Page:The Works of J. W. von Goethe, Volume 5.djvu/49

Rh As we were ascending the adjacent Wasenburg also, I paid my respects to a well-preserved inscription, which discharged a thankful vow to Mercury, and is situated upon the great mass of rock which forms the base of the hill on one side. The fortress itself lies on the last mountain, looking from Bitsch toward Germany. It is the ruin of a German castle built upon Roman remains. From the tower the whole of Alsace was once more surveyed, and the conspicious minster-spire pointed out the situation of Strasburg. First of all, however, the great forest of Hagenau extended itself: and the towers of this town peered plainly from behind. I was attracted thither. We rode through Reichshof, where Von Dieterich built an imposing castle: and after we had contemplated from the hills near Niedermoder the pleasing course of the little river Moder, by the forest of Hagenau, I left my friend on a ridiculous coal-mine visitation, which, at Dutweil, might have been a somewhat more serious business; and I then rode through Hagenau, on the direct road—already indicated by my affection—to my beloved Sesenheim.

For all these views of a wild mountain region, and then, again, of a cheerful, fruitful, joyous land, could not rivet my mind's eye, which was directed to an amiable, attractive object. This time, also, the way thither seemed to me more charming than its opposite, as it brought me again into the neighbourhood of a lady to whom I was heartily devoted, and who deserved as much respect as love. But, before I lead my friends to her rural abode, let me be permitted to mention a circumstance which contributed very much to enliven and heighten my affection, and the satisfaction it afforded me.

How far I must have been behindhand in modern literature, may be gathered from the mode of life which I led at Frankfort, and from the studies to which I had devoted myself; nor could my residence in Strasburg