a foothold, and have settled down to work. If I consider it
rightly, all my intended action can only have the object of
enabling me to hold out till the completion of my work. But for
that very reason I can DO nothing; all must be done by OTHERS. On
that account I latterly again felt the liveliest desire to obtain
my amnesty, and thus to gain free access to Germany. In that case
I might at least be active in helping on the performances of my
operas. I might at last produce "Lohengrin" myself, while as it
is I torture myself for the sake of it. The most necessary thing
for the moment seems to me to repair the Leipzig disaster; I was
on the point of venturing there without passport and of
endangering my personal liberty (good God! "liberty!" What
irony!). In calmer moments I intended to write to the King of
Saxony, till this also appeared quite useless and even
dishonourable to me. Then again, as lately as last night, I
thought of writing to the Grand Duke to explain my new situation
to him and to ask him for his energetic intercession at Dresden.
But this morning early I came to think that this also would be in
vain, and probably you agree with me. Where can ENERGY and real
WILL be found? Everything has to be done by halves, quarters, or
even tenths or twelfths, a la X.

So I sit down again, cross my arms, and surrender myself to pure,
unalloyed SUFFERING. I can do nothing, except create my
"Nibelungen"; and even that I am unable to do without great and
energetic help.

My dearest, my only friend, listen. I CAN do nothing unless
others do it for me. The sale of the rights of my operas must be
brought about, unless I am to free myself from my situation by