Fata Morgana (mirage) - Fata Morgana Mirages in Literature

Fata Morgana Mirages in Literature

A Fata Morgana is usually associated with something mysterious, something that never could be approached.

O sweet illusions of song
That tempt me everywhere,
In the lonely fields, and the throng
Of the crowded thoroughfare!

I approach and ye vanish away,
I grasp you, and ye are gone;
But ever by night and by day,
The melody soundeth on.

As the weary traveler sees
In desert or prairie vast,
Blue lakes, overhung with trees
That a pleasant shadow cast;

Fair towns with turrets high,
And shining roofs of gold,
That vanish as he draws nigh,
Like mists together rolled --

So I wander and wander along,
And forever before me gleams
The shining city of song,
In the beautiful land of dreams.

But when I would enter the gate
Of that golden atmosphere,
It is gone, and I wonder and wait
For the vision to reappear.

It is interesting to note that in the lines, "the weary traveller sees In desert or prairie vast, Blue lakes, overhung with trees That a pleasant shadow cast", because of the mention of blue lakes, it is clear that the author is actually describing not a Fata Morgana, but rather a common inferior or desert mirage. The 1886 drawing shown here of a "Fata Morgana" in a desert might have been an imaginative illustration for the poem, but in reality no mirage ever looks like this. Andy Young writes, "They're always confined to a narrow strip of sky – less than a finger's width at arm's length – at the horizon."

The 18th century poet Christoph Martin Wieland wrote about "Fata Morgana's castles in the air." The idea of castles in the air was probably so irresistible that many languages still use the phrase Fata Morgana to describe a mirage.