Now, my dear Hans, a friendly word to you! - I have just written to the King to tell him that I am now remaining here. To you I say that it is here that I shall complete what will be of benefit to us all. I am in good spirits: you should be, too! Fate has brought us together in the strangest way. Though we berate the “fool”, he none the less belongs to us, and will never be able to break free of us. All we need now is a little patience. If we can obtain from him all that he has promised me - intelligible to my innermost self - , just think what an unprecedented and unhoped-for miracle that will be! There is nothing in the whole history of the world that could compare with this prize for its significance. You, too, know that! And so - be patient! And the signs are good! I have written to him again today, demanding that, by way of making a start on his involvement, he should honour and reward you with his unconditional recognition. I shall see from this whether he is serious. - And so - let us persevere: the prize, if we gain it, is immense. But you must make it possible for me, too, to persevere. I have rented a beautifully situated and spacious villa on Lake Lucerne for a year. My only thought in doing so was that you will live with me here for as long as is possible. For only if you grant me my wish can I bear to be torn away any longer from such good conditions. If you do not grant me my wish, it will all be quite pointless; I shall fall prey to disquiet, which would be fatal to the fulfilment of all my remaining plans. And so, my dear friend, listen!! - My house has 3 floors. The bottom floor with its salon etc. belongs to you — the middle floor to me - the top one to the children and servants. In this way we can live together without disturbing each other in the slightest. My income - more especially since the death of my wife - is perfectly sufficient to provide for everything necessary to support a relatively large family with ease and decency. And so I invite you most earnestly and sincerely to visit me here with your wife, children and servants, to live with me here in the villa, and to be so kind as to put up with my simple hospitality. If you grant me my request, you will contribute in the greatest way possible, nay in the only way possible, to my welfare and the welfare of my work - and of my future activities. Arrange things as you wish, come and go, remain just as you like, but from this spring onwards - as long as is possible - regard my house as your house - my establishment as your establishment, as the domestic base of whatever operations you may be planning. -
Hans! You’ll grant my request? - Of course you will! For you know that I love you, and that - apart from my dizzying, but wonderful relationship with this young King - nothing, but nothing binds me to life as much as you and your family. That - you know! -
You have my profound thanks and proof of my joy at your stalwart labours. You have proved yourself - no doubt about it! Are we not bound to become a thing of wonder in the eyes of the world? And you see, what is so splendid about him is that he understands this wonder. And so we must not break this noble spell. It exists to bring happiness to us all! -
“Midsummer day! Midsummer day!” Hans Sachs - Hans Bülow. - Hansomely does it! - Fare you well, and be infinitely good to me - alors - Sire, vous faites bien! -
Yours,
Richard W.
Source: Selected Letters of Richard Wagner, trans. and ed. Stewart Spencer and Barry Millington (W. W. Norton & Company, 1988), No. 347