Variations (Kennst du das Land …)

Know’st thou the land where the pale citrons grow,

The golden fruits in darkest foliage glow?

Soft blows the wind that breathes from that blue sky!

Still stands the myrtle and the laurel high!

Know’st thou it well, that land, beloved friend?

Thither with thee, O, thither would I wend!

(Samuel Taylor Coleridge)

Do you know the land where the blue lemons ride,

A silver fountain springs from the vessel’s side?

There, in the stern, the orange net-floats glow,

The brown sail shifts, the salt winds gently blow.

Do you know it well, that land, beloved friend?

“Thither with thee, O, thither would I wend!”

(Ian Hamilton Finlay)