His own desire was that his son should proceed to Italy
with the double object of breaking his connection with Lili, and of
enlarging his experience by an acquaintance with that country and its
treasures. The embarrassing predicament of his son offered the
opportunity of realising his desire, and he now proposed to him that
he should at once start for Italy and leave his cares behind him. In
the circumstances there appeared to be no other alternative, and on
October 30th Goethe left Frankfort with Italy as his intended goal.
Heidelberg was to be his first stage, and on the way thither he began
the Journal in which he meant to record the narrative of his travels.
The two pages he wrote are the intense expression of the mental strain
in which he set forth on a journey which was to have such a different
issue from what he dreamt. The parting from Lili was uppermost in his
thoughts. "Adieu, Lili," he wrote, "adieu for the second time! The
first time we parted I was full of hope that our lots should one day
be united.[238] Fate has decided that we must play our _roles_ apart."
[Footnote 238: This, as we have seen, is not consistent with certain
of his former statements.
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