I'd better stop, for nothing comes out but nonsense. I am quite crazy; Minna's coming back, Minna's coming back! And what a wonderful letter she wrote to me! How true, frank, just, and, my God, how unhappy! You poor, poor Minna—don't cry, good Gnaugust; I also bought two black poodles with white muzzles, since we have no children yet, but when children come the two black poodles must leave, mustn't they? For wouldn't that make too many poodles? I suppose you will have enough money for the trip? I will call the two black poodles Dreck and Speck, don't you agree? Wrap yourselves up warmly. And now, in heaven's name, let me stop, I can't sit still on the sofa any longer; I must do a bit of dancing around the room.
My God, come, come! Pay good tips, or I shall go crazy. Forgive all this nonsense, it's your fault, your fault, just wait till I—no, no, come and don't wait, come, come, my dear own wife, to your
Richard W. W. W. W. W. W.
Don't worry about my debts—we'll come to an understanding with them—how, you will learn!
A day later: The mail doesn't leave until today, so I am adding a few words. Excuse my unworthy manner of answering your letter yesterday, your letter which I read so many times, which bears so much pain. My Minna, what experiences we went through, what trials of our love! Think of the last three years of our life, and what obstacles we met, and see, now our love is revived again, new and youthful. Oh, Love is of godlike descent after all! Come to me, my wife, let me heal your wounds; let this be the task of my love. My heart is so full of you, my poor angel, I bear you so firmly and warmly in my bosom, so you must come into my arms too, let us each protect and care for the other, and we shall never die, we shall live united—forever. O Minna, a man capable of such a love as mine could never be a bad man. Don't listen to strange people any longer. See, my child, you have experienced many things and I understood every part of your letter; you ask for forgiveness and ask me to forget completely. So you see, you look upon me as a good man. Oh, how honored I feel by this confidence, how I thank you for it! I can thank you only for your love, your confidence; let's each forgive the other, as we both deserve. Ah, my Minna, I could never be unfaithful to you!
Now, let us see how much we can make up for the happiness we have missed. We should have learned by now that we need it. Care well for Amalie, she has been our Angel. If we are happy again, we owe it to her alone. All honor to her, she has finely fulfilled her pledge. God bless you both and grant you a good journey. Farewell, my dear, dear wife, soon in the faithful arms of your
Richard
Source: Letters of Richard Wagner: The Burrell Collection, ed. John N. Burk (Macmillan, 1950), No. 20