#hoffmannposting

Poor Johannes had been generally regarded as insane for some time, and to be sure, his doings and dealings, particularly his artistic activities, contrasted so sharply with all that is held to be reasonable and proper, that his mental disintegration could hardly be doubted. His thought-processes became increasingly eccentric and disjointed. Shortly before his flight from the town, for example, he spoke frequently about the ill-fated love of a nightingale for a purple carnation, although the whole affair (according to him) was nothing but an adagio, and this in turn was actually a single long-held note sung by Juliet, which transported Romeo, filled with love and happiness, to the highest heaven. He finally disclosed to me that he was resolved upon death, and intendedfift stab himself in the nearest forest with an augmented fifth.