GOETHE 213 



extraordinary sensations; the middle part was merely planted 

 with the lesser fruits, and dwarf trees, but on the opening of the 

 door, the lofty trees of a fine grove appeared immediately over 

 the opposite wall; the trees are still there, they are more dis- 

 tinctly and openly seen, but the striking impression is gone. — 

 Essay on the Picturesque^ i794- 



—rJ\/\/\r^— 



I 



N the public garden at Palermo, adjoining the road, I peacefully GOETHE 

 passed the most pleasurable hours. It is the most marvellous (1749-1832). 

 spot in the world. Though laid out in regular order, it is Hke 

 fairy-land ; planted no great time since, it sets us down amidst 

 antiquity. Green parterres embrace foreign shrubs, lemon-espaliers 

 arch themselves into comely leaf-shaded walks, lofty walls of 

 oleander, gemmed with a thousand red clove-like blossoms, arrest 

 the eye. Foreign trees entirely unknown to me, still leafless, 

 probably from warmer climes, spread forth curious branches. A 

 bench raised behind the level ground brings into view vegetation 

 so wonderfully interwoven, and guides the gaze at last to great 

 basins, wherein gold and silver fish dart fascinatingly about, now 

 hiding under mossy reeds, now assembling again in shoals, lured 

 by a bit of bread. Everywhere upon the plants appears a green 

 that we are not used to see, now yellower, now bluer than with 

 us. But that which threw over the whole the rarest grace was a 

 hazy vapour, pervading everything uniformly with so striking 

 effect, that objects but a few steps' distance behind one another, 

 stood forth by a distinct shade of light blue from each other, so 

 that their own colour was finally lost, or at least presented itself 

 to the eye through a blue medium. — Italian Journey, {Sicily 

 1787).! 



Advantages of Dilettantism in the Garden-Art. 



Ideal in the Real. 



Striving after form in formless masses. 



^ See Lewes's * Life of Goethe,' for a charming description of his Garden- 

 House at Weimar. 



