Cirrus@Austlit

'Translated for the Empire.'

From Goethe's Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship , Book III.

Translator's note: 'This is the Song which is said to have given Lord Byron the idea of the lines commencing "Know ye the Land where tho Cypress and Myrtle". To understand these few lines, it must be explained by a young girl who has been rescued by the Hero of the Tale, Wilhelm Meister, from a band of strolling players who have stolen her from Italy. In this song she embodies the recollection of her childhood in an address to Wilhelm Meister, for whom she entertains feelings half filial and half passionate. The recollection of her having imagined that the statues ("marble pictures") spoke to her, when afflicted by some childish grief, is extremely beautiful. Any translation must fail to convey the simple beauty of the original.'