Chapter 7: War again

The friendly shore

Schiller would consider his almost instantaneous friendship with Scharffenstein as a blessed event: both young men would laugh at the same jokes simultaneously, be subject to the same inclinations and also find themselves aroused by their common, future challenges.

Every time they would find themselves together in a meeting of the literature society, they would with their enthusiasm and liveliness, take the whole group into storm. If Schiller would not take the first role by reading passionate passages of his works, would Scharffenstein put the imagination of the members into fire with his new, fabulous plans for the society.

„We should also ask the Duke for a permission to collect and earn our own funds, so that we can organize trips abroad! We could also increase our own funds by charging the audience for our annual stage performance or also…..“

Scharffenstein would, with such words, with all his ideas for a greater and financially more dependent society, pass among the other members who did not have any clue about financing, for a true hero. Often, however, his presentations would end in laughter and jokes, as, in truth, they would simply appear too bold for the others to have any semblance of feasibility.

Schiller would, however, be totally subjugated by his determined easiness in dealing with such crucial themes and his apparent nonchalance, evolving naturally amidst the perceived elite of the school, and he would almost, if not with personal curiosity, at least with a secret interest, follow the slightest movement and speech of this fellow. These encounters in the literature society would, soon, not be enough for the enthusiastic discussions of these two young men, so they will, during the night, make appointments in the dark halls of the academy and there, alone or sometimes with other friends, they would have the best times, talking about their future plans and professions.

The one would become a confident for the other, and this friendship would, indeed, make Schiller’s heart completely elated. He would, during these moments, forget the strange, abusive treatment of the Duke. In truth, he would entrust to Scharffenstein the odd attitude of Duke Karl Eugen towards him, with numerous details and comments, and with them, all his inner fears and apprehensions about his future. In such a way, the two young men became intimate friends, and Schiller's soul would then find relief in such impulsive but sincere mutual exchanges. In the tumultuous environment of the Karlsschule, he would, finally, find a shore where he could accost and rest in security, even if only during secret, nightly meetings in the halls.

More on the literature society

Despite the formal interdiction by the school authorities, Schiller and his friends would still read with even more avidity the works of Voltaire, Rousseau, Goethe but also Shakespeare and Klopstock. It was the times where the exchange of books among them was at its peak. Sometimes, when some books were not be available to them in the academy, it was commonly decided to buy them outside the academy. The necessary funds would then be collected in order to make the purchase possible. Afterward, as the books would be acquired, mostly with the help and connivance of the members of some noble families, they would be read with the deepest interest by the students and often late in the evening, before the clearest window where a semblance of light could make a gathering possible, these books would be discussed with passion.