Chapter 2, The Gastein Journal, Section 1 Summary

Though "The Gastein Journal" is written in third-person prose rather than first-person poetry, it tells essentially the same story as "Don Giovanni" and expands on it. The chapter begins with a woman running through the forest from unknown pursuers. She finds a trapdoor with an iron handle, but it won't open so she can escape. A small boy appears, telling her not to be frightened, because he is alive too. As she feels bullets hitting her, the woman wakes up. It is all a dream. She is on a train, sitting next to a young soldier. As the woman looks out the window, the soldier admires her. They begin to talk, and the woman continues to question the soldier to distract herself from the visions she is having of him in his coffin. She tells...