A prelude on rewriting the history of pathosformel, in which fictional and real characters related to death are documented. One afternoon, a fictional character, Emilia, happens upon a second-hand bookshop. There, she finds an old, discoloured book of poems written by René Laurids Brigge that includes short notes about the death of 19-year-old Wera Ouckama-Knoop, who was a female dance performer. This film is relevant to the first part of the poems.