As Heinse[187] expressed it, 'Goethe is
a genius from the crown of his head to the sole of his foot,' one
possessed, I may add, for whom it is impossible to act from mere
caprice. One has only to be with him for an hour to feel the utter
absurdity of desiring him to think and act otherwise than he thinks
and acts. By this I don't mean to suggest that he cannot grow in
beauty and goodness, but that in his case such growth must be that of
the unfolding flower, of the ripening seed, of the tree soaring aloft
and crowning itself with foliage."[188]
[Footnote 187: Johann J.W. Heinse, a minor poet of the time, and one
of Goethe's most fervent admirers.]
[Footnote 188: Biedermann, _op. cit._ i. 45-6.]
On leaving the Jacobis Goethe proceeded to Ems, where he again met
Lavater and Basedow. On the day following Lavater went home, and
Goethe and Basedow remained till the second week of August. On the
13th Goethe was in his father's house, and in a state of exaltation
after his late experiences, to which he gives lively expression in a
letter to Fritz Jacobi. "I dream of the moment, dear Fritz, I have
your letter and hover around you.
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