Creative Wordshops Newsletter July 2024

Writers and musicians have long been intrigued by the apprentice ethos. Goethe’s narrative poem Der Zauberlehrling tells of a sorcerer who can turn a broomstick into a servant. The sorcerer’s apprentice overhears the magic formula and, one day when the old man is out, tries it out. The broomstick does his bidding and brings water from the nearby river. As the apprentice does not know how to turn off the spell, the water in the house rises.

In desperation the boy axes the broom into pieces. Each bit sweeps in more water. In the midst of the flood, the sorcerer returns. “Sir, my need is sore,” the apprentice pleads. “Spirits that I’ve cited/My commands ignore.” The sorcerer utters the magic word and restores order.