Goethe’s ‘The Apprenticeship of Wilhelm Meister’, a neglected masterpiece if ever there was, is known nowadays for a single line from a ballad sung by Mignon, the daughter of a wandering musician. ‘Know’st thou the land where the lemon trees bloom?’ begins her mysterious song, describing an imagined world of blue skies, marble statues and thunderous waterfalls, not without a lurking menace beneath its beauty. When Wilhelm asks her where she heard it, Mignon answers, ‘Italy! If thou go to Italy, take me along with thee; for I am too cold here.’

Literary Review

Apr 2014

Categories

Jonathan Keates

Fitzgerald’s Leftovers

Neither France Nor Germany

Plain Speaking

Zadok Released

Love at First Bite

Getting Nearer

Noo Yoik, Noo Yoik

Not So Serene

Works of Faith, Hope and Eroticism

Second Sitting

Misfortune Favours the Brave

Talley Ho

He Dreamed a Dream

An English Affair

A Slippery City

Revelations

The Utility of Bastards

Treasure Everywhere

Escaping the Vicoli

Suburban Decadence

Weren’t They Naughty

Pencils at Dawn

Treason at the Tower

Dedicated Follower of Fashion

A Portal To Eternity