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So wonlig auf dem Grund,
Du stiegst herunter, wie du bist,
Und würdest erst gesund.

Labt sich die liebe Sonne nicht,
Der Mond sich nicht im Meer?
Kehrt wellenathmend ihr Gesicht
Nicht doppelt schöner her?
Lockt dich der tiefe Himmel nicht,
Das feucht verklärte Blau?
Lockt dich dein eigen Angesicht

Nicht her in ew'gen Thau?

Das Wasser rauscht', das Wasser schwoll,

Netzt' ihm den nackten Fuss;

Sein Herz wuchs ihm so sehnsuchtsvoll,

Wie bei der Liebsten Gruss.

Sie sprach zu ihm, sie sang zu ihm;

Da war's um ihn geschebn.

Halb zog sie ihn, halb sank er hin.
Und ward nicht mehr gesehn.

THE ANGLER.

The water rushed, the water swelled, an angler sat near it; cool up to his heart he calmly looked at the angle, and as he sat in soft repose, the rising flood opened, and out of the agitated water rushed up a humid female. She sung to him, she said to him, why doest thou allure my brood up with human skill and human stratagem to this killing heat? Ah! didst thou but know how happy the fish are below, thou wouldst come down as thou art, and only then thou wouldst know happiness. Does not the lovely sun, does not the moon, refresh themselves in the sea? Does not their wave-breathing face return more beautiful? Does not this deep heaven, this humid æthereal blue, attract thee? Does not the reflection of thine own face tempt thee down into the everlasting dew? The water rushed, the water swelled, and wetted his naked foot: his heart felt a longing, as if it had been a greeting from his love. She said to him, she sung to him; and it was all over with him; she half dragged him, he half sunk down, and never was seen any more.

250. der Fischer, s. masc. the fisher, the angler. The verbal names of men carrying on a certain trade or profession have the same termination in er, in English and in German, and are mostly derived from the infinitive of the verb which denotes the occupation. Der Bäcker, the baker; der Brauer, the brewer; der Lehrer, the teacher; der Mahler, the painter, &c.

251. das Wasser rauscht', the water rushed. The apos

trophe after the t shows that it is not the present of the indicative, but the imperfect, the poet being at liberty to reject the final e, for the sake of the metre: in prose it must be rauschte, from the reg. neut. verb, rauschen, to rush, to gush out with a noise, to rattle. It is conj. with haben, and applies equally to wind and water, and to silks: fig. ein rauschendes Vergnügen, a noisy pleasure. Das Wasser schwoll, the water swelled; schwellen, irr. neut. ich schwelle, du schwillst, er schwillt, pl. reg. ich schwoll, ich bin geschwollen, to swell, to be puffed up. As an active verb it is regular, and some modern writers make the neut. schuillen, and the act. schwellen; just as we say, quillen and quellen, sinken and senken, schwimmen and schwemmen, springen and sprengen, trinhen and tränken, sec. 42 and 243.

252. ein Fischer sass daran, a fisher sat close to it. Sass, impf. of the irr. neut. sitzen, to sit; ich sitze, ich sass, ich habe gesessen. In conjunction with the adverbs, like gut, well; schlecht, übel, badly; schön, well, beautifully, &c. sitzen, alluding to clothes, means "to fit." Das Kleid sitzt nicht gut, the coat does not fit well: and here again the active verb is setzen, agreeably to the preceding remark, to place: setzen sie sich, set yourself down, refl. der Angel, s, pl. die Angeln, masc. the fishing-hook, the angle: it is now generally employed as a fem. in which case it denotes also the whole angling rod, die Angelruthe.

253. Kühl bis ans Herz hinan, cool up to his heart. These words, connected with the ruhevoll, tranquil, calm, in the preceding lines, are intended to show that the angler was not in a romantic mood, but was wholly taken by surprise when the humid female, rising from the deep, sung to him.

254. und wie er sitzt und wie er lauscht, and as he sits, and as he watches. The German wie is both "how" and "as;" the French "comment" and " comme." Wie befinden Sie sich? Recht wohl wie sie sehen, how do you do? Very well, as you see. Comment vous portez-vous? Très bien, comme vous voyez. lauschen, reg. neut. conj. with haben, to listen, to spy, to be on the watch, particularly with a mischievous intention; to be half dozing, to lounge, to recline for repose, as here.

255. Theilt sich, divides itself, opens, from the reg. act. theilen, to divide in parts.

256. empor, adv. up, upwards. It is generally confined to poetry. aus dem bewegten Wasser, out of the agitated water. bewegt, part. past of the reg. act. bewegen, to agitate, to move, also morally to affect, to move to compassion. But when it signifies to induce, to have an influence upon the will, it is irr. and makes ich bewog, ich habe bewogen. Die Predigt bewegte mich bis zu Thränen, und bewog mich meine Reise aufzuschieben, the sermon moved me even to tears, and induced me to postpone my journey. Feucht, adj. damp, humid.

257. ein Weib, neut. a woman, a female; das Weib, es, e, pl. die Weiber. This word denotes a female companion of man, without any reference to the legality of the connexion, whilst die Frau always denotes the lawful wife. The following epigram hinges upon the difference :

"Dass Boas seine Magd zu seinem Weib erkohren
Deswegen hält man ihn für keinen Thoren ;
Dich nur, Lykander, hat man ausgelacht

Dieweil du deine Magd zu deiner Frau gemacht,"

258. hervor, adv. forward, from behind, or out of a place. Was, which is properly the pron. inter. what, is also employed as a conj. instead of warum, why, wherefore. locken, verb, to allure, to entice. There is an old saying: "Wenn dich die bösen Buben locken, so folge ihnen nicht." When bad boys entice you, do not follow them.

259. hinauflocken, to allure upwards, in a direction opposite to the speaker or agent, as here, the water-nymph being in the water, uses the adv. hinauf. The angler would say, ich locke die Fische herauf, I allure the fish up towards

me.

260. menschenwitz, human wit, human skill. Der Witz, es, masc. wit; anciently, knowledge, as in Vorwitz, sec. 71. Menschenlist, human stratagem. die List, fem. art, stratagem, innocent cunning. When attended with malice, it is expressed by Ränke, pl.

261. Todesgluth, death-fire. See Gluth, sec. 197. der Tod, es, masc. death.

262. Ach! wüsstest du, Ah! didst thou know, for, if thou didst know, sec. 22.

263. wie's Fischlein, contr. for wie das Fischlein, how the little fish. The Germans have several diminutives, but

the syllables chen and lein are the two principal. The termination chen (not gen,) is the same with the English "kin" in "Lambkin" which in the German is das Lämmchen, by the rule that all words in a and u take the diphthong äü, when changed into diminutives by the addition of either chen or lein; and any word thus changed into a diminuitive is of the neuter gender. Chen pre

vails in the north of Germany, and lein in the south; but they may be employed indifferently. Chen seems to be more expressive of prettiness, endearment, and playfulness; lein is less sportive, and has often a colouring of stiffness and gravity. But poets are more influenced by the sound. Fischchen, on account of two hissings joined together, would be very disagreeable to the ear. wohlig, adj. happy, well off, comfortable. auf dem Grund, at the bottom. der Grund, es, e, pl. die Gründe, ground, bottom, foundation; argument, reason, cause, motive.

264. Du stiegst herunter, thou wouldst come down. stiegst, the impf. of the subj. inetead of the conditional. Here it is heruntersteigen, because the water-nymph wants the angler to come down to her; just as we say, Kommen Sie her, come hither, this way, towards me.

only then.

265. und würdest erst gesund, and then only thou wouldst be well, happy. erst, adv. first, previously; only now, only then; only, not more. Here it means We say, erst in drei Wochen, not before three weeks are over. Sie ist erst dreizehn Jahr alt, she is but thirteen years of age. Wann sie heirathen, werden sie erst glücklich seyn, you will be happy only (then) when you marry. gesund, adj. sound, healthy, wholesome; here it means happy, blessed.

266. Sich luben, refl. reg. verb, to refresh one's self, to comfort one's self.

267. die liebe Sonne, the dear sun, the lovely sun. lieb, adj. dear, lovely. Es ist mir lieb, I am glad. Est ist mir nicht lieb; es thut mir Leid; est ist mir Leid, I am sorry. The Germans are fond of giving the epithet of lieb to whatever they value or respect highly, whatever is essential to life. They say der liebe Gott, der liebe Himmel, die liebe Sonne, der liebe Mond, der liebe Regen, das liebe Brod, das liebe Geld. It comes near to the English "precious," in some expressions, as die liebe Zeit. But

lieber Freund is often said to an absolute stranger, and denotes some assumed superiority.

268. der Mond, es, masc. the moon. We have already noticed, sec. 132, the singularity that the sun is fem, and the moon masc. in the German language. Hence Bürger, in his song entitled “ Auch ein Lied an den lieben Mond,

[blocks in formation]

"Auch bist du's werth, mein sanfter holder, lieber
Ich weiss nicht recht wie ich dich nennen soll,
Mann oder Weib ?"

im meer, contr. for in dem meer, in the sea.
es, neut. the sea.

....

Das meer,

269. Kehrt wellenathmend ihr Gesicht nicht doppelt schöner her? does not their wave-breathing face return doubly beautiful? Herkehren is a poetical expression; in prose it would be wiederkehren, or zurückkehren. Kehren, reg. act. and neut. to sweep, to turn; conj. with seyn, when neut., and with haben, when act. Er ist nach Hause gekehrt, he has taken the way home. umkehren, to turn about. Sich an etwas kehren, to regard something, to pay attention to it. Er kehrt sich an nichts, he minds nothing.

270. das Gesicht, s. neut. the face, the sight, the vision. It has two plurals, die Gesichter, faces, grimaces, and die Gesichte, sights, visions. Goethe says, in his Faustus:

"Dass diese Fülle der Gesichte

Der trockne Schleicher stören muss!"

"Oh! that the dry sneeker must disturb this abundance of visions!"

271. verklärt, part. p. of the reg. act. verklären, to clear up, to render serene. In the Bible, to glorify: Gospel of St. John, xii. 28, Ich habe ihn verkläret, und will ihn abermals verklären, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again. In the language of seafaring traders, to make their declaration at the Custom-house on arrival, or on sailing, which in their unstudied language they call einklariren and ausklariren. Here verklärt means glorious,

ætherial.

272. dein eigen Angesicht, thy own face. Observe that with nouns of the neuter gender we very often employ the adj. in its absolute state, though coupled with a pronoun

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