Where should I look if I wish to seek out the source of grace at the end of this year from which I was able to draw all my prosperity this time once again? I only have to look for it in you, I can only look to you; there where you sit enthroned, my salvation lives! – So now you also hover above me, the contemplative, as the depiction of my living room shows you, where you gaze down upon me in a friendly, encouraging way when I look thoughtfully out into the “world” from my working desk. – May it not be held against me, most loving one, that I attempted to supplement the written description of my dwelling, which you had so graciously requested previously, with these pages[i] that I was so bold as to send to you for the Christmas table. How I long for a reassuring word on this matter too! But it seems that a king wishes to speak to us only through the granting of favours: so it happened once again, when the dear Christ child brought me such a rich and noble gift from my king! How infinitely kind, tender and affectionate you always are, my beloved friend! Need I worry at times about the fact that I am placing too heavy a weight upon your grace, upon your remembrance, yes, upon your remembrance, and that his King, always devoted to self-sacrifice for the whole, often neglecting the individual – though at times it may be the dearest to him! – to lose sight of: the person blessed by your favour always receives a greeting of mercy precisely at the right moment, which then, like a ray of sunshine, penetrates the twilight of secret apprehension.
Thus, I thank you once again, as one greatly blessed, enlightened by grace!
Arise! The sun has changed its course: it rises upwards. The festival of Yule is celebrated! Apprehension and worry, the companions of their waning path, retreat and remain there, sunk in the mire of time! Let the timeless eternity shine brightly! Let its path lead upwards, to the final homeland!
Such is my congratulations! Only to one can I offer it, to the gracious Lord of my life, to whom I shall eternally bow in devotion, and in whose service I shall perish
as His
indestructible own:
Richard Wagner
Bayreuth
29 December 1874
[i] Pictures of the outside and inside of Wahnfried!
Translated by Jo Cousins