THE FLIGHT TO ITALY

At three in the morning I crept out of Carlsbad they wouldn t have let me go if I hadn t I wasn t going to be stopped for it was time This is the authentic day to day record never before translated of the first eight weeks of freedom as Germany s greatest poet heads for the Italy he has been yearning to see since childhood Leaving behind the growing frustrations of administrative work a difficult love affair and lack of time to write he discovers himself again as a sensuous being and an artist His fresh and spontaneous notes sometimes dashed down at crowded tables in primitive Italian inns bring together art and nature Antiquity and the Renaissance aesthetics and science observations of climate rocks plants and the Italian people in an unpremeditated mixture through which the poet s mature vision of the natural and human world can be seen taking shape Goethe s Italian diary brings us close to a great European writer at a turning point in his life ABOUT THE SERIES For over 100 years Oxford World s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe Each affordable volume reflects Oxford s commitment to scholarship providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features including expert intro