HeavenandHell—unknowndivinity!O,Icanreallybelievethepoetswho
tellusthatwhenweseetheobjectofourloveforthefirsttime,webelieve
we have seen herlong before; they tell us thatall love, like all knowledge,
is recollection—that even in the case of a single individual, love has its
prophecies, its typical figures, its myths, its Old Testament. I see traces of
your beauty everywhere, in every girl’s face, but I think I would have to
possess every girl in order that, out of all their beauty, I might be able to
compoundyours. I would have to travel the entire globe to find the land I
lack, but which, like the pole, is pointed to by the deepest secret of my
wholebeing.Andatthenextinstantyouaresoclosetome,sopresent,and
you fulfill my spirit so powerfully that I appear transfigured to myself and
feel that it is well to remain right where I am. Thou blind god of Love!
You, who see into concealment, will you reveal it to me? Will I find here
in this world what I am seeking? Will I experiencethe conclusionof all the
eccentric premises of my life? Will Iencloseyou in my arms? Or
are there further orders?Have you gone on ahead of me? You, mylonging, are you, transfigured,
beckoningtomefromanotherworld?O,Iwillcastoffeverythinginorder
to become light enough to follow you.”
Thereisabreathlessdelightinthesewords,butthereisalsoamelancholy
senseofleave-taking,asthoughtherewereinfactfurtherordersandRegine
wouldneverbecomeanythingbuttheephemeralmaterialfromwhichgreat
art is created. Thus it is entirely in keeping with the displacement that has
already taken place—pushing aside the actual, concrete girl in favor of the
poeticallychargedobject—that intheoriginalversionthe name“Regine”
was not included in the entry at all; it was only added later on, and even
then it was in the latinized and rather impersonal form, “Regina.”
After this ode to the unknown divinity, the journal entries dash off in
everypossibledirection.Onthatsameday,thatis,February2,1839,Kier-
kegaard wrote two additional journal entries, but neither of them had any
immediate connection with Regine. One entry is a poetic fragment about
a female reader who misunderstands a text, while the other celebrates the
incomparable feeling one has when one has “managed to get the idea
breathed into the body of the concept” and can now sit and observe how
theideabeginstoswell,“notconvulsively,butvirginally.”Whensomething
takesshapeinthismanner,itistheintellectual’sdelight,butitisthedelight
oftheartistandthewriteraswell.Kierkegaardgrantedthatitwascertainly
true that one must occasionally sequester an idea in a “maiden’s bower”
until a worthy bridegroom has been found for it, “but for goodness’ sake,
a maiden’s bower is no nun’s cloister.”