Life of Goethe Author:George Henry Lewes Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER V. ITALY. The long yearning of his life was at last fulfilled: he was in Italy. Alone, and shrouded by an assumed name from all the interruptions w... more »ith which the curiosity of admirers would have perplexed the author of "Werther," but which never troubled the supposed merchant Herr Mb'ller, he passed amid orange-trees and vineyards, cities, statues, pictures, and buildings, feeling himself " at home in the wide world, no longer an exile." The passionate yearnings of Mignon had grown with his growth and strengthened with his strength, through the early associations of childhood, and all the ambitions of manhood, till at last they made him sick at heart. For some time previous to his journey he had been unable to look at engravings of Italian scenery, unable even to open a Latin book, because of the overpowering suggestions of the language ; so that Herder could say of him that the only Latin author ever seen in his hand was Spinoza. The feeling grew and grew, a mental home-sickness which nothing but Italian skies could cure. We have only to read Mignon's song," Kennst du das Land," which was written before this journey, to perceive how trance- like were his conceptions of Italy, and how restless was his desire to journey there. And now this deep unrest was stilled. Italian voices were loud around him, Italian skies were above him, Italian Art was before him. He felt this journeywas a new birth. His whole being was filled with warmth and light. Life stretched itself before him calm, radiant, and strong. He saw the greatness of his aims, and felt within him powers adequate to those aims. He has written an account of his journey; but although he might have produced a great work, had he deliberately set himself to do so, and although some passages of this work are amo...« less