[34] When, in his thirty-sixth year, Goethe renewed his acquaintance with Oeser, he wrote of him to Frau von Stein: "C'est comme si cet homme ne devroit pas mourir, tant ses talents paroissent toujours aller en s'augmentant."
[35] Werke, Briefe, Band i. 179.
[36] In later years he consoled himself with the reflection that the time he had spent on the technicalities of art was not wholly lost, as he had thus acquired powers of observation which were valuable to him both as a poet and as a man of science.
[37] Werke, Briefe, Band i. 67.
[38] Ib. p. 88.
[39] Notably in his paper, entitled Literarischer Sansculottismus. See above, p. [4]. Regarding Lessing he made this remark to Eckermann (February 7th, 1827): "Bedauert doch den ausserordentlichen Menschen, dass er in einer so erbärmlichen Zeit leben musste, die ihm keine bessern Stoffe gab, als in seinen Stücken verarbeitet sind!"
[40] "Lessing war der höchste Verstand, und nur ein ebenso grosser konnte von ihm wahrhaft lernen. Dem Halbvermögen war er gefährlich." (To Eckermann, January 18th, 1825.)
[41] Nine of these Lieder Goethe thought worthy of a permanent place in his collected works.
[42] This play was based on an earlier attempt made in Frankfort.
[43] The exact time and place of its composition is uncertain, but Goethe's own testimony seems to indicate that it was mainly written in Leipzig, in 1769. It was first published in 1787, with some modifications, which affect only the form.