The whole force of these words fell upon the unfortunate Werther. Full
of despair, he threw himself at Charlotte's feet, seized her hands, and
pressed them to his eyes and to his forehead. An apprehension of his
fatal project now struck her for the first time. Her senses were
bewildered: she held his hands, pressed them to her bosom; and, leaning
towards him with emotions of the tenderest pity, her warm cheek touched
his. They lost sight of everything. The world disappeared from their
eyes. He clasped her in his arms, strained her to his bosom, and
covered her trembling lips with passionate kisses. "Werther!" she cried
with a faint voice, turning herself away; "Werther!" and, with a feeble
hand, she pushed him from her. At length, with the firm voice of
virtue, she exclaimed, "Werther!" He resisted not, but, tearing himself
from her arms, fell on his knees before her. Charlotte rose, and with
disordered grief, in mingled tones of love and resentment, she
exclaimed, "It is the last time, Werther! You shall never see me any
more!" Then, casting one last, tender look upon her unfortunate lover,
she rushed into the adjoining room, and locked the door. Werther held
out his arms, but did not dare to detain her. He continued on the
ground, with his head resting on the sofa, for half an hour, till he
heard a noise which brought him to his senses. The servant entered. He
then walked up and down the room; and when he was again left alone, he
went to Charlotte's door, and, in a low voice, said, "Charlotte,
Charlotte! but one word more, one last adieu!" She returned no answer.
He stopped, and listened and entreated; but all was silent. At length
he tore himself from the place, crying, "Adieu, Charlotte, adieu
forever!"
Werther ran to the gate of the town. The guards, who knew him, let him
pass in silence. The night was dark and stormy,--it rained and snowed.
He reached his own door about eleven. His servant, although seeing him
enter the house without his hat, did not venture to say anything; and
as he undressed his master, he found that his clothes were wet. His hat
was afterwards found on the point of a rock overhanging the valley; and
it is inconceivable how he could have climbed to the summit on such a
dark, tempestuous night without losing his life.
He retired to bed, and slept to a late hour. The next morning his
servant, upon being called to bring his coffee, found him writing. He
was adding, to Charlotte, what we here annex.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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