Heinrich Page #4

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of the Revolutionary Wars

as Prussian Guards officer

and that you didn't stay with them

what did you say?

you didn't listen

I did

you could have served the fatherland better

yes yes

no no

do you want to die with me?

live, Heinrich

ah

victory or death

the Corporal of the Prussian Guards Regiment

Bernd Heinrich Wilhelm von Kleist

is promoted to Ensign

the Ensign of the Prussian Guards Regiment

Bernd Heinrich Wilhelm von Kleist

is promoted to Second Lieutenant

does he know the penalty for desertion?

I do

and why has he ...

what's the Prussian Army to me!

I wanted to get back to my potato fields

I wanted to get back into bed with my wife

I wanted to see my children

if the Officer knows what I mean

the punishment will teach him

the value of the Prussian Army

they made me drunk

they sewed me into a sack

and when I woke up

I already wore the uniform

that's the Prussian Army!

take him away ???

- my dear Rhl ...

- Ernst von Pfuel, you've been with him a lot lately

more than with us

we hardly see you anymore

don't worry

worry?

why? because of Pfuel?

you're jealous

Herr von Pfuel

- Ernst

- Heinrich

he's from a good family

you don't like him?

but I expect great things of him

he's my friend, like you are

[Mozart - clarinet quintet KV 581]

Heinrich?

I shall never get married

you be a wife to me,

my children, my grandchildren

Ernst

don't throw yourself at fate's feet

it's ungenerous

and it will crush you

let one sacrifice be enough

preserve the ruins of your soul

let them remind us of the lust

and romantic times of our lives

and when one day a good war

calls you to the battlefield ...

your homeland, then go

they will appreciate your value

when the emergency calls to arms

accept my offer

if you don't ...

then I shall feel

that nobody in the world loves me

I want to tell you even more

[but it's not fit for a letter, to Pfuel, 7 Jan. 1805]

Heinrich

you've handed in your resignation

yes I have

yes yes yes

yes

through these observations the soldier's profession

[letter to Martini, 19 March 1799]

which I never liked, became hateful to me

because it carries inside itself

something unnatural to my whole being,

so hateful that by and by it became annoying to me

having to participate in its aims.

The most miraculous feats of military discipline

which are a cause of astonishment

for all connoisseurs,

became subject to my heartfelt contempt;

the officers I took to be only drilling masters,

the soldiers to be only slaves,

and when the entire regiment was performing its routine,

it seemed to me like a living monument to tyranny.

Heinrich

to have a life-plan means

[letter to Ulrike, May 1799]

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