CARMEN SYLVA. [Illustration: _Woodbury Compy._ ELIZABETH, QUEEN OF ROUMANIA.] THE LIFE OF Carmen Sylva (_QUEEN OF ROUMANIA_) Translated from the German BY BARONESS DEICHMANN _WITH FOUR PORTRAITS, VIEW, AND FACSIMILE OF HANDWRITING_ LONDON KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRÜBNER, & CO. _LIMITED_ 1890 [_All Rights reserved_] Ballantyne Press BALLANTYNE, HANSON AND CO. EDINBURGH AND LONDON [Illustration] TRANSLATOR’S NOTE. The following pages are a translation of Baroness Stackelberg’s book, “Aus dem Leben Carmen Sylva’s.” Having known “Monrepos” from my childhood, and “Segenhaus” since it was built, it was but a labour of love to me to render this account of “Carmen Sylva,” and the distinguished family to which Her Majesty belongs, in English. I have also thought that many who do not read German might be interested thus to become acquainted with so gifted a writer, so noble a woman. My thanks are due to Sir Edwin Arnold for kindly translating some of the poems, as well as to Professor Max Müller for his advice regarding the translation of the philosophical pages. HILDA DEICHMANN, _née_ de BUNSEN. LONDON, 1890. [Illustration] INTRODUCTION. “Carmen, the song, Sylva, the forest wild, Forth comes the sylvan song, the woodland’s child! And had I not been born ’neath forest trees, I never should have heard such songs as these. I learned them from the birds, that sang aloft; And from the greenwood’s murmurs sweet and soft Up sprang with them the heart within my breast! Song and the forest lull my soul to rest.” Carmen Sylva’s volume of beautiful poetry, entitled “My Rest,” begins with the above poem. It explains the poetic reasons for the choice of the name under which the royal writer conceals herself. The title, “My Rest,” has to do with her early surroundings, for it means Monrepos, the beautiful country seat of the Princess of Wied, which is situated on a slope of the Westerwald, and in which the royal lady spent her early years. In these three words, Monrepos, Carmen, and Sylva, lie a part of the life, lie the germ and the motive-power of the poetic genius of Princess Elizabeth of Wied. On making the acquaintance of so gifted a person as the Queen of Roumania, one involuntarily inquires what antecedents and what experiences have helped to form so distinguished a character. What was the home where she received her first impressions? What were her ancestors? What qualities of heart and mind, what talents has she inherited from them? All that we do and are depends on the impressions which we unconsciously receive. Consequently we can only fully comprehend the development of a character if we have learnt to know the circumstances and the early surroundings amidst which its spiritual and intellectual powers were gradually formed. [Illustration] CONTENTS.