4·
PARTISAN REVIEW
in the 'green cart' with whores and women thieves; then she was in
prison for a year. Now they want to destroy her entirely." Six months
later, "they" had desttoyed her
entirely.-Editors.
Leipzig, July 7, 1916
My dear little Sonia,
Today
it
is hot and muggy, as it is most of the time in Leipzig.–
The air here is very bad for me. This morning I s£!.t for two hours in
the park, near the pond, and read
A Man of Property.
It is a re–
markable book. A little old lady sat down near me, glanced at the
title and said to me with a smile: "That must be a good book; I like
to read books too." Before starting to read I had of course reviewed
all the trees and bushes in the park-and was pleased to find them
all familiar silhouettes. In contrast, I find my relations with my fel–
'low-being less and less satisfying. I think that soon I will withdraw
from the world and become an anchorite, like Saint Anthony-minus
the temptations. Be calm and happy.
Yours with all my heart.
ROSA
All my greetings to the children.*
Wronke, January 15, 1917
Today I had a moment of bitterness. The whistle of the
locomotive, at 3: 19, told me of Mathilda's departure. For a few
minutes I ran along the wall like a caged beast, doing the usual
"walk" ten times in a row. My heart ached with grief that I too
couldn't go away from here, far away. But
it
doesn't matter; my
heart was given a rap directly and had to be still; it is already used
to obeying like a well-trained dog. But enough about myself.
Sonitschka, do you still know what we had planned to do when
the war was over? We were going to take a trip together to the South.
And we will. I know you dream of going with me to Italy, for you
the most beautiful country in the world. And I, I've planned to drag
you to Corsica. That is even better than Italy. It makes one forget
Europe, at least modern Europe. Imagine a heroic landscape, drawn
in large strokes, with mountains and valleys sternly outlined. Above,
*
This note is the only one of the collection not written from prison. Three days
later, July 10, 1916, Rosa Luxemburg was arrested and recommitted. to the p rison
from which she had just been freed .
Trans.
