| Author(s) | Karl Marx |
|---|---|
| Written | August 1876 |
MARX TO JENNY LONGUET
IN HASTINGS
[Karlsbad, end of August- beginning of September 1876]
My Darling,
I was delighted to see from your letters, one of which unfortunately went astray, that your health has improved and that Hastings is suiting the fine little chap[1] and that he already has a presence of his own. Macte puer vitute![2]
Here we jog along from day to day, as mindlessly as the cure demands if it is to be successful. Latterly we have virtually ceased our excursions into the mountain forests owing to the sharply changing weather,—now April showers, now a cloudburst, then sunshine again. But the cold that suddenly set in after the prolonged heat is now quite gone again.
We have made many acquaintances of late—aside from a few Poles, mostly German university professors and doctors of other descriptions.
Everywhere one goes one is plagued with the question: 'What do you think of Wagner?' It is highly typical of this latter-day Prusso-German imperial court musician that he, plus wife (the one who was divorced from Bülow), plus the cuckold Bülow, plus their mutual father-in-law Liszt, should all four be living together harmoniously in Bayreuth, cuddling, kissing and adoring one another, and generally enjoying themselves. If, moreover, one reflects that Liszt is a Roman monk and Madame Wagner (first name Cosima) his 'natural' daughter by Madame d'Agoult (Daniel Stern)—what better Offenbachian libretto could one possibly conceive than this family group with its patriarchal relationships? Or again, the goings-on of the said group might—like the Nibelungen 19°—be made the theme of a tetralogy.
I hope, dear child, that I shall find you well and happy. Give Longuet my best regards and my little grandson a dozen kisses from his GRANNY.
Adio