He does not
abjure his former vows; but he is not the same man he was when he made
them. While his experience was immature he was able to believe that a
man ought to submit himself to rules, and that life should be governed
by laws. A single hour has enlightened him. Now he is free and
alone--alone with his spirit. "I alone can lessen my suffering; I alone
can expiate my crime. Through myself alone God speaks to me; to me alone
God speaks. _Ewig einsam_." It is the proud awakening of individualism,
the powerful pessimism of the Super-man. Such an expression of feeling
gives the character of action to renouncement and even to negation
itself, for it is a strong affirmation of the will.
I have dwelt rather at length on this drama on account of the real value
of its thought and, above all, on account of what one may call its
autobiographical interest. It was at this time that Strauss's mind began
to take more definite form. His further experience will develop that
form still more, but without making any important change in it.
_Guntram_ was the cause of bitter disappointment to its author. He did
not succeed in getting it produced at Munich, for the orchestra and
singers declared that the music could not be performed.
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