[...] I am working industriously, and think I shall have finished the poem of my Valkyrie in a fortnight. Then I absolutely must have a holiday. I need the recreation of travel, and also I would very much rather not finish my last big poetic work here, where the monotony of the familiar environment oppresses me and where I am so often thrown into a bad mood by tiresome visits. I must get into the Alps and I would like at least to nibble at the frontiers of Italy and stay there for a little. But I cannot afford such extravagances out of my ordinary income. [...]
My Valkyrie (first drama) is turning out awfully beautiful! Even before the end of the summer I hope to be able to lay the entire poem of the tetralogy before you. I shall be able to polish off the music very quickly and easily, for it is only the carrying out of what is complete already. [...]
Source: Letters of Richard Wagner, Vol. 1, selected and ed. Wilhelm Altmann, trans. M. M. Bozman (J. M. Dent & Sons, 1927), No. 221