A young and enthusiastic girl (the character in one of Goethe's Romances, from which Sir Walter Scott's Fenella has been partially copied) is supposed to have been stolen in early childhood from Italy. Her vague recollections of that land, and of the Palace-home, from which she is an exile, are perpetually haunting her, and break forth at times into the following song:
Know'st thou the Land where bloom the Citron bowers?
Where the gold Orange lights the dusky grove?
High waves the Laurel there, the Myrtle flowers,
And thro' a still blue Heaven the sweet winds rove.
Know'st thou it well?—
—there, there, with thee,
O Friend! O loved one! fain my steps would flee!
Knows’t thou the Dwelling?—there the Pillars rise,
Soft shines the Hall, the painted Chambers glow;
And forms of Marble seem with pitying eyes
To say—"poor child! what thus hath wrought thee woe?"
Know'st thou it well?—
—there, there, with thee,
O my Protector! homewards would I flee!
Know'st thou the mountain?—high its bridge is hung,
Where seeks the Mule through mist and cloud his way;
There lurk the Dragon-race, deep caves among,
O'er beetling Rocks there foams the torrent-spray;
Know'st thou it well?—
—with thee, with thee,
There lies my path; O Father! let us flee!
