THE FOLLOWING NOTES ARE DESIGNED TO ACCOMPANY THE LIVE PERFORMANCE
CANTO 1
MILAN
“IT HAPPENS THAT I ARRIVE IN THE RAIN”
We begin at the end…
In Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’, Milan serves as the starting point of the play’s conflict and is the ultimate destination for its resolution. Our poem begins, as it ends in rain at Milan’s central station.
Milan was founded by the Celts and given the name ‘Medhelanon’, later Latinized by the Romans as ‘Mediolanum’. In the Celtic language ‘medhe-‘ means “middle” or “centre” and ‘-lanon’ is the Celtic equivalent of the Latin ‘-planum’ or “plain”. Essentially Milan means “in the midst of the plain” or a ”place between watercourses”.
NOTES:
“I HAVE COME TO FIND EUROPA”
Europa /ˌjʊ(ə)ˈrəʊpə / Greek Mythology a princess of Tyre who was courted by Zeus in the form of a bull. The continent of Europe takes her name.
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