TO HIS PARENTS

(Translated from the German)

Darmstadt: June 18, 1836, 10 A.M.

Beloved Parents,–Late last night I arrived here, at last, and already I feel compelled to sit down and have a little chat with you; I hope it may do me good; I then can see you standing before me and the hateful distance that separates us disappears. As the ship took me away from you, and as I gradually lost sight of you, then I first fully realised how hard the parting was; it seemed, and it still seems, like a sad dream that I shall not see you, my dear ones, for such a long time, and it will be long before I get accustomed to the reality. As you stood motionless on the bridge, looking after me, it seemed impossible that I should see you and not be near you. I felt as if I must break away and fly to you, as if I could never separate myself from you; I should have liked to have waved my hand, but I could not move, and I had to bite my lips not to cry aloud and expose my tenderest feelings to the ridicule of those around me. As you disappeared from my sight, I was obliged to sit down, my knees trembled so; I saw and heard nothing more.