of engrossing all his affections; while he was paying court to Lili, his wandering desires went out to the fair correspondent who had evinced such interest in his troubles and aspirations. It would seem that he required two types of woman such as he has depicted in _Stella_ to satisfy at once his mind and heart: a Caecilie who inspired him with respect as well as affection, and a Stella whose self-abandonment left his passions their free course. [Footnote 207: _Stella_ and other German plays are wittily parodied in _The Rovers; or, The Double Arrangement_.] [Footnote 208: Goethe gives Fernando his own brown eyes and black hair.] Nauseous as _Stella_ must appear to the modern reader, it found wide acceptance at the period it was written, though its moral was generally condemned. Herder was enthusiastic in its praise, and on its publication at the end of January, 1776, it passed through four editions in a single week. In 1805, with its altered _denouement_, in which the hero shoots himself, it was performed with applause in Berlin, and was afterwards frequently produced. Goethe himself continued to retain a singular affection for the most sickly sentimental of all his literary offspring, and he subsequently sent a copy of his work to Lili, accompanied by some lines which were worthy of a better gift.[209] [Footnote 209: After he had broken with her, and was settled in Weimar.] Im holden Thal, auf schneebedeckten Hoehen War stets dein Bild mir nah! Ich sah's um mich in lichten Wolken wehen; Im Herzen war mir's da. Empfinde hier, wie mit allmaecht'gem Triebe Ein Herz das andre zieht, Und dass vergebens Liebe Vor Liebe flieht. In the dear vale, on heights the snow had covered, Still was thine image near; I saw it round me in the bright clouds hover; My heart beheld it there. Here learn to feel with what resistless power One heart the other ties; That vain it is when lover From lover flies.