well-known Heidelberger Faß, the Heidelberg Tun, which is twentythree feet in diameter, over thirty-three feet long, and contains, when filled, 49,000 gallons. It was built in 1751. The city was for six hundred years the capital of the Palatinate, which was bounded by Württemberg, Baden, Alsace, and Lorraine. — 13 Blauäuglein; synecdoche for blue-eyed maidens. -18, 19 stehst... Herz: "thou art written on my heart" or " dear to my heart." — 23 kahl: "bleak.” 35. Erlkönig The theme of the poem is the effect which the weirdness of nature at night produces on the imagination ; also the popular belief in elves, sometimes friendly and sometimes hostile to man. This is an excellent selection for practice in dramatic reading. Notice the intense rhythmical beauty of the poem. Sir Walter Scott advises that this poem be read by a light dim enough to leave much of the room dark, and if possible a diminishing light. The words of the different speakers are separated by dashes in addition to being set off by quotation marks. 30 3 wohl: "strongly clasped." 5 was = warum. = 7 Schweif: "train" of his flowing robe; in reality it is nothing but a trail of mist. — 10 spiel' ich: see note to 1 15; also in lines 19, 20. 16 in in'n in den. This running the article back into the preposition is frequent in poetry.—20 ein: has the force of "to sleep with the three preceding infinitives. —21, 22 dort am: "in (better, more literally and vividly, 'at') yonder."—317 Hof: here, "(farm-) house." — Müh' und Not: "great difficulty." 36. Das Schloß am Meere The poem is a dialogue between two travelers who have seen the castle, and is a striking example of telling a story and painting a wordpicture by suggestion. The first picture is a bright one, the second a gloomy one. – 31 11 goldig und rosig: these adjectives are undeclined because of the poetic word-order. 11, 12 wehen drüber her: "float along over it.”. -13 es möchte: "it seems to try to or it would fain " (Longfellow). The castle is reflected in the water and stands out against the evening sky. -16 in der Abendwolken Glut: see note to 29.-32 5 gehen: walking"; see note to 67. — 7 der roten Mäntel wehen: see note to 2 9. - 12 strahlend . gleaming golden hair.” Haar: "with 37. Das Schloß Boncourt The poet was born in Champagne, France, of a noble family, and here he spent the first nine years of his childhood at the family castle Boncourt, whence his family was driven into exile by the French Revolution.—32 17 ich . . . zurücke: "I dream again of the time when I was a child.". - 20 vergessen geglaubt: "had believed to be forgotten." See note to 2 16.33 1 es: see note to 2 1.2 Löwen : the Chamisso coat of arms has two lions supporting the shield. ... 5 Sphing: consult an unabridged English dictionary. 15 wie hell = wie hell auch. — 17-19 so... verschwunden: "thus standest thou firmly and safely guarded in my memory, although thou hast vanished from the earth."-22 mild: "softened."— 25 auf mich raffen =mich aufraffen. 39. Sinnsprüche 34 19 der: "he"; demonstrative pronoun. 21 der: "he who," relative pronoun. —35 3, 4 wer ... loben: "he who has kept the golden mean is praiseworthy." Literally what? Note that the German past tense sometimes, as here, corresponds to the present perfect in English. — 4 von beiden: to be construed with Mitte. — 6 sinken: "falter." 40. Der gute Kamerad 35 10 findst du: see note to 1 15. 11 schlug zum Streite: called us to the fight or "beat the call to arms. 13 in... Schritt und Tritt: "keeping step with me." German is rich in alliterative and riming doublets like dann und wann, Sang und Klang, Zittern und Zagen, etc. Often, as here, the two words have about the same meaning. -14 kam geflogen: came flying along." See note to 13 4. 15 gilt's mir: "is it meant for me?" es: impersonal. — 18 als wär'3: see note to 25 9.- -19 will noch: "he yet tries to."-20 eben: "just," coupled with a force (which eben often has) equivalent to that of the progressive form of the verb in English. 41. Die Teilung der Erde 36 11 der König sperrt, etc.: i.e. to collect the duties. — 13 geschehen = vorüber. For the omission of the auxiliary, see note to 2 16. Apply the same suggestion in lines 21 and 23. — 19 der Klage Ruf: see note to 29.24, 37 7, 8: these lines give the keynote to the poem. 37 1,2 mein . . . Ohr: "my eye was bent on thy face, my ear on the melodies of thy heaven." — 4 das Irdische: i.e. all the earthly possessions that might have been his (36 1-16). — 5 was tun: "what's to be done ?"—8 willst du: "but if thou wouldst "; see note to 9 6. 42. Der Sänger This poem, which might well have been called "The Singer's Reward," is in strong contrast with the following one. In medieval times it was common for minstrels to wander from court to court, where they enjoyed a certain sacredness of person as representatives of the fine arts. The underlying idea of the ballad is the ideal nature of the reward for which the artist strives. (Hatfield.) -37 9, 10 hör' ich: the verb belongs to both clauses. — draußen: modifies schallen. — 15 mir: ethical dative; omit. — 18, 19 welch . .. Namen: these lines refer to the persons present especially, but not exclusively, the ladies. Of course, in translating, the German words should be translated literally. — 21, 22 schließt ... ergößen: the scene was so brilliant and the women so fair, that he had to close his eyes in order to be able to collect his thoughts. 381 schauten mutig drein: the meaning of this is somewhat doubtful. Although it is usually translated looked on in high spirit," a more logical, though somewhat prosaic, translation would be "looked boldly straight ahead" (drein would then be equivalent to hin), in strong contrast to the women who looked modestly down (line 2). — 2 in den Schoß: to conceal their modest embarrassment at hearing their beauty praised, or because they were touched by the music. See note to 1 7. — 4, 5 ließ ....... holen: "had... brought "; lassen with an active infinitive, as here, means to cause" or "have" something done. 12 zu: "'in addition to." Note that seinen has been omitted after zu. — 13–16 ich . . . lohnet: these lines give the keynote to the whole poem (compare with the introduction). — 22 wohl dem Haus: "happy (blessed) is the house. . ." 43. Des Sängers Fluch Theme: the dignity and power of song or poetry. Compare with the preceding ballad. — 39 1–4 stand: has for its subject both Schloß and Kranz, line 2 being parenthetical, and agrees in number with the nearest subject because of the same individualization of the subjects that causes the verb to take with the second subject a new adverb his thoughts are of horror, his looks of rage, his words of scourging, his writing of slaughter." - 14 stimm❜ Zon: "strike up our fullest (most ringing) melody."—16 es gilt uns: "we must."-19 furchtbar prächtig: "'in awful (awe-inspiring) splendor." 20 als blickte: see note to 25 9. - Supply der before Vollmond. — 24 dazwischen: coming in.” — 40 13 draus = woraus, "mingling with it" or of which.”—20 aller Harfen Preis: "the most excellent of all harps" or "the harp of harps.” — 24 noch: "nor.”—41 4 versteint: "covered with stones" (from the ruined castle).. 7 Nacht: i.e. oblivion. — 12 über Nacht: "at any time" or "any moment." 44. Der reichste Fürst out 41 25 wohl in manchem: "in full many a.". - 42 2 Kurfürst: "elector." In earlier times the position of emperor was not hereditary as now, but elective. The princes who had the privilege of electing the emperor (originally seven in number) were called Kurfürsten. · 3, 4 goldne Saaten, edlen Wein: accusative absolute. — edlen Wein: " vineyards of noble wine." — 6 Herr zu Bayern: "Lord of Bavaria." – 7, 8 schaffen . . . nach: "cause my country to be not at all inferior to yours in treasures." 9 Eberhard: he was commonly known by the name of Eberhard im Bart. — 12 trägt nicht: "does not contain.” -13 ein: see note to 9 14. - ein Kleinod: i.e. the love and loyalty of his subjects. Notice that Kleinod is the object of hält. — 14 noch so: however." — 16 jedem Untertan in Schoß: see note to 1 12; also to 30 16.-19 Graf im Bart = Graf mit dem Barte; "bearded count. -Jhr: plural of formal address, formerly used instead of Sie. 20 Edelstein: singular used collectively for plural, as in the revised version of the English Bible, Rev. xvii, 4; xviii, 12, 16, where "precious stone" is equivalent to "precious stones" of the King James version. even... 45. Hoffnung 43 7 denn beschließt er: "for though he ends."-8 noch: "yet (still) .” — 9 kein . . . Wahn: "no vain, blandishing delusion.". 11 im... an: our hearts boldly proclaim it.”—– 12 zu was Besserm : "for something better," a higher purpose and a happier life. This -- is the keynote of the poem. — was = etwas. 46. Mein Vaterland 43 19 nicht... Liedern: notice that nicht qualifies both in Worten and in Liedern. - 24 Freund: dative plural, the ending en of Feinden being taken with both nouns. 47. Der Fischer 44 8 daran: "by it," i.e. the stream. — 10 kühl... hinan: "cool to his very heart," implying unemotional contentment. This fact makes all the more striking what follows. — 14 ein feuchtes Weib; i.e. a water-nymph. Literally what? We would hardly be justified here in saying " mermaid,” which always implies legs grown together into a fish's tail. Nowhere in the poem does Goethe call her any such thing, and there is nothing in the poem to justify our assuming that she was. -16 was: =marum. -18 Todesglut: "deadly (deathly) heat." — 19 wüßtest du: conditional. For the word-order see note to 9 6. Fischlein: dative plural; translate as the subject. Sein with the dative, as here, often means to "feel.” — 21 stiegst = stiegest; subjunctive. The inverted word-order would be used in prose. — 23-24 labt ... Meer: the ancient tradition as to the sun and moon is, that they go down into the sea in setting and come up out of it in rising. 23 liebe: "blessed.”—45 1 wellenatmend : " breathing of the waves." The meaning is somewhat obscure. Perhaps the best explanation is suggested by the fact that a person who has dived under water, or even dipped under, naturally comes up drawing breath. No equally good explanation can be given from the standpoint of a mere return from the surface as in reflection. — 1, 2 kehrt . . . her: "do not their faces, breathing of the waves, return doubly beautiful ?" — 3-6 lockt ... Tau: these lines do indeed refer to reflection. — 6 in ew’gen Tau: see note to 30 16. -8 neht' . . . Fuß: the temptress comes nearer!— 9 wuchs: "swelled." Compare the thought in this line with 44 10. 10 der Liebsten Gruß: see note to 29. 12 war's ... geschehn: "it was all over with him." 48. Andreas Hofer The Alps of the Tirol had for centuries been the asylum of liberty. But through the adverse fortunes of war, and under terms dictated by the ever-victorious Napoleon, the Tirol was taken from Austria and given to Bavaria, at this time a dependency of France, though |