* * * * *

126. REQUIEM

Bei der Abendsonne Wandern Wann ein Dorf den Strahl verlor, Klagt sein Dunkel es den andern Mit vertrauten Toenen vor.

Noch ein Gloecklein hat geschwiegen 5 Auf der Hoehe his zuletzt. Nun beginnt es sich zu wiegen, Horch, mein Kilchberg laeutet jetzt!

* * * * *

127. ABENDWOLKE

So stille ruht im Hafen Das tiefe Wasser dort, Die Ruder sind entschlafen, Die Schifflein sind im Port.

Nur oben in dem Aether 5 Der lauen Maiennacht, Dort segelt noch ein spaeter Friedfert'ger Ferge sacht.

Die Barke still und dunkel Faehrt hin im Daemmerschein 10 Und leisem Sterngefunkel Am Himmel und hinein.

* * * * *

128. DAS GLOECKLEIN

Er steht an ihrem Pfuehl in herber Qual, Den jungen Busen muss er keuchen sehn— Er ist ein Arzt. Er weiss, sein traut Gemahl Erblasst, sobald die Morgenschauer wehn.

Sie hat geschlummert: "Lieber, du bei mir? 5 Mir traeumte, dass ich auf der Alpe war, Wie schoen mir traeumte, das erzaehl' ich dir— Du schickst mich wieder hin das naechste Jahr!

"Dort vor dem Dorf—du weisst den moos'gen Stein— Sass ich umhallt von lauter Herdgetoen, 10 An mir vorueber zogen mit Schalmei'n Die Herden nieder von den Sommerhoeh'n.

"Die Herden kehren alle heut nach Haus— Das ist die letzte wohl? Nein, eine noch: Noch ein Gelaeut klingt an und eins klingt aus! 15 Das endet nicht! Da kam das letzte doch!

"Mich ueberflutete das Abendrot, Die Matten dunkelten so gruen und rein, Die Firnen brannten aus und waren tot, Darueber glomm ein leiser Sternenschein— 20

"Du horch! ein Gloecklein laeutet in der Schlucht, Verirrt, verspaetet, wandert's ohne Ruh, Ein armes Gloecklein, das die Herde sucht— Aufwacht' ich dann, und bei mir warest du!

"O bring mich wieder auf die lieben Hoeh'n— 25 Sie haben, sagst du, mich gesund gemacht ... Dort war es schoen! Dort war es wunderschoen! Das Gloecklein! Wieder! Hoerst du's? Gute Nacht...."

* * * * *

129. DIE BANK DES ALTEN

Ich bin einmal in einem Tal gegangen, Das fern der Welt, dem Himmel nahe war. Durch das Gelaende seiner Wiesen klangen Die Sensen rings der zweiten Mahd im Jahr.

Ich schritt durch eines Doerfchens stille Gassen. 5 Kein Laut. Vor einer Huette sass allein Ein alter Mann, von seiner Kraft verlassen, Und schaute feiernd auf den Firneschein.

Zuweilen, in die Hand gelegt die Stirne, Seh' ich den Himmel jenes Tales blaun, 10 Den Mueden seh ich wieder auf die Firne, Die nahen, selig klaren Firnen schaun.

's ist nur ein Traum. Wohl ist der Greis geschieden Aus dieser Sonne Licht von Jahren schwer; Er schlummert wohl in seines Grabes Frieden, 15 Und seine Bank steht vor der Huette leer.

Noch pulst mein Leben feurig. Wie den andern Kommt mir ein Tag, da mich die Kraft verraet; Dann will ich langsam in die Berge wandern Und suchen, wo die Bank des Alten steht. 20



DETLEV VON LILIENCRON



130. DIE MUSIK KOMMT

Klingling, bumbum und tschingdada, Zieht im Triumph der Perserschah? Und um die Ecke brausend bricht's Wie Tubaton des Weltgerichts, Voran der Schellentraeger. 5

Brumbrum, das grosse Bombardon, Der Beckenschlag, das Helikon, Die Piccolo, der Zinkenist, Die Tuerkentrommel, der Floetist, Und dann der Herre Hauptmann. 10

Der Hauptmann naht mit stolzem Sinn, Die Schuppenkette unterm Kinn, Die Schaerpe schnuert den schlanken Leib, Beim Zeus! das ist kein Zeitvertreib, Und dann die Herren Leutnants. 15

Zwei Leutnants, rosenrot und braun, Die Fahne schuetzen sie als Zaun, Die Fahne kommt, den Hut nimm ab, Der bleiben treu wir bis ans Grab! Und dann die Grenadiere. 20

Der Grenadier im strammen Tritt, In Schritt und Tritt und Tritt und Schritt, Das stampft und droehnt und klappt und flirrt, Laternenglas und Fenster klirrt, Und dann die kleinen Maedchen. 25

Die Maedchen alle, Kopf an Kopf, Das Auge blau und blond der Zopf, Aus Tuer und Tor und Hof und Haus Schaut Mine, Trine, Stine aus, Vorbei ist die Musike. 30

Klingling, tschingtsching und Paukenkrach, Noch aus der Ferne toent es schwach, Ganz leise bumbumbumbum tsching; Zog da ein bunter Schmetterling, Tschingtsching, bum, um die Ecke? 35

* * * * *

131. TOD IN AEHREN

Im Weizenfeld, in Korn und Mohn, Liegt ein Soldat, unaufgefunden, Zwei Tage schon, zwei Naechte schon, Mit schweren Wunden, unverbunden.

Durstueberquaelt und fieberwild, 5 Im Todeskampf den Kopf erhoben. Ein letzter Traum, ein letztes Bild, Sein brechend Auge schlaegt nach oben.

Die Sense sirrt im Aehrenfeld, Er sieht sein Dorf im Arbeitsfrieden, 10 Ade, ade du Heimatwelt— Und beugt das Haupt, und ist verschieden.

* * * * *

132. IN ERINNERUNG

Wilde Rosen ueberschlugen Tiefer Wunden rotes Blut. Windverwehte Klaenge trugen Siegesmarsch und Siegesflut.

Nacht. Entsetzen ueberspuelte 5 Dorf und Dach in Laerm und Glut. "Wasser!" Und die Hand zerwuehlte Gras und Staub in Dursteswut.

Morgen. Graebergraber. Gruefte. Manch ein letzter Atemzug. 10 Weither, witternd, durch die Luefte Braust und graust ein Geierflug.

* * * * *

133. WER WEISS WO

(Schlacht bei Kolin, 18. Juni 1757.)

Auf Blut und Leichen, Schutt und Qualm, Auf rosszerstampften Sommerhalm Die Sonne schien. Es sank die Nacht. Die Schlacht ist aus, Und mancher kehrte nicht nach Haus 5 Einst von Kolin.

Ein Junker auch, ein Knabe noch, Der heut das erste Pulver roch, Er musste dahin. Wie hoch er auch die Fahne schwang, 10 Der Tod in seinen Arm ihn zwang, Er musste dahin.

Ihm nahe lag ein frommes Buch, Das stets der Junker bei sich trug Am Degenknauf. 15 Ein Grenadier von Bevern fand Den kleinen erdbeschmutzten Band Und hob ihn auf.

Und brachte heim mit schnellem Fuss Dem Vater diesen letzten Gruss, 20 Der klang nicht froh. Dann schrieb hinein die Zitterhand: "Kolin. Mein Sohn verscharrt im Sand. Wer weiss wo."

Und der gesungen dieses Lied, 25 Und der es liest, im Leben zieht Noch frisch und froh. Doch einst bin ich, und bist auch du, Verscharrt im Sand, zur ewigen Ruh', Wer weiss wo. 30

* * * * *

134. SOMMERNACHT

An ferne Berge schlug die Donnerkeulen Ein rasch verrauschtes Nachmittaggewitter. Die Bauern zogen heim auf mueden Gaeulen, Und singend kehrten Winzervolk und Schnitter. Auf allen Daechern qualmten blaue Saeulen 5 Genuegsam himmelan, ein luftig Gitter. Nun ist es Nacht, es geistern schon die Eulen, Einsam aus einer Laube klingt die Zither.

* * * * *

135. MEINER MUTTER

Wie oft sah ich die blassen Haende naehen, Ein Stueck fuer mich—wie liebevoll du sorgtest! Ich sah zum Himmel deine Augen flehen, Ein Wunsch fuer mich—wie liebevoll du sorgtest! Und an mein Bett kamst du mit leisen Zehen, 5 Ein Schutz fuer mich—wie sorgenvoll du horchtest! Laengst schon dein Grab die Winde ueberwehen. Ein Gruss fuer mich—wie liebevoll du sorgtest!

* * * * *

136. WIEGENLIED

Vor der Tuere schlaeft der Baum, Durch den Garten zieht ein Traum. Langsam schwimmt der Mondeskahn, Und im Schlafe kraeht der Hahn. Schlaf, mein Woelfchen, schlaf. 5

Schlaf, mein Wulff. In spaeter Stund Kuess' ich deinen roten Mund. Streck dein kleines dickes Bein, Steht noch nicht auf Weg und Stein. Schlaf, mein Woelfchen, schlaf. 10

Schlaf, mein Wulff. Es kommt die Zeit, Regen rinnt, es stuermt und schneit. Lebst in atemloser Hast, Haettest gerne Schlaf und Rast. Schlaf, mein Woelfchen, schlaf. 15

Vor der Tuere steht der Baum, Durch den Garten zieht ein Traum. Langsam schwimmt der Mondeskahn, Und im Schlafe kraeht der Hahn. Schlaf, mein Woelfchen, schlaf. 20

* * * * *

137. VIERERZUG

Vorne vier nickende Pferdekoepfe, Neben mir zwei blonde Maedchenzoepfe, Hinten der Groom mit wichtigen Mienen, An den Raedern Gebell.

In den Doerfern windstillen Lebens Genuege, 5 Auf den Feldern fleissige Spaten und Pfluege, Alles das von der Sonne beschienen So hell, so hell.

* * * * *

138. SCHOENE JUNITAGE

Mitternacht, die Gaerten lauschen, Fluesterwort und Liebeskuss, Bis der letzte Klang verklungen, Weil nun alles schlafen muss— Flussueberwaerts singt eine Nachtigall. 5

Sonnengruener Rosengarten, Sonnenweisse Stromesflut, Sonnenstiller Morgenfriede, Der auf Baum und Beeten ruht— Flussueberwaerts singt eine Nachtigall. 10

Strassentreiben, fern, verworren, Reicher Mann und Bettelkind, Myrtenkraenze, Leichenzuege, Tausendfaeltig Leben rinnt—- Flussueberwaerts singt eine Nachtigall. 15

Langsam graut der Abend nieder, Milde wird die harte Welt, Und das Herz macht seinen Frieden, Und zum Kinde wird der Held—- Flussueberwaerts singt eine Nachtigall. 20



A WORD TO THE READER

Verse must be read aloud. Rhyme, rhythm, alliteration, assonance, vowel coloring, the effect of enjambement, to name only the more obvious phenomena, appeal solely to the ear. Looking at a page of verse is like looking at a page of music. Unless the symbols are translated into sound values, the effect is blank. A skilled musician is able to translate the printed notes to the inner sense, but even he will prefer to hear the music and will always consider this the final test. Thus it is also with verse: it must be read aloud. Lyric verse is best read in privacy or in a small congenial group. When the humdrum noise and the humdrum cares of the world have vanished, then the moment has come when one may steep one's soul in lyric beauty. One never tires of a really great lyric: like a true friend, a longer acquaintance adds only new delight.

And why read lyric poetry at all? Some people ask that question, and for them the case may be hopeless. If the lyric sense is utterly lacking, then it is their sad lot to live in the desert of the practical world. Art is not for them: neither music nor poetry nor painting nor sculpture nor architecture; for something of the lyric impulse lives in all of these. But many ask that question who some day will see, and for them I must attempt a brief answer. All literature is an interpretation of life, and the better one understands life the better one understands literature, and vice versa. Lyric poetry is the most direct interpretation of life, because here the poet reveals his innermost self directly. We strive to enrich our intellectual power by reliving the thought of Plato and of Kant. Why not enrich our emotional life and our whole being by reliving the world of Goethe or Shelley? The poets have lived for us, and the pure essence of their life we can make our own in their lyric verse.

* * * * *

ELEMENTS OF VERSIFICATION

RHYTHM.— While in Greek and Latin it depends on quantity, i.e., length of the syllables, in German as in English it depends on stress, that is, accent. The smallest rhythmical unit is called a foot and corresponds to a measure in music with the exception that the accent need not be on the first syllable. A verse consists of two or more feet (verses with only a single foot are rare) and may end either with an accented syllable (masculine ending) or with an unaccented (feminine ending). Especially within longer verses there often occurs a slight rest or break, called caesura. Designating the accented syllable by — and the unaccented by X, the more common feet with their Graeco-Roman names may be represented thus:

Iambic, X — Trochee, — X Dactyl, — XX Anapaest, XX —.

This terminology is, however, of little avail in the German Volkslied, that is the simple folksong, and in that large body of German verse which is patterned after it. Here the basic principle is the number of accented syllables. The number of unaccented syllables varies. A measure (i.e., a foot) may have either one or two unaccented syllables, in the real Volkslied often three. (A measure without an unaccented syllable, so common in older verse, is but rarely met with to-day; see 84, 7.) Goethe's more popular ballads as Erlkoenig or der Koenig in Thule offer good examples of this freer technique. Above all, however, Heine made use of this principle, while Platen, whom later German verse tends to follow in this respect (e.g., Meyer and Liliencron), espoused the strict classic ideal.[1]

[1] Exceptions are only apparent, as in 68, 7. Platen followed the rules of Graeco-Roman prosody, where a long syllable could be substituted for two short syllables.

RHYME.—When two or more words correspond from their accented vowel on, they are said to rhyme: Pferde—Erde. The rhyming syllable must carry at least a secondary accent: Heiligkeit—Zeit. Rhymes of one syllable are called masculine, of two syllables feminine. According to their degree of perfection rhymes are classified as pure and impure. Thus geboren—geschworen, bestellt—Welt are pure, gesehn—schoen, gerissen—Fuessen, Lied—Gemuet, sprach—Gemach, Wiesen—fliessen are impure. Impure rhymes are not of necessity poor, but may be used to enhance the musical effects of a poem. Heine was a master in this respect. The modern school, however, tends to avoid impure rhymes.

Rhymes within a verse are called internal rhymes.

ALLITERATION—two or more accented syllables beginning with the same consonant or with a vowel: Von weissen Wolken umwogt, 59, 2—is used to enhance the rhythmic-melodic character of a poem, as is also assonance—the agreement of vowels in two or more accented syllables, 36. Often assonance is practically a form of impure rhyme, Grunde—verschwunden, 41, Himmel—Schimmer, 44.

STANZA—a union of two or more verses. In a stanza itself the individual verses may either stand apart or two or more verses may form larger units. Thus the structure of the various stanzas may be made to differentiate and the rhythmic-melodic character of the poem be thereby modified (44 and 56 and notes). Similarly, stanzas may form larger units (2). If the end of a verse breaks into a syntactic unit, we have what is called an enjambement. This tends to put a special stress on the last word. Notice for example the onomatopoetic effect in 13, 7 and 8:

Aus dem bewegten Wasser rauscht Ein feuchtes Weib hervor.

REFRAIN.—This is a repetition of one or more verses, either exactly repeated or slightly modified, at the end of a stanza or less frequently at another fixed place (4, 10, 34). Aside from its rhythmic-melodic effect the refrain helps to center the attention on a certain idea or motif.

STANZA AND VERSE FORMS.—Only a few need any special discussion.

1. Blank Verse. This is the verse of Shakspere and was introduced into Germany from England. It is an unrhymed iambic verse of five feet (19).

2. Freie Rhythmen. An unrhymed verse that does not follow any fixed form; the rhythm may vary even within the verse. The number of accented syllables usually does not exceed four (15, 16 and 59).

3. The Rhymed Couplet (vierhebige Reimpaare) was introduced from the Volkslied. The verse ending is always masculine. Best adapted to a rapidly progressing action, every stanza marks a forward step, portrays a new scene (28, 29, 74).

4. The Sonnet, an Italian verse form, is composed of fourteen iambic lines of five feet each. The rhyme for the first eight lines, called the octave, is always abbaabba; for the last six, called the sestette, the rhyme may be cdcdcd, ccdccd, or cdecde (69 and 77).

5. The Siziliane, likewise Italian, consists of eight iambic lines of five feet each, the rhyme being abababab (135 and 136).

6. The Modified Nibelungen Stanza, an adaptation of the stanza of the Nibelungenlied introduced by Uhland, is a stanza of four verses rhyming in couplets; each verse has six accented syllables with a fixed pause as indicated below in the scansion of the first two lines of 32:

X X X X X X X X X XX X X X X

Each line is in reality composed of two verses and thus we have here the form so commonly used by Heine (48, 49, 50, 51, 52 and others). Each verse has in reality four measures, the last measure being taken up by a pause:

Es stand in al ten Zei ten ein Schloss so hoch und hehr. X X X X * X X X **

In music these pauses may be taken up in whole or in part by lengthening the preceding notes (to some extent this holds true in reading, adding to the effect of the enjambement). Die Lorelei offers a good example:

[Musical notation in original for following lyric. Transcriber.]

Ich weiss nicht, was soll es bedeuten, dass ich so traurig bin; ein Maerchen aus alten Zeiten, das kommt mir nicht aus bem Sinn. Die Luft ist kuehl und es dunkelt, und ruhig fliesst der Rhein; der Gipfel des Berges funkelt im Abendsonnenschein.

* * * * *

NOTES



GOETHE

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the world's greatest lyric genius, was born August 28, 1749, in Frankfurt am Main. In his being there were happily blended his mother's joyous fancy and the sterner traits of his father. Thus a rich imagination, a wealth of feeling, and the power of poetic expression went hand in hand with an indomitable will. In the spring of 1770 the young poet went to Strassburg to complete his law course. There Herder happened to be, even then a famed critic and scholar, and he aroused in Goethe a love and understanding of what was really great and genuine in literature: especially Homer, the Bible, Shakspere, and the Volkslied i.e., the simple folksong. In the fall of the year Goethe met Friederike Brion in the parsonage at Sesenheim, a village near Strassburg. Now Herder's teaching bore fruit in an outburst of real song (1, 2 and 4). The influence of the Volkslied is clearly discernible in the unaffected naturalness, spontaneity, and simplicity of these lyrics. Thus das Heidenroeslein, which symbolizes the tragic close of the sweet idyll of Sesenheim, is to all intents and purposes a Volkslied.

The following years, spent for the most part in Frankfurt, were the period of Sturm und Drang (Storm and Stress) in the poet's life and work. His love for Lili Schoenemann, a rich banker's daughter and society belle of Frankfurt, only heightened this unrest (3). In the fall of 1775 the young duke Karl August called Goethe to Weimar. Under the influence of Frau von Stein, a woman of rare culture, Goethe developed to calm maturity. Compare the first Wanderers Nachtlied (written February 1776), a passionate prayer for peace, and the; second (written September 1780), the embodiment of that peace attained. Even more important in this development is the fact that Goethe, in assuming his many official positions in the little dukedom, entered voluntarily a circle of everyday duties (7 and 8). Thus the heaven-storming Titan, as Goethe reveals himself in his Prometheus, learns to respect and revere the natural limitations of mortality (15 and especially 16).

As Goethe matured, his affinity for classic antiquity became more marked, and a consuming desire impelled him to spend two years in Italy (1786-1788). The rest of his years Goethe spent in Weimar, his life enriched above all else by his friendship with Schiller. In this second Weimar period Goethe reached the acme of his powers. Even his declining years, although marked by loneliness and bringing him a full measure of grief (his wife, Christiane Vulpius, whom he had met shortly after his return from Italy, died in 1816, followed in 1830 by his only son), exemplified that earnest striving so characteristic of Goethe. A serene optimism, a deep love of life, was his to the very last. To this das Lied des Tuermers, written May 1831, bears eloquent witness. A ripe mellowness seems to blend here with the joyous spirit of youth. Goethe died March 22, 1832.

1. A visit to Sesenheim is the experience that called forth this poem. (Compare Goethe's first letter to Friederike, October 15, 1770) Notice how all nature is personified and assumes human attributes. In the opening stanzas impetuous haste is stirring, the first two lines have a marked rising rhythm. Notice the quieting effect of the metrical inversion at the beginning of 17, 18, and 19 and of the break in 25 after ach and how the whole poem ends with a note of deep joy.

15, 16. WELCHES, WELCHE = what.

21. ROSENFARBNES FRUEHLINGSWETTER, the roseate hues of spring-time.

29. ERDEN, old dative singular.

2. Notice that the second and third stanzas are joined as also the last three. The exuberant fullness of joy creates its own form and overleaps the confines of a single stanza.

3. Written June 1775 in Switzerland on Lake Zuerich. Goethe had gone there to escape the unrest into which his love for Lili Schoenemann had thrown him. The poem opens with a shout of exultation, 1 and 2; note the inversion — XX — X — Saug' ich aus freier Welt. The rising rhythm of the following lines clearly depicts the movement of rapid rowing. Stanza 2 changes to a falling rhythm; as pictures of the past rise up, the rowing ceases. Stanza 3 depicts a more quiet forward movement; notice the effect of the dactyls in the even lines.

15. TRINKEN, metaphorically for envelop, cause to disappear.

4. The refrain, so common in the Volkslied does not only enhance the melody of the poem, but centers the entire attention on das Roeslein and retards the quick dramatic movement of the narrative, which latter is heightened by the omission of the article and the frequent inversion of the verb.

2. HEIDEN, old dative.

3. MORGENSCHOEN, the rose has all the fresh pure beauty of the early morning.

18. WEH UND ACH, cry of pain, piteous outcry.

5. For this and the following poem compare Longfellow's translation.

6. EIN GLEICHES, i.e., another Wanderers Nachtlied. This poem has been justly called die Krone aller Lyrik, the acme of all lyric poetry, because of its simple, perfect beauty.

8. ERINNERUNG, reminder.

9. Written in 1813 in memory of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the day when the poet had first met Christiane Vulpius. Its never failing charm lies in its utter simplicity, its Selbstverstaendigkeit, and in this one respect it may well be compared to Wordsworth's Lucy ("She dwelt among the untrodden ways").

1 and 2. FUER SICH (i.e., vor sich) HINGEHEN, to saunter along, to walk along without any special purpose.

10. Mignon, a fascinating character in Goethe's novel Wilhelm Meister, a strange premature child, expresses in this song her longing for her Italian land. In succinct pictures there arise before us her native land, her ancestral home and the way thither. The very soul of this poem is longing, culminating with ever increasing intensity in the refrain. Note the vivid concreteness of the verbs and the noble simplicity of the adjectives; the vowels, especially in 2.

13. WOLKENSTEG, bridge that hangs on clouds (Carlyle).

16. STUERZT, plunges down, i.e., descends precipitously.

11. The Harfenspieler has, without knowing it, married his own sister. Mignon is the child of this union. In this song he pours forth his despair and the torments of his conscience.

12. Thule is a mythical land of the far North.

3. STERBEND modifies Buhle.

7. his eyes overflowed with tears.

8. SO OFT, as often as.

12. ZUGLEICH, i.e., with his other possessions.

15. AUF, translate in. Why auf?

21, 22. Note the descriptive effect of the enjambement together with the internal rhyme.

23. His eyes closed (in death), TAETEN SINKEN = sanken. Taeten is an older preterite indicative.

13. The poem embodies the lure of the water. This motif is clearly expressed in 1 and is repeated in 25. In 9, 13, 29 and 31 metrically the same motif recurs. Compare 9 and 29: the speech becomes song and the lure of the nymph's song draws the fisherman down.

4. cool to his very heart.

6. The flood swells up and divides (as the body emerges from it). Note effect of the inversion — XX — X —.

13. FISCHLEIN, dative. MIR IST = I feel.

16. ERST, now for the first time.

19. WELLENATMEND. The word pictures graphically the rise and fall of the sun's image in the waves.

20. DOPPELT SCHOENER = doppelt schoen.

22. DAS FEUCHTVERKLAERTE BLAU, The azure of the sky transfigured in the water.

30. Then he was doomed. Compare the expression: "he is done for."

14. ERLKOENIG is a corruption of Elbkoenig, i.e., the king of the elves. Notice the difference in the speeches of the three characters: the calm assuaging tone of the father, whose senses seem dead to the supernatural; the luring song of the Erlkoenig, that changes abruptly to an impetuous demand; the ever increasing terror of the child till its fear is imparted to the father. The child's speech is driven relentlessly forward by terror; notice the effect of the inversion in 22 and 28: — XX —, etc.

19. FUEHREN DEN NAECHTLICHEN REIHN, dance the nightly round.

20. and rock thee and dance thee and sing thee to sleep.

28. Erlking has done me grievous woe.

15. Suggested by the Staubbach, a cascade near Lauterbrunnen in Switzerland (October 1779). The poem compares human life in its various aspects to a stream. Notice in this connection how the rhythm varies from stanza to stanza.

12. WOLKENWELLEN, cloudlike waves.

24. HIN, along.

26. WEIDEN, let graze or feast, i.e., mirror.

30. MISCHT VOM GRUND AUS, stirs from the very bottom.

16. Willing surrender, contented submission to the will of the Highest is the keynote of this poem.

9. childlike thrills of awe.

40, 41. IHRES DASEINS. Ihres refers to Geschlechter. To make it refer to Goetter (and adopting the variant reading sie [i.e., Goetter] instead of sich) makes an impossible metaphor, since the picture of a chain with its links cannot describe the eternal and changeless life of the gods, but only human life, generation following generation as link on link in a chain. Compare 31, where Goethe has used Wellen with the same purport.

17. Although a part of Faust, this poem is none the less a confession of Goethe himself. Over eighty years old, the poet surveys life as a watchman from his high tower, lets his gaze once more wander over the world, when evening comes, and lo, all is good.

11, 12. And as all things have pleased me, I am pleased with myself, i.e., the sum total of my life is good.



SCHILLER

Friedrich Schiller was born in Marbach, Wuerttemberg, November 10, 1759. His short life was one great heroic struggle. His first inclination was to study for the ministry, but the rigorous and arbitrary discipline of the Duke Karl Eugen, whose school the boy as the son of an officer had to enter, considered neither aptitude nor desire, and thus Schiller had to study medicine and become an army surgeon. That he might shape his own destiny he fled from Wuerttemberg in 1782. The following years, in which Schiller gradually gained the recognition he deserved, were a bitter battle against poverty; and when in 1789 he had been made professor of history in Jena, only two years passed before illness forced him to resign. At that moment generous friends came to his aid, and from now on Schiller could live for his ideals.

As he had mastered the field of history, he now for years put his entire energy into the study of philosophy to round out his Weltanschauung (his view of life) and his personality. Even as he worked, he knew that his years were numbered, but his indomitable will forced the weak body to do its bidding, and the best of Schiller's dramas, the greatest of his philosophical poems, were written in these years of illness. Thus Schiller proved himself the master of his fate, the captain of his soul. Only a few weeks before his death he wrote to Wilhelm von Humboldt, "Am Ende sind wir doch beide Idealisten, und wuerden uns schaemen, uns nachsagen zu lassen, dass die Dinge uns formten und wir nicht die Dinge." ("After all both of us are idealists and would be ashamed to have it reported of us that the things fashioned us and not we the things.") There was in Schiller, as Goethe said, ein Zug nach dem Hoeheren, a trend toward higher things. Schiller died in Weimar, May 9, 1805.

As a poet Schiller is in many respects the exact counterpart of Goethe. The latter's lyric verse is the direct result of his everyday experience; his real domain is the simple lyric, das Lied. Schiller, however, confessed that lyric poetry in the narrower sense was not his province, but his exile. Hardly ever did an everyday experience move him to song, and he is at his best in the realm of philosophic poetry, where he has no equal. This philosophic tendency predominates even in his ballads, which are often the embodiment of a philosophical or ethical idea. While they lack the subtle lyrical atmosphere of Goethe's, they are distinguished by rhetorical vigor and dramatic life. Their very structure is dramatic, as an analysis of 18 and 19 will show.

18. Ibykus, a Greek lyric poet of the sixth century B.C., bom in Rhegium, a city in Southern Italy.

1. The Isthmian Games were celebrated every two years on the Isthmus of Corinth in honor of Poseidon (Neptune), god of the sea.

6. Apollo, the god of song, archery and the sun (hence also called Helios, 71).

10. AKRORINTH, the citadel of Corinth, situated on a mountain above the city.

11. The pine was sacred to Poseidon. A wreath of pine was the award of victory in the games (54).

23. DER GASTLICHE. Zeus, to whom hospitality was sacred.

61. PRYTANE, m.—en, prytanis, the chief magistrate.

82. BUEHNE, here used for the tiers of seats for the spectators. Compare Schaugerueste, 95.

91. KEKROPS' STADT==Athens. Kekrops, the legendary founder of the state of Athens. AULIS, a harbor in Boeotia.

92. PHOKIS, territory in Greece to the west of Boeotia.

103. RIESENMAss. Since the Greek actors wore buskins and a long mask, the gigantic stature of the chorus is in itself no indubitable proof of the supernatural origin of this chorus. Thus the spectators are unable to decide, whether they actually see the Eumenides or only a chorus impersonating them. This is the meaning of 145 and 146. This doubt yields to certainty as the action progresses (170 ff.).

117. sense beguiling, heart deluding.

118. ERINNYEN or Eumeniden. Eumenides, are the avenging goddesses of Greek mythology, the Furies.

150. weaves the dark entangled net of fate.

173. GEROCHEN, common form is geraecht.

182. DIE SZENE==Greek skaene [Greek: skaenae], the stage.

19. The problem of the limitation of human knowledge and of the human mind, already touched upon in Genesis 2, 17, had been brought into prominence in Schiller's time by the philosopher Kant. He had defined the limitations of the human mind: we can have no real knowledge of things themselves, but can know only the impressions that things make on our senses; furthermore our knowledge is limited to the finite, we have no knowledge of the Infinite, the Absolute. Schiller, not satisfied with the mere fact, in this poem expresses the conviction that there must be an ethical reason for this necessity, a reason that is beyond our ken. Compare also the beautiful words of Lessing: "Nicht die Wahrheit, in deren Besitz irgend ein Mensch ist, oder zu sein vermeinet, sondern die aufrichtige Muehe, die er angewandt hat, hinter die Wahrheit zu kommen, macht den Wert des Menschen. Denn nicht durch den Besitz, sondern durch die Nachforschung der Wahrheit erweitern sich seine Kraefte, worin allein seine immer wachsende Vollkommenheit bestehet. Der Besitz macht ruhig, traege, stolz.

"Wenn Gott in seiner Rechten alle Wahrheit, und in seiner Linken den einzigen immer regen Trieb nach Wahrheit, obschon mit dem Zusatze, mich immer und ewig zu irren, verschlossen hielte, und spraeche zu mir: waehle! Ich fiele ihm mit Demut in seine Linke, und sagte: Vater, gib! die reine Wahrheit ist ja doch nur fuer dich allein!"

SAIS, city in ancient Egypt, seat of a famous shrine to Isis. AEGYPTENLAND, Aegypten==Egypt.

6. HIEROPHANT, [Greek: hierophantaes] (literally, the interpreter of the holy), hierophant, a priest, the teacher of religious mysteries.

61. a thrill of heat and cold surges through his frame.

64. IN SEINEM INNERN, in his heart or within him.

65. DEN ALLHEILIGEN, the most holy (God). All here has an intensifying meaning.

81. WAR DAHIN, was gone.



UHLAND

Ludwig Uhland was born April 26, 1787, in Tuebingen, where his father and both his grandfathers had been connected with the University. Uhland took up the profession of law, but his heart's desire led him to the study of the older German poetry and folklore, and from 1830 to 1832 he occupied the chair of German Literature in Tuebingen. He also took an active part in the political life of his time in the interest of liberal tendencies and a united Germany. He died in Tubingen, November 13, 1862. His poetry is for the most part a product of his earlier years. Reserved and retiring to a fault, Uhland in his lyrics but rarely gives us directly his own emotional life, preferring to let the shepherd, the soldier, the mountain lad speak. The type of the simple folksong predominates, and from the VOLKSLIED Uhland introduced into modern verse the modified Nibelungen stanza and the rhymed couplet. In his ballads Uhland prefers older historical subjects, as in Taillefer, that rarest jewel among his ballads; or at least uses an historic setting, as in the more popular Des Saengers Fluch.

21.—6. Mutterhaus, i.e., source.

18. RUFE ZU, call to them.

22. Notice how the first line, giving the situation, is repeated at the close of the poem and thus frames the picture.

6. Sweet thrills of awe, mysterious stirring.

23.—12. EINMAL, sometime.

24.—7. SICH INS FELD MACHEN, to start out into the field. Compare sich auf den Weg machen, to start out.

25.—67. MIT JEDEM TAG, compare English, with every passing day.

27.—3. IN FREIER HAND, with free, i.e., unsupported, hand.

4. ERFAND = fand.

8. SOLL GEHOLFEN SEIN, it shall be remedied.

29.—1. ZOGEN ... WOHL, render did journey.

2. BEI, at the house of; bei einer Frau Wirtin, at the inn of mine hostess.

3. HAT SIE, third person singular as formal direct address (obsolete).

13. DECKTE DEN SCHLEIER ZU, covered her face with the veil.

14. DAZU, while doing this.

17. HUB, archaic for hob.

18. AN, archaic for auf.

30.—2. NIT, dialectal for nicht.

5. IN GLEICHEM SCHRITT UND TRITT, keeping step.

6. KAM GEFLOGEN, came flying; kommen is construed with the past participle.

8. Impersonal construction best rendered by the passive.

31. TAILLEFER, i.e., iron cutter. Duke William of Normandy defeated the English under Harold at Hastings in 1066.

6. SCHWINGT = turns. The water was pulled up by a windlass.

14. DABEI, while doing it.

16. KLINGEN MIT SCHILD UND SCHWERT, make shield and sword resound.

25. FUHR WOHL, did journey.

27. Told by the chronicles. To stumble was an ill omen.

29. ZUM STURME SCHRITT, went to attack.

35. SO LASST MICH DAS ENTGELTEN, etc., let me receive my dues for that, etc.

40. ROLAND, one of the famous paladins of Charlemagne; his deeds were much celebrated in song. HELD, usually weak.

43. VON, render with.

45. SPRENGT' ER HINEIN, i.e., in den Feind. STOSS, thrust (of the spear).

47. SCHLAG, blow (of the sword).

58. IN LIEB UND IN LEID, in joy and in sorrow.

32.—5. REICH AN, rich in.

7. BLICKEN used transitively.

10. GRAU VON HAAR. Compare blue of eyes and fair of hair.

35. BLITZEND, like a flash of lightning.

42. ALLER HARFEN PREIS, the best of all harps.

63. HELDENBUCH, a book telling of heroes and their deeds.



EICHENDORFF

Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff, the scion of an old aristocratic family, was born in his ancestral castle in Silesia, March 10, 1788, and died November 26, 1856. Three things especially have left an impression on his poetry: his deeply loved Silesian home with its castle-crowned wooded hills and its beautiful valleys and streams; a simple childlike piety; and an early acquaintance with the Volksbuecher and the Volkslied. The only things in Eichendorff's life that have a romantic glamor are his happy, carefree student days and his participation in the Wars of Liberation (1813-1815). When peace was declared, the poet entered the service of the Prussian state and proved himself a careful and trusted official. Thus, living a busy life, he could write that classic of romantic idleness: Aus dem Leben eines Taugenichts, The Autobiography of a Good-for-Nothing.

Eichendorff's lyric verse can be described best by Nietzsche's definition of a Lied: "Takt als Anfang, Reim als Ende, und als Seele stets Musik." Music is the very soul of his lyrics to an unusual degree. A melody of haunting sweetness dwells in his simple lines. It is as if the music of Robert Schumann had sought to clothe itself in words. Coupled with this, we meet a most delicate perception of nature and a remarkable ability to portray her various aspects and her ever varying moods. Romantic Sehnsucht (yearning), romantic Wanderlust and the romantic love of nature have found in Eichendorff their finest expression.

33.—10. VOR, on account of, because of.

11. WAS, why.

12. with free throat and joyous breast.

16. AUFS BEST', in the best way.

34.—3. WOHL. indeed.

13. BANNER, usually neuter.

16. The forest is the scene of many of the old legends.

21. Always remain steadfast and true. Compare: Wir bleiben die Alten, i.e., our feeling toward each other will not change, we shall remain true friends.

35. Besides its love of nature and its religious note, both apparent in the previous poems, notice especially the touch of symbolism; the poet stands in Waldesschatten wie an des Lebens Rand.

5, 6. SCHLAGEN HEREIN, the tones of the bells come pealing into the shadow of the forest.

10. VON. down from, on.

36. This poem describes, as the title indicates, the dawn of spring: how spring in a moonlight night imparts a mysterious stirring of new life to all nature. With its variously interwoven rhymes, both end and internal, its use of assonance and alliteration, to mention only the more obvious effects, the poem is a musical symphony.

8. WOLKENFRAU'N, clouds personified.

11. FRUEHLINGSGESELLEN, i.e. Waldquellen as helpers of spring.

37. Might well be compared to the elfin dances of Moritz von Schwind, the romantic painter.

38.—2. EIN SCHUSS FAELLT, a shot (of a gun) is heard.

40.—5. ENTBRENNTE for entbrannte.

42. Compare with 38, as to the use of the human element.

1. DER NEBEL FAELLT, i.e., sinks away.

2. WIE BALD SICH'S RUEHRET, how soon life will stir.

43.—4. Note the onomatopoetic effect of the rhythm.

44. This poem is the quintessence of Eichendorff's lyric verse. Note the construction of the stanzas. The first stanza is composed of two syntactic units: 1 and 2, 3 and 4; the second of four units; notice the effect of the two heavy syllables sternklar; the third stanza reverts in structure to the first. Notice the effect of the inversion in 10: Weit ihre Fluegel aus, — XX — X —.



RUECKERT

Friedrich Rueckert, born May 16, 1788, died January 31, 1866, represents the combination of poet and scholar in a more striking degree than even Uhland, but he lacks the latter's rare critical ability regarding his own verse. Oriental languages were his special field, and a most astounding technical skill enabled him to reproduce in German the complex Oriental verse forms with their intricate rhyme schemes. Something of this technical skill is apparent in 45, the one well-nigh perfect poem of Rueckert. The third stanza is an adaptation from a children's rhyme. This the poet uses as the main motif at regular intervals, slightly varying it in the sixth to express his own feelings directly, and closing the poem with it in the ninth. A similar parallelism is apparent in the odd lines of each stanza. The last line of each stanza must be read with three accents: Was mein einst war, X — — —.

45.—7. OB, I wonder whether.

14. UNBEWUSSTER WEISHEIT FROH, joyous in unconscious wisdom, i.e., full of wisdom and not aware of it.

16. SALOMO, Solomon, the wise king of the Hebrews. Oriental legends attributed to him magic and supernatural knowledge.

25. WOHL, concessive, it is true.



HEINE

Heinrich Heine was born in Duesseldorf, December 13, 1797, of Jewish parents. The Napoleonic Wars were among the chief impressions of his childhood. He saw Napoleon ride through Duesseldorf; he saw the tattered remains of the Grande Armee return from the disastrous Russian campaign; and although not without the patriotic fervor of the German youth, he could not but admire the genius of the great Corsican (46). At Hamburg the young Heine was to enter upon a commercial career under the guidance of his rich uncle, but failed. An unrequited love for his cousin Amalie Heine became for a number of years the subject of his song. His favorite, almost exclusive vehicle; of expression is the simple stanza of the Volkslied, which he uses with consummate skill for new effects. Heine's attempts in law proved as futile as those in business; although he did pass his examination for the degree of Doctor juris, the study of poetry had been his chief endeavor in his university career. Finally he decided to make literature his profession. Disgruntled with things in general and more especially with Germany—he had been crossed in his love for Amalie's younger sister Therese, the rich uncle not wanting a penniless poet for a son-in-law—Heine went to Paris in 1831, where he lived till his death (February 17, 1856), often reviling but always cherishing and loving Germany, the country of sweet romantic song. Compare his poem In der Fremde (64).

46. The theme of the poem is the loyalty of the humble soldier to his chosen hero. Its tone is utterly realistic, its language and metaphors those of everyday prose. Notice the effects Heine achieves by varying the number of unaccented syllables, e.g., 13 and 33, X — X — X — X — and X — XX — XX — XX —.

2. WAREN GEFANGEN, had been captives.

6. VERLOREN GEHEN, to be lost.

10. WOHL, indeed; OB, because of.

11. MIR IST WEH, I am sore at heart; mir wird weh?

13. DAS LIED IST AUS, the jig is up, all is over.

18. ICH TRAGE, I bear, I cherish.

47—58. A rearrangement from two cycles, Lyrisches Intermezzo and Heimkehr. The main theme is the poet's unrequited love for his cousin Amalie Heine (49, Therese).

48. The Lorelei is the name of a high cliff overlooking the Rhine. Clemens Brentano invented the myth, and the theme became popular in the early decades of the nineteenth century. Heine gave it its final form, in which it has practically become a folksong. The first four lines give us the mood of the poet, the second four give the setting of the action. 9-22 describe the action. Notice the utter simplicity of 21 and 22, which characterizes also the short epilogue, 23 and 24. This simple way of ending a poem Heine has in common with the folksong.

4. That does not leave my thought.

18. Impersonal, best rendered by the passive.

50. Notice that this poem has the same tripartite structure as the preceding. (Heine's decided preference for this structure is evinced by the great number of poems of three stanzas.)

3. GANGES, river in India.

9. This bit of nature description, although unconventional, does not lack truth. Goethe offers a similar example, when he speaks of schalkhafte (roguish, waggish) Veilchen.

51. One of the finest of Heine's nature poems.

52.—6. MORGENLAND, see Vocabulary.

53.—8. NEBELTANZ, the dance of the mists.

54. Notice the realism of tone, not a word that rises above the plane of everyday prose. A whole tragedy compressed into three stanzas.

6, 7. The first man that happened to come her way.

8. IST UEBEL DRAN, is in a sad fix.

55. Compare 42, where the Stimmung, the mood, of a bit of nature is expressed without any reference to any human element. In this poem of Heine the charm of the evening is embodied in the fair nymph. Compare 37. The same tendency is apparent in many of the paintings of Schwind and Boecklin.

56. Stanzas 1-3 are each divided into two equal parts. In the third stanza, however, the line of division is less marked; notice also the effect of the inversion in 12: Taucht er ins Flutengrab, — XX — X —. In the fourth stanza each line stands by itself.

57. Notice the effect of the rhyme combining the first and fourth lines of each stanza. The first two lines of each stanza have four accents, the last two, three. Notice how the metrical structure of the line is made subservient to the mood expressed; this is especially true of 3: Es dunkelt schon, mich schlaefert, X X X X.

59. An apotheosis of Christ, who is represented as the spirit of universal love permeating all things.

17. SONNENHERZ, sun heart, since the sun is his heart.

22 ff. These lines imitate clearly the pealing of church bells.

36. SCHAUERND IN, thrilled with.

60. Notice the dainty effect of the tone coloring, heightened by the skilful use of impure rhymes.

61. The charm of this poem, as of many of Heine's, lies in its suggestive power. The course of events is only dimly sketched, the tragic end hardly more than alluded to. While the first two stanzas are composed of two equal parts each, the last is composed of four.

62.—2, 4. WOHL, translate: They do, etc.

63. Of Heine's poems this was the favorite of Lenau. Absolute unity of form and content: ceaseless change in ceaseless monotony.

7. WO SIND SIE HIN? Whither are they gone?

64.—5. DAS, without any definite antecedent.

65. The inscription on Heine's grave in Paris. Compare with it Robert Louis Stevenson's Requiem.

5. WO = irgendwo, somewhere.

11. TOTENLAMPEN, lamps burned in the vaults in honor of the dead.



PLATEN

August Graf von Platen-Hallermuende was born in Ansbach, Bavaria, October 24, 1796, and died near Syracuse, Sicily, December 5, 1835. The son of a noble family, Platen is, barring his Weltschmerz (world weariness, compare Lenau) and the fact that he spent a good part of his life in foreign lands, the exact opposite of Heine. While Heine affects a certain carelessness of rhyme and rhythm and diction, Platen observes a studied elegance. His verse form is faultless as if chiselled in marble, his rhymes the most careful and pure. His ballads have a stately majesty of rhythm that reflects the inherent nobility of the poet. On the whole, his stanzas are characterized by a full and sonorous ring, although effects of delicate grace are not wanting (67). Platen is one of the greatest masters of form in German literature and is unrivalled as a master of the sonnet.

66. ALARICH (Alaric), the great leader of the Goths, having conquered Rome, succumbed to a fever when 34 years old (410 A.D.), and was buried by his troops near Cosenza (Cosentia) in the river Busento. Notice the stately dignity of the long trochaic line without any marked caesural pause. Any attempt to introduce the latter spoils the majestic ring of the verse.

1. LISPELN, best rendered, are lisped, or resound faintly.

7. vied with each other for places in the rows along the stream.

67. The lily swaying to and fro in the water is perfectly pictured by the rhythm, especially by the recurring five-syllable rhymes.

68. The peculiar effect is largely due to the preponderance of rhymes on a or o which have proved an insurmountable obstacle for every translator. Even Longfellow failed. His rhymes of light, night, change the whole effect.

9. IN ACHT NEHMEN. to watch, in poetry is often construed with the genitive.

14. Refers to the harmony of the spheres.

18. Deceptively remote distance.

20. AUFS NEUE, anew.

69. PINDAR, the greatest of the Greek lyric poets, died according to legend as here described. He is justly famous for his majestic odes, and Platen revered him as his master.

9. SCHAUSPIEL, here theater.

11. It was customary in Greece for an older man to cultivate the friendship of a youth, e.g., Socrates and Alcibiades.

12. In the Greek drama the action was interspersed with choral odes, which were sung to the accompaniment of flutes.



LENAU

Nikolaus Niembsch von Strehlenau, known as Nikolaus Lenau, the third in the group of the poets of Weltschmerz (Lord Byron is the best example in England), was born in Southern Hungary August 13, 1802. The father, a gambler and libertine, died before the boy was five years old; the mother, a high strung, passionate woman, battled with poverty for the sake of her children, of whom Nikolaus was her idol. His first impression of nature was the silent solitude and vastness of the Hungarian plains, which probably helped to accentuate an inherent strain of melancholy. Led astray by a youthful errant passion, he is haunted by a feeling of guilt, of lost innocence, and Dame Melancholy becomes his faithful life companion. When later happiness in the guise of human love crosses his pathway, he does not dare stretch out his hand. Shuddering, he feels there is something "too fatally abnormal about him that he should affix that heavenly rose to his dark gloomy heart." Living only for his art and ever eager to enrich it with new impressions, he goes to America. There Nature was virgin still, untouched by the hands of man. What a lure! Incidentally he hopes to be cured of his melancholy and to gain an easy competence by investing in government land. After a winter spent on the American frontier (1832-1833) he returns to Germany a sadder, if not a wiser man, and becomes a restless wanderer until in 1844 the fate that he always dreaded overtakes him: his spirit is enshrouded in insanity. Six years later, August 22, 1850, he dies in an asylum near Vienna.

Lenau's poetry is for the most part an expression of intense melancholy, full of "sadness at the doubtful doom of humankind." It abounds in subtle nature descriptions, often quite impressionistic in their effect (76 and especially 77). Sometimes the poet employs a homely realism (75). Lenau was a master of the violin, and his verse is full of striking rhythmical effects; on the whole he prefers the slower cadences so well suited to his nature.

70. An apostrophe to the night, which is addressed as du dunkles Auge.

5, 6. VON HINNEN NEHMEN, to take away.

8. FUER UND FUER, forever and ever.

71.—3. Describes vividly the effect of the pale moonlight on the green sedge.

72.—7. WAS for etwas.

10. WILL, wills.

73.—1 ff. In German, May is the incarnation of all spring-time beauty and bliss. Compare 2 and 110 and the word Maienglueck in 29.

3. OB = ueber.

8. STRASSEN, old weak dative.

12. FRUEHLINGSKINDER, i.e., birds.

29 f. MITTEN IN ... INNEN, in the midst of.

42. MAG, may.

44. ERDEN, see note on 8.

46. 'S IST EWIG SCHADE, it is too bad, it is a pity.

56. DRAENGE, subjunctive of purpose.

59. OB, instead of als ob. Common with Lenau.

60. STIMMEN, instead of einstimmen; in ein Lied einstimmen = to join in a song.

63. LAG, lingered.

74. The heavy, slow moving rhythm is in apt harmony with the scene portrayed.

12. 'EINER UM DEN ANDEREN', one after another, in turn.

75.—13. 'DAS AUFGESCHLAGNE GEBET', the prayer to which the book was opened.

76. This may be the direct description either of a Dutch landscape or of a painting. Holland, like most of the North Sea Plain, is one vast level expanse of country, through which the rivers and brooks move but sluggishly. Here and there a Dutch windmill looms up; like all other objects it seems to peer forth from a haze because of the moisture-laden atmosphere. Nowhere else does nature assume such a bewitchingly drowsy aspect in autumn as here.

10. OB, compare note to 73, 59. TRUTZE = trotze.

11. STROHKAPUZE, refers to the straw thatched roof.

77.—6. IN EINS FALLEN, to coalesce.

8. And in sadness become oblivious of each other.

9. HIN UND WIEDER, back and forth.

78. The last of Lenau's Waldlieder. The morbid melancholy of the poet has softened, and death is to him heimlich still vergnuegtes Tauschen, silent sweet passing from one state to another.

5. VON HINNEN, away.



MOERIKE

Eduard Moerike was born in Ludwigsburg, September 8, 1804. Circumstances forced him into the study of theology, and so he passed through the schools preparatory to the famous Tuebingen School of Divinity, where he completed his studies. He proved but an indifferent student (his thorough knowledge of Greek and Latin was in good part the result of later studies), he preferred to live in a fairy world of his own creation. Nature, music, and poetry were his delight, and of all the poets Goethe was always his favorite. For eight years Moerike was vicar in various villages of Wuerttemberg, more than once tempted to give up the ministry, but finally realizing that there was no better place to live his poet dreams than the attic room of a Suabian parsonage.

In 1834 he became pastor in Cleversulzbach, a secluded little village, nestling among the Suabian hills. Here the poet, with his mother and sister, lived an idyllic existence, his most frequent visitor the Muse. Ill health forced him to resign in 1843, and Moerike once more became a wanderer. During these years love again crossed his path, and to be able to marry—his pension was too meager—he accepted (1851) a position at a girls' seminary in Stuttgart, where he taught German Literature for one or two hours a week, a none too heavy and an altogether congenial task. Moerike died June 4, 1875.

Moerike's poetry gives abundant proof of a rich creative imagination. Even his everyday speech was of an astounding concreteness, and thus the various aspects of Nature assume bodily shape. Spring becomes a youth, the symphony of spring the soft tone of a harp (81); the night—a fairy woman—leans against the rocky cliff listening to the azure of the sky (79). Although the idyllic predominates, deeper tragic notes are not wanting (84, 85) nor is the full note of exuberant joy (86). But early in life Moerike realized that any overflowing measure of joy or grief would prove destructive to his oversensitive nature, and the golden mean became inevitably his ideal (88). Never has he expressed that sweet serenity of soul, which he gained not without a bitter struggle, more beautifully than in the melodious lines: "Auf eine Lampe" (87).

79. In its allegorical personification the poem might be compared to a painting of Boecklin. Like Venus of yore, the night rises from the sea and at midnight sees the golden balance of time (the heavenly bodies) rest in equilibrium. The springs try to lull the night, their mother, to sleep with a song of the beauty of the day. She prefers the azure melody of the midnight sky, but the waters continue to sing, even in their sleep, of the day that has just passed. This contest the poet has also portrayed rhythmically: compare the measured trochaic movement of the first half of each stanza with the lighter and more rapid dactylic movement of the second half.

5. KECKER, since the noises of the day no longer interfere with their song.

12. In apposition with des Himmels Blaeue. The firmament is the yoke along which the fleeting hours glide; GLEICHGESCHWUNGEN, equally arched, i.e., perfectly circular.

80.—3. SCHLEIER, of mist.

5. HERBSTKRAEFTIG, full of autumnal vigor; GEDAEMPFT, because the mists and the haze have softened all sharpness of outline and color.

81.—1. BLAUES BAND, metaphorical for blue sky.

7. HARFENTON, the symphony of spring, the heard and unheard stirring of new life.

82. The stanza form is an adaptation of a famous Lutheran hymn: Wie schoen leuchtet der Morgenstern.

83. Of the character of the Feuerreiter, a creation of Moerike, only this much is clear: he fights fire and has often used sinfully (freventlich) holy means (des heil'gen Kreuzes Span) to charm fire. Finally, however, he becomes a victim of the infernal powers.

21. DER ROTE HAHN, the symbol of fire.

26. FEIND, Satan.

40. As the refrain in the preceding stanzas has depicted the tolling of the bell, so the sudden break here depicts the ceasing.

42. MUESSEN, old weak dative.

84. In its beautiful simplicity this song has become a folksong, Since it presents many metrical irregularities, the following scansion may be found useful. A dot is used to indicate pitch accent.[*]

[* Transcriber's note: Here represented by 'Y'.]

X — X — X — — XX — X — XX — XX — X — XX — X Y — X — X — X — X — X — X — X — X X — X — X Y — X — X — — XX — X — X — XX — X — XX — X X — X — — X — X — X — X — X — X X — X — X

86. Moerike found the name Rohtraut by chance in an old German lexicon. The full vowel coloring appealed to him and called forth this ballad.

5. TUT etc., dialectic periphrastic conjugation = fischt und jagt.

19. WUNNIGLICH (wonniglich). 22. VERGUNNT (vergoennt)—these archaic forms are in keeping with the tone of the ballad and the patriarchal life at King Ringang's court.

87. Appropriately written in the stately Greek trimeter (iambic verse of six feet). Compare with this poem the closing lines of Keats' Ode to a Grecian Urn:

Beauty is truth, truth beauty, that is all Ye know on earth and all ye need to know.

Was aber schoen ist, selig scheint es in ihm selbst. But beauty seems a thing all blessed within itself.

6. SCHLINGT DEN RINGELREIHN, circle about in a round dance.

10. IHM, old reflexive instead of sich.

88. The confession of Moerike's ideal.

1. WILLT = willst.

2. A thing of joy or a thing of sorrow.

5-7. WOLLEST NICHT UEBERSCHUETTEN, pray do not overwhelm with a flood of.

89. Lines of three and of two accents alternate, so that the poem is really written in blank verse; its character is, however, entirely changed, since the last word of each line stands out because of the necessary rhythmical pause. Notice the change in the last two lines.



HEBBEL

Friedrich Hebbel, Germany's greatest master of tragedy since the days of Schiller, was born March 18, 1813, in the little village of Wesselburen in Holstein. Thus his first impression of nature was the infinite expanse of the North Sea Plain. Bitterest poverty was his lot from childhood; poverty and loneliness put their harsh imprint on his youth and early manhood. Haunted by hunger, he battled for years to gain a mere living, often on the brink of despair. His only help was a small stipend from the king of Denmark, which enabled him to spend two years in Paris and Rome, and the meager pennies that his devoted friend Elise Lensing, a poor seamstress in Hamburg, sent him. His short stories, his dramas, although they brought him fame, were of little avail in this struggle that seemed all too hopeless. Then a sudden change for the better came. Stopping at Vienna on his return from Rome, he found himself in a small circle of ardent admirers. He met Christine Enghaus, at that time Germany's greatest tragic actress, who became the most congenial interpreter of Hebbel's heroines. The attraction was mutual and on May 26, 1846, Friedrich Hebbel and Christine Enghaus were married. Now followed years of calm maturity, the greatest period of Hebbel's dramatic production. Hebbel died in Vienna December 13, 1863. His lyric poetry, for the most part the product of his earlier years, is marked above all by a tendency towards symbolism, these symbols usually of a rich sensuous beauty and often of a rare delicacy. A homely realism is, however, by no means lacking. The musical quality of his verse attracted the genius of Robert Schumann, who set the Nachtlied to music.

90. In the spring of 1836 Hebbel went to Heidelberg. A child of the North Sea Plain, he came in contact here with a richer, softer beauty of a more Southern landscape, a beauty which seemed to set free his latent powers. A night in the month of May on the wooded summits near Heidelberg called forth this song. The giant magnitude of the starry heavens awakened in the poet to an overpowering degree the feeling of the greatness of cosmic life; he feels the insignificance of his own individual existence, he feels as if it were in danger of being extinguished by the vastness of the great All; but then sleep comes as a kindly nurse and draws her protecting circle about the meager flame of individual existence. Notice the internal rhymes in the first and second stanzas that picture cosmic life and its reflection in the individual, and the utterly different effect of the third stanza, that returns to the narrower sphere of individual life.

91.—3. SPIELT HEREIN, comes playing into the room.

6. GEFAELLT IHM GAR ZU SEHR, it likes all too well.

92.—10. It was customary for the neighbors to perform the last kindly offices for the dead.

16. WAS, which.

93.—1. DIE DU, thou who.



95.—6 ff. WIR STERBEN: because in this union, when even the last barrier separating the "I" from the "Thou" has fallen, the aim of life has been reached in utter harmony which overcomes the limitations of individual existence. Thus these two souls may return into the All, as expressed in the beautiful symbol of the last stanza.

11. ZERFLIESSEN IN EINS, coalesce.

97. Compare Keats' Ode to Autumn.

98. Addressed to Christine Hebbel, the poet's wife.

3, 4. IN FLAMMEN STEHEN, to be aflame. This passage could be rendered, that stands as if aflame with morning light at the farthermost horizon.

10. LAESST = verlaesst.



KELLER

Gottfried Keller, best known as the master of the Novelle, was born in Zuerich, July 19, 1819, as the son of a master turner. A love for the concrete world of reality induced him to take up painting. Keller was not without talent in this line, but achieving no signal success, he gave up painting for letters. To secure for himself a stable footing in the civic world, Keller, after a number of years spent in Germany, in 1861 assumed the office of a municipal secretary of his native city, where he died July 15, 1890. Early in life, Keller threw aside all conventional beliefs, and his religion henceforth was a deep love of and a joyous faith in all life. Although Keller was in many respects decidedly matter-of-fact, a calm objective observer with a strong leaning toward utilitarian ideals—he had all the homely virtues of his ancestry—he nevertheless delighted in a myth-creating fancy. Thus Keller is very much akin to his countryman Arnold Boecklin, whom the German world honors as its greatest modern painter.

99. One of the finest expressions extant of love for one's native land. The various national anthems pale before its beauty.

3. OB = obgleich.

9. HELVETIA, Switzerland.

13. GUT UND HAB (usually Hab und Gut), possessions; render, all that I have.

15. OB, compare 3.

100. The grief and woe of Nature held by the fetters of winter personified by this nymph climbing the "Seebaum," whose branches are held by the ice. A mythical creation such as Boecklin delighted in.

12. GLIED UM GLIED, limb upon limb, i.e., each separate limb.

14. HER UND HIN, forth and back.

16. The very sound of this line is a cry of pity.

101. Written 1879. Theodor Storm called it the best lyric poem since Goethe. Compare C. F. Meyer's letter to Keller congratulating him on his seventieth birthday. Meyer praises Keller's poetry because of its "innere Heiterkeit," and continues: "Auch meine ich, dass Ihr fester Glaube an die Guete des Daseins die hoechste Bedeutung Ihrer Schriften ist. Ihnen ist wahrhaftig nichts zu wuenschen als die Beharrung in Ihrem Wesen. Weil Sie die Erde lieben, wird die Erde Sie auch so lange als moeglich festhalten."



STORM

Theodor Storm, like Friedrich Hebbel, is a child of the North Sea Plain; but while in Hebbel's verse there is hardly any direct reference to his native landscape, Storm again and again sings its chaste beauty; and while Hebbel could find a home away from his native heath, Storm clung to it with a jealous love. He was born in Husum (die graue Stadt am grauen Meer) on the west coast of Schleswig-Holstein, September 14, 1817, of well-to-do parents. While still a student of law, he published a first volume of verse together with Tycho and Theodor Mommsen. His favorite poets were Eichendorff and Moerike, and the influence of the former is plainly discernible even in Storm's later verse. Storm left his home in 1851 and did not return until 1864, after Schleswig-Holstein had become German. He died July 4, 1888.

Storm is the poet of the North Sea Plain: he discovered its peculiar beauty. While the tragic note predominates, joy and humor nevertheless abound, and at the beginning of his poems Storm himself significantly placed his Oktoberlied, written in the political gloom and uncertainty of the fall of 1848. While realizing fully its inherent tragic elements, Storm loved and glorified life and thirstily drank in its beauty to the very last. This is the keynote of Storm's lyrics.



102.—21. DIE BLAUEN TAGE, azure days, i.e., days blue as the heavens in June.

103.—6. my heart is filled with joyous fright.

104.—2. STEIN, i.e., millstone.

8. PUK, Puck, an elfin spirit of mischief. Compare Shakspere, Midsummer Night's Dream.

105. The poet's tribute to his home city Husum, "die graue Stadt am grauen Meer."

13. FUER UND FUER, forever and ever.

107. In memory of the poet's sister.

8. RECHT GESCHWISTER, true brother and sister.

11 f. NOCH WEHT EIN KINDERFRIEDEN MICH AN, still a breath of childhood peace comes to me.



108.—18. PFINGSTGLOCKEN; Pfingsten, Pentecost, is celebrated as a summer festival. In Northern Germany house doors are wreathed with birch twigs, while young birch trees are placed upright on the wings of the numerous windmills.

109.—6. MIR IST, etc., I feel (full of life) like, etc.

110.—1. VIVAT, Latin, long may he live, render hurrah!

111.—8. what otherwise would be honorable.

112. Storm has used the same motif in Immensee.

113.—7. SCHLAG, i.e., pulsation (beat) of pain.



MEYER

Conrad Ferdinand Meyer was born October 12, 1825, in Zuerich, and is thus a fellow-townsman of Keller. Like Keller Meyer is a master of the Novelle, but in all other respects there is a most striking difference. Keller was a sturdy commoner and always retained a certain affinity with the soil; there is a wholesome vigor about him. Meyer is of patrician descent; His father, who died early, was a statesman and historian; his mother a highly gifted woman of fine culture. Thus the boy grew up in an atmosphere of refinement. Having finished the Gymnasium, he took up the study of law, but history and the humanities were of greater interest to him. Even in the child two traits were observed that later characterized the man and the poet: he had a most scrupulous regard for neatness and cleanliness, and he lived and experienced more deeply in memory than in the immediate present. Meyer found himself only late in life; for many years also, being practically bilingual, he wavered between French and German. The Franco-German War brought the final decision, and from now on his works appeared in rapid succession. He died in his home in Kilchberg above Zuerich, November 28, 1898.

Meyer's lyric verse is almost entirely the product of his later years. It has none of the youthful exuberance of Goethe's earlier lyrics; a note of quiet calm, a mellow maturity pervades all; both joy and sorrow live only in the memory. And still Meyer loved life's exuberant fullness, and a more finely attuned ear hears through this calm the beat of a heart that felt joy and sorrow deeply. Everywhere there is apparent a love of nature interpreted with all the modern subtlety of feeling. Meyer was a Swiss and his landscape, is that of Switzerland, one might even say that of Zuerich. Nature hardly ever speaks in herself, but only in her human relationship; not the field alone, but the field and the sower (121), the field and the reaper (118); not the lake alone, but the lake and the solitary oarsman (124). The poet loves the work of human hands and especially its highest form, that of art. Thus a Roman fountain (119), a picture, a statue become the subject of his verse. Of all the arts he loved sculpture most, and in its chaste self-restraint his poetry is like marble. Give marble a voice and you have a poem of Conrad Ferdinand Meyer. His poetry is also akin to marble in its perfection of form that is faultless, because it is the living rhythmic embodiment of an idea, of an experience. Witness but the melody and the rhythm of der roemische Brunnen or of the Saeerspruch. In English letters Walter Savage Landor is a kindred spirit and his Finis, except for a note of haughty pride, might well be the epitaph of the Swiss poet:

I strove with none, for none was worth my strife. Nature I loved and, next to Nature, Art: I warmed both hands before the fire of life; It sinks, and I am ready to depart.

114.—9-14. A series of "Liederseelen." Every one of these lines contains the idea of one of Meyer's poems; compare 116.

11. GEN ... EMPOR, up towards.

115.—10. DUMPFEN RUDERS, a case of transferred epithet. The sound goes, of course, with Schlagen.

116.—8. FRAEGT, usually fragt.

11. DU TUST DIR'S SELBST ZU LEID, You do it (i.e., stay away) to your own grief.

12. WAS FUER EIN, what kind of a.

119. The theme of Meyer's lyrics often is a painting, a piece of sculpture, etc. Here a typical Roman fountain has found lasting embodiment.

2. DER MARMORSCHALE RUND, the round hollow of the marble basin.

120.—3. ZUM ERSTEN, at first.

121. The poem in its rhythm embodies the rhythm of the sower. Compare Millet's painting The Sower.

122.—4. NICHT EINER, DER DARBE, not one that may suffer want.

123. The Dutch school of painting is famous for its realism and its truth to life. The effect of this poem is due in no small mean to contrast: "das kleine zarte Bild" of the first two lines described, 12 ff., and the "Junker mit der Dirn, der vor Gesundheit fast die Wange birst"; the quiet of death, the quiet grief of the master, and the boisterous fullness of life.

NACH, according to, from.

3. ES POCHT, Somebody knocks. HEREIN, come in.

5. VOR, because of.

6. VON, with.

10. ZUR STUNDE, at once.

16. NACH DER NATUR, from life.

126. It is necessary to bear in mind that in Switzerland dusk first settles in the valleys and then gradually creeps up to the villages situated on a higher level.

8. KILCHBERG, the poet's home near Zuerich.

128.—3. GEMAHL, n. in poetry instead of Gemahlin.

4. MORGENSCHAUER, the cool morning breezes, the chill that falls just before sunrise.

12. SOMMERHOEHN, the higher meadows where the cattle can graze only in the summer months.



LILIENCRON

Detlev von Liliencron, a countryman of Hebbel and Storm, was born in Kiel, June 3, 1844. He loved a soldier's life and served his country in two wars, 1866 and 1870-71, and thus saw life in its grim reality. Because of wounds and debts, he tells us, he left the army. An inborn love of adventure and action made him try his fortune in America, where his mother's father had served under Washington. His aim was to enter the military service of one of the Central or South American states. Disappointed in his hopes, he returned to Germany and for a number of years was a government official. This task, however, proved too irksome for his restless spirit, and in spite of his continual financial embarrassments, he resigned to live as he pleased. He died in Hamburg, July 22, 1909.

In his younger days, Liliencron felt the throb and stir of life far too keenly to find leisure for literature. Not till 1884 did his first volume of verse appear, recollections of his soldier days. The volume contains graphic descriptions of the most concise brevity, single words taking the place of whole sentences (132).

He delineates war with all its horror, not however without a sad pathos (133). He is also a master at depicting the more joyous side of a soldier's life, the carefree maneuvres of a regiment with its colors and music passing through a village (130). In his love of nature Liliencron is akin to Storm, and even surpasses the older poet in the impressionistic vividness of his descriptions.

130. The poem pictures a German village scene: soldiers with their music approach from the distance, march through and disappear.

3. BRICHT'S, breaks forth or bursts forth.

6 ff. The attention is first focused on the deeper notes. A gradual rise in pitch is noticeable in the lines from instrument to instrument named.

24. LATERNENGLAS, of the street lanterns.

29. WILHEL(MINE), KATHARINE (TRINE), CHRI(STINE)

131.—9. SIRRT, an onomatopoetic word coined by the poet to imitate the sound of the scythe cutting through the grain.

10. ARBEITSFRIEDEN, the quiet peace of daily labor.

11. HEIMATWELT, home world. Compare Alltagswelt, work-a-day world.

132.—4. march and flood of victory.

11 f. DURCH DIE LUEFTE BRAUST, etc., with horrible whir of wings a flight of vultures passes through the air.

133. Famous battle in the Seven Years War, in which Frederick the Great was defeated with enormous losses by the Austrians.

2. SOMMERHALM, lit. summerstalk, i.e., growing grain.

4. IST AUS, is over.

9. he had to go.

16. BEVERN, a small town in Brunswick.

22. HINEIN, into the book.

134.—4. WINZERVOLK, collective sing. Best rendered as plural of Winzer.

136. A lullaby for the poet's son Wulff (Wolf).

3. MONDESKAHN, i.e., crescent moon-shaped like a boat. Render the line, slowly the crescent moon floats like a boat.

137.—5. The content of life not stirred by a breeze.

138.—6 ff. SONNENGRUEN ... WEISS ... STILL. The peculiar effect of sunlight on colors and on quiet is depicted by these compounds.

14. -FAELTIG, -fold.

16. slowly the dusk of evening lowers.



VOCABULARY

As this book presupposes a knowledge of elementary grammar, pronouns, numerals, the common prepositions, and modal and auxiliary verbs are not given. Of strong verbs only the vowel change, including the quantity when different from the infinitive, is indicated, unless the verb shows further irregularities. Intransitive verbs that take sein contrary to rule are marked with 's'. The prefix of separable verbs is followed by -. Of nouns only the plural is given, unless they belong to the so-called mixed declension. Compound words whose meaning is readily discernible from the component parts, are not included.

[Transcriber's note: In the original, there are no commas between the German word (printed in bold type) and its English translation in simple definitions. Bold type is usually rendered as ALL CAPS in PG e-texts, but since the meaning of German words can depend on their capitalization (e.g. 'arm' and 'Arm' mean different things) I have added commas instead to make the vocabulary more easily understandable. Short vowels are marked with [s], long vowels with [l]. '-"' is my rendering for a change of a vowel to an umlaut in plural form.]

A

Abend, m. -e evening

Abendrot, n. evening glow

abends, adv. in the evening

Abendschein, m. evening light or glow

ab-fallen, ie, a; ae, intr. fall off

Abgrund, m. -"e abyss

ab-kehren, refl. turn away

ab-leiten, tr. lead aside

ab-messen, a[l], e; i, tr. measure off

ab-nehmen, a, omm; imm, tr. take off

ab-reisen, intr. leave on a journey

Abschied, m. departure, farewell

ab-schmeicheln, tr. obtain by flattery

ab-streifen, tr. slip off

ab-zaehlen, tr. count off

ach, alas, ah

achten, tr. heed, care for (poet. with gen.)

acht-geben, a, e; i, intr. give heed

aechzen, intr. groan

Ade, n. farewell

Ader, f. -n vein, blood vessel

ahnen, tr. and intr. divine, have a foreboding of

ahnungsvoll, full of sweet foreboding; ominous

Aehre, f. -n ear of grain

Aehrenfeld, n. -er field of ripening grain

All, n. the universe; entirety, unison

allda, there

allzu, adv. (in compounds) much too, all too

Alpe, f. -n the Alps

alt, old

Alter, n. — age

Altersschwaeche, f. senility, weakness of old age

Amme, f. -n nurse

Amselschlag, m. song of the Amsel (kind of blackbird)

an-beten, tr. worship

an-blicken, tr. look at

an-brechen, a[l], o; i, intr. dawn, break

andaechtig, devout

an-fangen, i, a; ae, tr. begin

an-fassen, tr. catch hold of, seize

an-gehen, ging, gegangen intr. be possible

Angel, m., f. -s, -n fishhook

Angesicht, n. -er face, countenance

Angst, f. -"e fear, anguish

aengsten, aengstigen, tr. cause fear, frighten; refl. be afraid

an-halten, ie, a; ae, tr. stop; intr. last

an-klagen, tr. accuse

an-klingen, a, u, intr. begin sounding

an-legen, tr. put on, don

an-rufen, ie, u, tr. implore, call upon

an-schauen, tr. look at, gaze at

an-sehen, a, e; ie, tr. look at

an-stimmen, tr. strike up or start (a song)

an-stossen, ie, o; oe, tr. strike, knock against; clink glasses

Antlitz, n. -e face, countenance

Antwort, f. -en answer

an-vertrauen, tr. intrust

an-wehen, tr. blow or breathe upon

an-wenden, reg. or wandte, gewandt, tr. use, employ

Apfel, m. -" apple

Arbeit, f. -en work, labor

Aerger, m. vexation, anger

arm, poor

Arm, m. -e arm

Art, f. -en kind, type

Arzt, m. -"e physician

Asche, f. -n ashes

Asien, Asia

Ast, m. -"e branch

Atem, m. respiration, breath

atemlos, breathless

Atemzug, m. -"e breath, respiration

Aether, m. ether (i.e., the blue heavens)

atmen, intr. and tr. breathe

aufbauen, tr. build up, erect

aufdecken, tr. uncover, lay bare; raise, lift

aufdonnern, tr. dress ostentatiously

Aufenthalt, m. -e abode

auferziehen, erzog, erzogen, tr. bring up, rear

auffangen, i, a; ae, tr. catch, capture, receive

auffinden, a, u, tr. find, discover

aufhangen, i, a, tr. suspend, hang up

aufheben, o, o, tr. pick up, raise

auffassen, tr. snatch up; refl. rise quickly

aufrecht, upright, erect

aufreichen, intr. reach upward

aufrichtig, honest

aufschlagen, u, a; ae, tr. open (a book)

aufschweben, intr. soar up

aufspringen, a, u, intr. spring up, jump up

aufstehen, stand, gestanden, intr. arise, get up

aufsteigen, ie, ie, intr. rise upward, ascend

auftauchen, intr. rise up. emerge from (the water)

auftuermen, tr. pile up; aufgetuermt towering

aufwaerts, upward

Auge, n. -s, -n eye

aus-blicken, intr. look out

aus-brennen, brannte, gebrannt, intr. cease burning or glowing, burn out

aus-graben, u, a; ae, tr. dig out

aus-klingen, a, u, intr. cease sounding

aus-loeschen, o, o; i, intr. be extinguished, go out

aus-machen, tr. settle

aus-rufen, ie, u, tr. call out, cry out

aus-ruhen, intr. rest; ausgeruht haben be rested

aus-schauen, intr. look out

aus-singen, a, u, intr. cease or finish singing

aus-spannen, tr. stretch out, spread

aus-steigen, ie, ie, intr. get out, disembark

aus-strecken, tr. stretch out, prostrate

aus-ziehen, zog, gezogen, tr. undress; take off, pull off

B

Bach, m. -"e brook

baden, tr. and intr. (refl.) bathe

Bahn, f. -en path, track

bald, soon; — ... — now ... now

Band, m. -"e volume

Band, n. -"er ribbon

Band, n. -e bond, fetter

bang, fearful, afraid

bangen, intr. yearn

Bank, f. -"e bench

bannen, tr. charm, drive away

Banner, n. — banner

Barke, f. -n barque

Bart, m. -"e beard

Bau, m. -s, -ten structure, building

Bauch, m. -"e belly, paunch

Bauer, m. -s and -n, -n farmer

Baum, m. -"e tree

baeumen, refl. rear, prance

beben, intr. tremble, shake

Becher, m. — cup, goblet

Beckenschlag, m. -"e clang of cymbals

bedecken, tr. cover

bedeuten, tr. mean, portend

Bedeutung, f. -en meaning

bedrohen, tr. threaten, menace

bedruecken, tr. oppress

beengen, tr. narrow in, oppress

beerdigen, tr. bury

Beet, n. -e bed (in a garden)

befragen, tr. question

befreien, tr. free, liberate

befreundet, friendly

begegnen, intr. meet, pass

Begier, f. desire

beginnen, a, o, tr. begin

beglaenzen, tr. illumine, cover with radiance

begleiten, tr. accompany

Begleiter, m. — one who accompanies a person, companion

begluecken, tr. make happy, bless with happiness

begraben, u, a; a[s], tr. bury

begrenzen, tr. confine, limit

Behagen, n. content, delight

behalten, ie, a; a[s], tr. retain, keep; das Wort — keep on speaking

Beharrung, f. perseverance, continuance

behend(e), nimble, agile

beherzt, courageous, daring

Bein, n. -e leg

beinern, bony, skeleton

beisammen, together

bekaempfen, tr. combat, resist

bekennen, bekannte, bekannt, tr. confess

beklommen, oppressed

bellen, intr. bark

bemessen, a[l], e; i, tr. measure

benebeln, tr. cover with fog; p.p. befuddled, drunk, made drowsy

bereit, ready, prepared

bereiten, tr. prepare

Berg, m. -e mountain

bergen, a, o; i, tr. hide, shelter

Bergeshang, m. -"e mountain slope

Bergesrand, m. -"er edge or side of a mountain or hill.

Bergesruecken, m. — mountain ridge or crest

bersten, a (o), o; i, intr. burst, explode

beruhigen, tr. calm

beruehren, tr. touch

besaenftigen, tr. assuage

beschatten, tr. cast a shadow on, shade

beschauen, tr. view, look at

Bescheid, m. -e answer, response; — trinken pledge (i.e., answer to a toast)

bescheiden, ie, ie, tr. apportion, allot, destine; refl. moderate oneself, resign oneself to one's fate

Bescheiden, n. moderation, content, resignation

bescheinen, ie, ie, tr. illumine, shine upon

beschleichen, i[s], i[s], tr. steal upon

beschmutzen, tr. make dirty, sully

Beschuetzer, m. — protector

besiegen, tr. overcome, conquer

besingen, a, u, tr. sing about, praise in song

Besinnung, f. consciousness, reflection; — raubend robbing one of the power of reflection, sense destroying

besinnungslos, unconscious

Besitz, m. possession

besitzen, besass, besessen, tr. possess

bespiegeln, refl. gaze at oneself in a glass

besprechen, a[l], o; i, tr. charm by magic words

besser, better

bestehen, bestand, bestanden, (in), intr. consist (of)

bestellen, tr. order, give a message

bestrahlen, tr. shine upon, illumine

beten, intr. pray

betoeren, tr. beguile, delude

betruegen, o, o, tr. deceive

Bett(e), n. -es, -en bed

Bettelkind, n. -er beggar child

betteln, tr. beg

Bettler, m. — beggar

beugen, tr. and refl. bend, bow

bewachen, tr. guard, watch over

bewahren, tr. guard, keep

bewegen, tr. move, stir, agitate

beweinen, tr. lament, weep for

bewusst, conscious of

bezeigen, tr. and refl. show manifest

biegen, o, o, tr. and refl. bend

Biene, f. -n bee

Bier, n. -e beer

Bild, n. -er picture; image

bilden, tr. form

binden, a, u, tr. bind, tie

Birne, f. -n pear

Bitte, f. -n request, prayer

blaehen, tr cause to bloat, distend

blank, shining, bright

blasen, ie, a; ae, tr. and intr. blow

blass, pale

Blatt, n. -"er leaf

blau, blue, azure; im Blauen in the azure blue

Blau, n. azure of the sky

Blaeue, f. blueness, azure

blauen, intr. appear blue, become blue

bleiben, ie, ie, intr. (s) remain

bleich, pale

blenden, tr. blind, dazzle

Blick, m. -e glance, look

blicken, intr. look, gaze

blinken, intr. gleam, glisten

Blitz, m. -e lightning, flash of lightning

blitzen, intr. flash, gleam

Blitzesschlag, m. -"e stroke of lightning

blond, blonde, fair

bluehen, intr. blossom, bloom; bluehend in the bloom of life

Blume, f. -n flower

Blumengesicht, n. -er blossom face

Blumengewind, n. -e wreath of flowers

Blut, m. blood

Bluete, f. -n blossom

bluten, intr. bleed

Bluetendampf, m. -"e odor of blossoms (Dampf steam, vapor)

bluetenreich, rich in blossoms, full of blossoms

Bluetenschimmer, m. — shimmer of blossoms

blutig, bloody

Blutstrahl, m. -s, -en stream of blood

Boden, m. soil, ground; space below the rafters

Bodenluke, f. -n trapdoor opening into the attic

Bogen, m. bow, arch

Bombardon, n. bombardon

Boot, n. -e and Boete boat

Born, m. -e fount, spring

boese, evil, wicked

Boesewicht, m. -er rascal, wrong doer

brauchen, tr. use, need, be in need of (with genitive)

brauen, tr. and intr. brew, ferment

braun, brown

brausen, intr. roar

Brautfest, n. -e bridal festival

brechen, a[l], o; i, tr. break; pick (eine Blume); das Auge bricht the eye grows dim in death

brennen, brannte, gebrannt, intr. burn

Brot, n. -e bread

Bruecke, f. -n bridge

Bruder, m. -" brother

Brudergruss, m. -"e brotherly greeting

Brunnen, m. — well, fountain, spring

Brust, f. -"e breast

Brut, f. -en brood

Bube, m. -n knave, boy, fellow

Buch, n. -"er book

Buche, f. -n beech

buchendunkel, dark with beeches

Bucht, f. -en bay

Buhle, f. -n sweetheart; m. lover

Buhler, m. — lover, wooer

Buehne, f. -n stage

bunt, of various colors

Bursche, m. -en (-e) fellow, youth, boy

Busch, m. -"e shrub, bush

Busen, m. — bosom

C

Chor, m. -"e chorus, choir

christlich, Christian

Christus, m. -i, -o, -um Christ

D

Dach, n. -"er roof

Dachgestuehl(e), n. -e rafters

daheim, at home

dahin, thither

dahin-strecken, tr. stretch out

damit, with it or them

daemmern, intr. spread a feeble light (used of the coming of dawn or dusk)

Daemmerschein, m. -e twilight

daemm(e)rig, dusky

Daemmerung, f. twilight, dawn

daempfen, tr. subdue

Dank, m. thanks, gratitude; zu — so as to merit thanks or meet approval

daran, at it, beside it

darben, intr. suffer want

dar-bieten, o, o, tr. offer

dar-bringen, brachte, gebracht, tr. offer, present, sacrifice

darob, on that account

darueber-gehen, ging, gegangen, intr. surpass; es geht mir nichts darueber, I prize nothing more highly

da-sein, intr. be present

Dasein, n. existence

da-stehen, stand, gestanden, intr. be or stand there

dauern, intr. last, endure, continue

dazu, besides

dazwischen, in between

Decke, f. -n covering, blanket; ceiling, roof

decken, tr. cover

Degen, m. — sword

Degenknauf, m. -"e pommel of the sword's hilt

Deingedenken, n. thinking of you

Demut, f. humility

denken, dachte, gedacht, tr. think; jemandes or an jemanden — think of someone

dereinst, some (future) day, in days to come

derweil, the while that (archaic for waehrend while)

deutsch, German

dicht, dense, close

dichten, tr. compose or create in poetry; im Leben oder Dichten in life or verse

Dichter, m. — poet

dick, thick, fat, plump

dienen, intr. (with dat.) serve

Dienst, m. -e service; ich bin zu — I am at your service

Dirne, f. -n lass, girl

Distel, f. -n thistle

Donner, m. — thunder

donnern, intr. thunder

Donnerkeule, f. -n thunder club

doppelt, double, twofold

Dorf, n. -"er village

dort, there, yonder

Drache, m. -n dragon

drall, buxom

draengen, tr. press

draus, daraus, out of, therefrom

draussen, outside, without

drehen, tr. turn

drein- (or darein-) blicken, intr.

drein-schauen, look on

dreist, bold

dringen, a, u, intr. press, penetrate; in jemanden — importune

drinnen, within

droben, up there

droehnen, intr. reverberate

Drossel, f. -n thrush

drueben, yonder

druecken, tr. press

drunten, down below, down there

Duft, m. -"e odor, fragrance; haze

duften, intr. be fragrant, spread fragrance

duftig, fragrant; hazy, airy

dulden, tr. bear, tolerate

dumpf, dull, hollow (of sound)

dumpfbrausend, with a hollow roar

dunkel, dark

dunkeln, intr. grow dark

duenn, thin

durchbeben, tr. throb through

durchdringen, a, u, tr. penetrate

durcheilen, tr. hasten or pass through quickly

durchstreichen, i[s], i[s], tr. ramble, roam through

durchwandeln, tr. wander through

duerftig, scanty, sparse

duerr, withered, dry

Durst, m. thirst

Dursteswut, f. rage of thirst

durstueberquaelt, overtortured by thirst

duester, dark, gloomy

Duester, n. gloom, darkness

duesterrot, gloomy red

E

eben, for soeben just

echt, genuine, real

Ecke, f. -n corner

edel, noble

Efeu, m., n. ivy

ehe, before

Ehre, f. -n honor

Ehrenkreuz, n. -e cross of honor

Eiche, f. -n oak

eigen, peculiar

Eigentum, n. -"er possession

eilig, hasty, hurried

ein-fallen, ie, a; ae, intr. interrupt

ein-kehren, intr. enter, turn in

ein-laeuten, tr. ring in

ein-legen, tr. lay or put in; ein-gelegte Ruder oars dipped into the water

einmal, once (upon a time)

einsam, lonely, alone

ein-scharren, tr. bury hurriedly (scharren = scrape, scratch)

ein-schenken, tr. pour in or out; Wein — fill the glasses with wine

ein-schlafen, ie, a; ae, intr. fall asleep

ein-schlummern, intr. fall asleep; wieder — return to slumber

einst, sometime, once upon a time

ein-steigen, ie, ie, intr. get in

einstmals, once upon a time

eintoenig, monotonous

ein-treten, a, e; tritt, intr. enter

einzeln, single

einzig, single, unique, only

Eis, n. ice

Eisen, n. — iron

elend, wretched

Elfe, f. -n elf

empfangen, i, a; ae, tr. receive

empfinden, a, u, tr. feel

empor, upward

Ende, n. -s, -n end; an allen -n everywhere; am — finally

enden, intr. end, stop

Engelland = England, n. England

englisch, English

entbrennen, entbrannte (entbrennte), entbrannt, intr. start to burn or to glow

entdecken, tr. discover

entfachen, tr. enkindle

entfahren, u, a; a, intr. escape, slip from

entfaerben, tr. decolorate; refl. lose color, fade

entfernen, tr. remove; refl. withdraw

entfliehen, o, o, intr. escape

entgegen-ragen, intr. project or loom up against

entgelten, a, o; i, tr. suffer or atone for

entkleiden, tr. and refl. undress

entlang, (prep. with acc.) along

entlegen, distant, far off

Entsagung, f. -en renunciation

entschlafen, ie, a; ae, intr. go to sleep

entschleiern, tr. unveil

entschweben, intr. soar away

Entsetzen, n. terror

entspringen, a, u, intr. escape

entstellen, tr. disfigure

entzwei-springen, a, u, intr. burst asunder

Erbe, m. -n heir

erblassen, intr. turn pale, die

erbleichen, i[s], i[s], intr. turn pale

erblicken, tr. catch sight of

erdbeschmutzt, "earth sullied," covered with earth

Erde, f. -n earth

erdenken, erdachte, erdacht, tr. devise, invent

erfahren, u, a; ae, tr. experience, learn

erfinden, a, u, tr. invent (archaic for finden find)

erfreulich, joyful, pleasing; — sein be a thing of joy

ergiessen, o[s], o[s], tr. pour forth, shed

erglaenzen, intr. shine forth

ergoetzlich, amusing

ergreifen, iff, iff, tr. seize, grasp

erhalten, ie, a; ae, tr. preserve, keep; receive

erheben, o, o, tr. raise, uplift; refl. rise

Erinnerung, f. -en memory, remembrance

erkalten, intr. grow cool

erkennen, erkannte, erkannt, tr. recognize

erklingen, a, u, intr. resound

erlernen, tr. learn

erlesen, a, e; ie, tr. choose

erleuchten, tr. illumine

erliegen, a, e, intr. succumb, be defeated

erloeschen, o, o; i, intr. go out, be extinguished

ermatten, intr. grow weary

ermueden, intr. grow tired

ernst, earnest, serious

Ernst, m. earnestness, seriousness

Ernte, f. -n harvest

erquicken, tr. refresh

Erquickung, f. -en refreshment

erreichen, tr. reach, attain

erschallen, weak or o, o, intr. resound, ring out

erscheinen, ie, ie, intr. appear

erschlagen, u, a; ae, tr. slay, kill

erschrecken, a[l], o; i, intr. be terrified or frightened

erschwingen, a, u, refl. take wing or flight

erstarren, intr. grow numb, be paralyzed, turn rigid

erstechen, a[l], o; i, tr. kill by stabbing, stab or run through with a knife or sword

ersteigen, ie, ie, tr. climb

ersticken, tr. and intr. smother, choke, suffocate

erwachen, intr. awaken

erwaehlen, tr. choose

erwarten, tr. await, wait for

erweisen, ie, ie, tr. prove; render, bestow upon

erweiten, tr. and refl. widen, expand, grow

Erz, n. -e ore, metal, bronze

erzaehlen, tr. tell, relate

essen, ass, gegessen; isst, tr. eat

ewig, eternal

Ewigkeit, f. -en eternity

F

fachen, tr. fan, kindle

Fackel, f. -n torch

Fahne, f. -n flag

fahren, u, a; ae, intr. move, journey, go

fallen, ie, a; ae, intr. fall, drop; etwas faellt jemandem in die Augen something strikes one's gaze

falten, tr. fold

Falter, m. — butterfly

fangen, i, a; ae, tr. catch, capture

Farbe, f. -n color

fassen, tr. grasp, take hold of, seize, understand

fast, almost

Faust, f. -"e fist

Fehl, m. -e wrong, guilt, blemish

Feier, f. -n festal celebration

feierlich, festal, solemn

feiern, intr. rest (from one's labor)

feig, cowardly

fein, fine, delicate, fair

Feind, m. -e enemy

Feld, n. -er field

Fels, m. -ens, -en rock, cliff

Felsenbank, f. *e bench of rock

Felsenriff, n. -e reef

Felsenschlucht, f. -en rocky ravine

felsig, rocky

Felswand, f. -"e wall of rock, precipice

Fenster, n. — window

Ferge, m. -n ferryman

fern, far, distant; (with dat.) far from

Ferne, f. -n distance

fernher, from afar

fernhin, far off

Fest, n. -e festival, celebration

fest(e), firm, fast

fest-halten, ie, a; ae, tr. hold (firmly)

feucht, moist, wet

Feuer, n. — fire

Feuerleiter, f. -n fire ladder

feurig, fiery, ardent

Fichte, f. -n pine

Fieber, n. — fever

fieberwild, wild or raging with fever

finden, a, u, tr. find

finster, dark, gloomy

Finsternis, f. -isse darkness

Firn, m. -e last year's snow; mountains topped with perpetual snow

Firneschein, m. — glow of the snow-capped mountains

Fisch, m. -e fish

fischen, tr. fish

Fischer, m. — fisherman

flach, flat, level

flaemisch, Flemish

Flamme, f. -n flame

flattern, intr. flutter

flechten, o, o; i, tr. braid, plait, intertwine

flehen, intr. beseech, implore, pray (um etwas for something)

fleissig, industrious, busy

fliegen, o, o, intr. fly

fliehen, o, o, intr. flee; tr. flee from

fliessen, o[l], o[l], intr. flow

flimmern, intr. glitter, glimmer

Flinte, f. -n gun, rifle

flirren, intr. vibrate

Flitter, m. — spangle, tinsel; empty pomp

Flor, m. veil

Floetist, m. -en flute player

Fluch, m. -"e curse

fluechtig, fleeting, fleeing

Flug, m. -"e flight

Fluegel, m. — wing, pinion

Fluegelschlag, m. -"e flap or beat of the wings

Fluegelwehn, n. wafting of wings

Flur, f. -en field, plain

Fluss, m. -"e river

flussueberwaerts, across the river

fluestern, intr. whisper

Fluesterwort, n. -e whispered word

Flut, f. -en flood

fluten, intr. stream, surge

Flutengrab, n. -"er grave beneath the water

fodern = fordern, tr. demand

Foehn, m. -e south wind

folgen, intr. (with dat.) follow

foerdern, tr. advance, hasten

Form, f. -en form

Forschbegierde, f. desire to learn or investigate

forschen, intr. inquire into, search

fort, adv. away; sep. pref. (1) with verbs expressing a change of place away, e.g., fortziehen journey away, depart; forttragen carry away; (2) on, to continue to, e.g., fortsingen keep on singing, continue to sing

fort und fort, on and on

fragen, tr. ask

Frager, m. — questioner

frank, frank

Frankreich, n. France

Frau, f. -en woman, wife, Mrs.

Fraeulein, n. — Miss, unmarried young lady, (archaic) young lady of rank

frech, insolent, audacious

frei, free

freigeben, a, e; i, tr. set free, release

Freiheit, f. -en freedom, liberty

fremd, foreign, alien, strange

Fremdling, m. -e stranger

Freude, f. -n joy

Freudenrechnung, f. -en account of joys

freudig, joyful

freuen, refl. rejoice, be happy; tr. make rejoice, make happy

Freund, m. -e friend

freundlich, friendly, kindly

Frevel, m. — outrage, wrong

freventlich, outrageous, nefarious

Friede, m. -ens peace

Friedenswunder, n. — miracle of peace, peaceful miracle

friedfertig, peaceful

friedlich, peaceful

froh, merry; (with gen.) happy in

froehlich, joyful, glad

fromm, pious, reverend, Godfearing

frommen, intr. (with dat.) be useful, avail or profit

Frucht, f. -"e grain, fruit

frueh, early

Fruehe, f. dawn, early morning

Fruehling, m. -e spring

Fruehstueck, n. -e breakfast

fuehlen, tr. and intr. (refl.) feel

fuehren, tr. lead; einen Schlag — deal a blow

Fuehrer, m. — leader, guide

fuellen, tr. fill

funkeln, intr. sparkle

Funken, m. — spark

furchtbar, terrible

fuerder, onward

fuersichtig = vorsichtig, prudent, cautious

Fuss, m. -"e foot

Fussgestell, n. -e pedestal

G

Gabe, f. -n gift

Gang, m. -"e course

ganz, whole, entire

gaenzlich, entire

gar, very, utterly

Garbe, f. -n sheaf

Garten, m. -" garden

Gasse, f. -n narrow street

Gast, m. -"e guest

Gastfreund, m. -e person connected with another by ties of hospitable friendship

gastlich, hospitable

Gaul, m. -"e horse of inferior breed, nag

Gazelle, f. -n gazelle

Gebein, n. (collective) — bones, frame

Gebell, n. barking

geben, a, e; i, tr. give

Gebet, n. -e prayer

Gebruell, n. roar, roaring

Gedanke, m. -n thought

gedankenvoll, full of thought, absorbed in thought

gedrang, narrow (from draengen)

Gedraenge, n. — throng, surging crowd

Gedroehne, n. — resounding or sonorous pealing

geduldig, patient

gefaehrden, tr. endanger