The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-09-02
GOETHE's LOVES.
The Women who Influenced His Life
and Works

great man, and the approaching 150th an
niversary of his birth will draw out many
expressions OF. opinion. Much might BE-
written on the subject Of his relations with
women, and the final judgment depends
entirely upon the judge. Not all the wo-
men who influenced him were the women
whom he loved or protested to love. The
eternal womanly' had constant charm
for him, and he was never afraid to yield
himself TO it.
When Johann Wolfgang Won Goethe was
born. Aug. Is, 1749 his mother was but Is
years Old. twenty years The junior or her
stern and dignifed husband. Neither her
family, TeXtOr by name nor her nus
bands was aristocratic. There was
tailor ancestor on both sides, yet Goethes
grandfather Textor had been an Imperial
councillor and magistrate at Frankfort
and the family had money enough 70 give
it considerable importance.
Traits of GOethe's Father.
Goethe's father had studied law. and had
even practiced it at Wetzler, and had not
only inherited wealth, but attained Ger
tain social position. He had the respect
Of all who knew him, if not always their
affection for his stern and imperlous
manner was sometimes a little forbidding
y rom Nun yOuA5 w O4ASdAiS AiAAiNA'e0NA
imDeriousness as well as his love OF order
and his zeal for learning. His poetic hre
seems to have come rather from mis- moth
er and his Imagination was early s,lmu-
| lated by the wonderful fairy stories Wh'ch
| she was in the habit of telling him.
From her, too, probably came his love
| Of beauty and aversion to ugliness- He
was only 8 years old when he cried on
seeing a very homely child That black
| child must go away. l cannot pear her'
! Four brothers and sisters of young George
! died early Only one sister, CorneHa' gre"
| to womanhood lie was devoted to her
| and to his mother. the charming Frau
| Ala" as her friends called her. Her let
! tiers to-day are delightful reading, and to
| the end of a long life she retained the
| love of all who knew her. She was
good friend and by no means selfish, yet
| so unwilling was she to look on anything
! but the most cheerful side of life that the
| family never mentioned anything painful
! 10 her. once even when her son was seri-
| ously i'll nothing was said to her on the
| subject until the crisis was passed and his
| recovery was certain.
Young Goethe PrecOciOus.
The poets early education was carried on
! privately under the eye of his father He
| had mastered Latin at s. he made great
| progress before that time in Greek, he
| picked up Italian from hearing his father
| teach his sister Cornelia, and he learned
| considerable French from the soldiers
quartered in Fraukfort-for a time in his
| fathers house-during the seven years
war English was added to his repertory
before he was u and Hebrew at about the
| same time.
lie had a certain amount of artistic tai
ent, and always thought that he might
| have been an artist. He received cOnsid-
| cradle instruction i'm drawing and painting
and even as a boy had many friends
| among artists but undoubtedly the art in
which his genius could best express it.
self was poetry. Would his poetry,
some may ask, "have been as great if he
had had fewer love affairs?' Certainty
from his earliest years his heart was very
susceptible.
His First Love.
He was not quite Is when he fell deep
" in love with a beautiful girl three years
his senior Of humble station. This Crotch
en- was the sister of a young man whose
acquaintance he had made without the
knowledge of his family. He and his
companions were hardly the associates fol
a carefully reared boy like young Goethe
Later. when some of the group got into
trouble on account of forgeries commit.
| ted by one of the number, Goethe's Sc
date father was greatly disturbed by
learning of his sons intimacy with per.
sons so far outside of his circle. As tC
Gretchen (who seems to have been a thor
oughly good girD the halo which the lac
had set on her head fell away when she
made her deposition regarding her connec
ton with the forgeres. In mentioning
Goethe she said: Il will not deny that
have often see him, and seen him witt
pleasure, but 1 treated him as q child
and my affection was merely that of &
sister"
Poor Goethel The boy of 10 years wep
tears of Modification at hearing this con
fession and as rapidly as possible pu
aside the memory of the woman whom h,
had regarded as his first love.
His Attachment for 'I<atchen."
In 1865 he went to Leipsic, and Their,
at the house where he boarded he form
ed an attachment for Anna Katrina Schon
kopf a vivacious girl, two or three year
his senior. He soon learned that she wa
betrothed to DR.. kanne, also his friend
and the conflict of emotions produced b,
this knowledge was very severe. "Katch
en- as he called her, may have coquet
ted with him. but his letters to her III
to the time of her marriage are full o
affection.
About this time young Goethe had tn
strange eXperience-told at some length il
his autobiOgraphy-with the daughters o
his dancing master. Lucinda was the ED
er of these girls, Emilia the younger. Tn
former had fallen in love with the hand
some young man, the latter was the on
in whom he felt the most interest. On
day, when ne fingered after his lesson
he inquired for Emilia and Lucinda toll,
him that she was in another room, wher
a fortune teller was telling her fate witt
cards. She added that Emilia was aux
ous over q e affair, mentioning at tn
same time that her sister was betrothed
"As to myself" she added, II am free
but it is my lot to be despised'
Goethe was somewhat embarrassed b,
this frank remark, and when the fortune
teller came along persuaded Lucinda {,
have her fortune told. you love- was tn
verdict land you are not loved. Between
you and him 1 see a third person, who sep
arates you"
A Comedy of Errors.
Although another reading of the card
was more favorable. Lucinda was mucl
overcome and rushed away in tears. !
few days later, when Goethe called, Emili
told him that her sister was i'll. Then
when he made one or two pointed remark