he
most beautiful species of idealism in our day. 'Tis finely
manifested in Wallenstein, where the two common men sum up
their superficial observations on the life and doings of
Wallenstein, and show that, not until this agitating crisis,
have they caught any idea of the deep thoughts which shaped
that hero, who has, without their feeling it, moulded _their_
existence.

'"Tasso," says Rousseau, "has predicted my misfortunes. Have
you remarked that Tasso has this peculiarity, that you cannot
take from his work a single strophe, nor from any strophe
a single line, nor from any line a single word, without
disarranging the whole poem? Very well! take away the strophe
I speak of, the stanza has no connection with those that
precede or follow it; it is absolutely useless. _Tasso
probably wrote it involuntarily, and without comprehending it
himself_."

'As to the impossibility of taking from Tasso without
disarranging the poem, &c., I dare say 'tis not one whit more
justly said of his, than, of any other narrative poem. _Mais,
n'importe_, 'tis sufficient if Rousseau believed this. I found
the stanza in question; admire its meaning beauty.

'I hope you have Italian enough to appreciate the singular
perfection in expression. If not, look to Fairfax's Jerusalem
Delivered, Canto 12, Stanza 77; but Rousseau says these lines
have no connection with what goes before, or after; _they are
preceded_, stanza 76, by these three lines, which he does not
think fit to mention.'

* * * * *

"Misero mostro d'infelice amore;
Misero mostro a cui sol pena e degna
Dell' immensa impieta, la vita indegna."

"Vivro fra i miei tormenti e fra le cure,
Mie giuste furie, forsennato errante.
Paventero l'ombre solinghe e scure,
Che l'primo error mi recheranno avante
E del sol che scopri le mie sventure,
A schivo ed in orrore avro il sembiante.
Temero me medesmo; e da me stesso
Sempre fuggendo, avro me sempre appresso."

LA GERUSALEMME: LIBERATA, C. XII. 76, 77.

TO R.W.E.

'_Dec._12, 1843.--When Goethe received a letter from Zelter,
with a handsome superscription, he said. "Lay that aside; it
is Zelter's true hand-writing. Every man has a daemon, who is
busy to confuse and limit his life. No way is the action of
this power more clearly shown, than