" In order to see her, he took the cross and journeyed
across the sea; he fell ill on the ship and was carried ashore in a
dying condition. The countess, on hearing of his great love, hastened to
the inn where he lay. As she entered his room, Jaufre regained
consciousness; he knew her at once and died happily in her arms. She was
so touched by his love that she henceforth renounced the world.--This
story is no fairy tale; it is well attested and universally accounted
genuine to-day. Jaufre's love, expressed in touching poems, was no
_amour de tete_, as it is sometimes called, but a genuine _amour de
coeur_, a purely spiritual love which asked nothing of the beloved
woman but permission to love her. There are other instances, and even in
later times it is not an infrequent occurrence in the case of
imaginative people (I need only mention Buerger and Klopstock).
We men of the present age look upon this eccentric woman-worship with
uncomprehending eyes. Perhaps we shall feel a little less bewildered
when we meet it, stripped of courtly theories and mediaeval fashions, in
some of the great men who are closely connected with our own period; in
Michelangelo, in Goethe, and in Beethoven.
Pages:
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236