ÀҾ˹éÒ˹ѧÊ×Í
PDF
ePub

302. fortkommen, sep. irr. comp. to get on, to prosper : ich komme fort, du kömmst fort, er kömmt fort ich kam fort, ich bin fortgekommen. As fort also means away, onwards, fortkommen denotes likewise to get away. Der Gefangene ist fortgekommen, the prisoner has got

away.

303. Ey, or Ei! is an interjection denoting joy, surprise, indignation, menace, hesitation, and raillery. Here it is a "Oh !"

sneer,

304. fiel der Vater ihm ins Wort, fell the father to him, into the word; interrupted him the father, saying: einem in das wort fallen, to interrupt a person who is speaking; ins Wort is a contraction for in das Wort. Fallen is an irr. neuter verb; ich falle, du fällst, er fällt, ich fiel, ich bin gefallen. The active fällen, to fell, is regular.

305. Für Görgen ist mir gar nicht bange, for George it is not at all fearful to me; in English, I have no fears whatever for George, concerning George. Bange, adj. fearful, apprehensive, anxious. It is generally construed with seyn, werden, and machen. mir ist bange, I am afraid; mir wird bange, I begin to be afraid; man hat mich bange gemacht, they made me afraid. Manso says,

"Ihm ist mit ihr so wohl und fern von ihr so bange."

206. Die Angst, fem. anxiety, which is expressive of greater fear, is often combined with bange, to increase the intensity of the expression. mir ist Angst und bange, I am very much afraid.

307. gewiss, adj. and adv. certain, certainly. Here it is an adverb.

308. Durch seine Dummheit, through his stupidity. Durch, prep., through, governs the accusative. It denotes a less immediate connexion with the cause than mit, with. Die Dummheit, (fem. like all the words in heit,) stupidity, silliness.

309. The next theme for our remarks is a song of L. H. C. Hölty, who died at twenty-eight years of age, in 1776. His juvenile poems had raised very great expectations.

He excelled in delineating the charms of rural scenery, and in treating melancholy subjects.

AUFMUNTERUNG ZUR FREUDE.

Wer wollte sich mit Grillen plagen
So lang uns Lenz und Jugend blühn?
Wer wollt'in seinen Blütentagen
Die Stirn in düstre Falten ziehn ?
Die Freude winkt auf allen Wegen
Die durch dies Pilgerleben gehn;
Sie bringt uns selbst den Kranz entgegen
Wann wir am Scheidewege stehn.

Noch rinnt und rauscht die Wiesenquelle ;
Noch ist die Laube kühl und grün;
Noch scheint der liebe Mond so helle
Wie er durch Adams Bäume schien.
Noch macht der Saft der Purpurtraube
Des Menschen krankes Herz gesund.
Noch labt uns in der Abendlaube,
Ein Kuss auf treuer Freundin Mund.

Noch tönt der Busch voll Nachtigallen,
Dem Jüngling hohe Wonne zu;
Noch strömt, wann ihre Lieder schallen,
Selbst in zerrissne Seelen Ruh.

O wunderschön ist Gottes Erde
Und werth darauf vergnügt zu seyn;
Drum will ich, bis ich Asche werde,
Mich dieser schönen Erde freun.

INCITEMENT TO JOY.

Who would plague himself with cares as long as spring and youth are blooming? Who would, in the heydays of youth, gather his forehead in frowning folds? Joy beckons us on all the paths which lead through this pilgrimage below; it is joy itself that offers us the garland when we stand at a cross-road. Still does the

meadow fountain bubble and flow; still is the arbour cool and green; still shines the lovely moon as bright as she shone through Adam's trees (in Paradise.) Still does the juice of the purple grape assuage the smarting heart of man; still does the kiss of true affection delight us in the evening bower. Still does the grove, peopled with nightingales, bring raptures to the breast of youth; still, when the echoes repeat their warblings, calmness returns to throbbing hearts. How admirable are the works of creation! what joys we taste on our earth! I will rejoice in its beauties until I turn to dust and ashes.

310. Die Aufmunterung, incitement, encouragement,

Again a verbal noun, from the reg. sep. comp. verb auf muntern, to encourage, to incite. Sec. 119.

311. zur Freude, a contraction for zu der Freude, to joy.

312. mit Grillen, with whims, with cares; die Grille, fem. a cricket, a whim, a strange fancy, a caprice, an anxious apprehension of imaginary evils.

313. Sich plagen, refl. reg. verb, to plague, to torment one's self. Remember that the reflected verbs in German are conjugated, like the English reflected verb, with haben. Ich habe mich mit Grillen geplagt, I have tormented myself with cares.

314. So lang, in prose so lange, and generally followed by als, which however may be omitted, as here, even in prose as long as. Lang, long in extent, and lange, long in point of time. But the comparative and superlative of both are länger, der längste, am längsten, the longest in point of time. See sec. 140.

315. So lang uns Lenz und Jugend blühn, so long as spring and youth bloom to us. Der Lenz, es, masc. the spring. The English "Lent" is evidently derived from this word; and Lenz, in German, denotes more particularly the early part of spring, which generally precedes Easter. It is a very ancient word. Charles the Great called the month of March der Lenzmonath. The other names for spring, in German, which are less poetical, are das Frühjahr, neut. and der Frühling, masc. The former is more common, the latter more elegant: both mean the early part of the year. die Jugend, fem. youth. die Blütentage, sub. masc. pl. the days of bloom, the blooming days of youth. die Stirn or Stirne, fem. the forehead, the brow.

316. düster, adj. gloomy; it differs from dunkel, obscure, dark, because it always denotes the accessory idea of sadness and fear: it is the opposite of cheerful, serene. 317. eine Falte, fem. a fold; die Stirn in Falten legen, to lay the forehead in folds, to wrinkle the brow.

318. das Pilgerleben, s, neut. the pilgrim's life, pilgrimage.

319. Sie bringt uns selbst den Kranz entgegen. Entgegenbringen is a sep. irr. comp.: ich bringe entgegen, ich brachte entgegen, ich habe entgegengebracht, to bring towards one, to bring to a person. der Kranz, es, die

Kränze, masc. the garland, the crown of flowers or leaves, but not a metal crown; this is eine Krone, fem. Hence we often combine with the word Kranz the name of the flower or leaves of which it is made. We e say ein Blumenkranz, a crown of flowers; ein Rosenkranz, a crown of roses; ein Lorbeerkranz, a laurel crown.

220. der Scheidewege, es, pl. die Scheidewege, masc. the cross-road, the spot where several roads meet, where friends part to take different roads; a compound word, made of the irr. verb scheiden, to part, to separate, and der Weg, the road, sec. 75. It is the immense number of compound words which renders the acquisition of the German language so easy; the radical terms, the number of which is not considerable, being once treasured up in the memory, all the others are known, as it were, by intuition. can forget der Handschuh, the glove, a shoe for the hand; der Fingerhut, the thimble, a hat for the finger; der Blumenkranz, the garland, a crown of flowers; ein Grillenfänger, masc. a whimsical person, a catcher of whims, &c.?

Who

321. Noch, adv. of time, still, yet. It acquires a greater degree of intensity from being placed, as here, at the head of the sentence, in which case, like any other adverb, it throws the nominative of the verb behind. But it may be placed indifferently after the verb whenever there is no particular stress laid upon it; only the negation nicht, contrary to the English and French way of speaking, must constantly stand last; noch nicht, not yet, (pas encore.) It also denotes again, or more, an addition as it were; noch einmahl, once more; hiezu kommt noch, add to this; noch ein wenig, a little more yet; das ist noch schlimmer, that is still worse; nur noch einen Augenblick, but one moment longer. Sometimes it is the English "ever so" and "ever so much." Wenn es mir auch noch so theuer kommen sollte, though it should cost me ever so dear; wenn sie mich auch noch so sehr quälen, though you should importune me ever so much; man sey noch so vorsichtig, let people be ever so provident. When noch is a conj. it is the English "nor," after "neither," which neither is expressed by weder. Sie ist weder jung noch schön, she is neither young nor handsome; weder das eine noch das andere, neither the one nor the other.

322. rinnen, irr. neut. verb, to flow gently; ich rinne,

ich rann, ich bin geronnen. When it is rapid flowing, or a rapid motion, we say rennen, to run. Ramler says:

"Aus hohlen Weiden an den Bächen,
Rinnt Honig in die Fluth."

From hollow willows near the brooks honey flows gently into the water. rauschen, see sec. 251.

Wiesenquelle,

323. We had Wiesenflur, see. 123. fem. is a fountain in a meadow. Die Quelle, fem. the fountain; der Quell, masc. the spring, the source. die Laube, fem. the arbour, the bower, from das Laub, neut. foliage, leaves. der liebe Mond, sec. 267. scheinen, irr. neut verb, to appear, to shine, to seem; ich scheine, ich schien, ich habe geschienen. It is also used impersonally: es scheint, it seems, it appears, it looks; es scheint nur so, it only appears so; es scheint regnen zu wollen, it looks as if it would rain.

324. der Saft, es, e, die Säfte, masc. juice, sap, or radical moisture of plants; der Rebensaft, the juice of the grape; eine Traube, fem. a bunch of grapes; Trauben lesen, to gather grapes; der Saft or das Blut der Trauben is a poetical expression for wine. Treu, adj. true, faithful.

325. noch tönt der Busch voll Nachtigallen dem Jüngling hohe Wonne zu, still the grove filled with nightingales sounds high delight to the young man. zutönen is a reg. sep. comp. verb, made of tönen, to sound, and zu, to, towards, which here denotes an approach. It is here the Latin ad. It is used actively for bringing delight to youth by sound. Ich töne zu, ich tönte zu, ich habe zugetönt : thus we say, Aus einer Ecke des grossen finstern Zimmers tönte mir eine schwache zitternde Musick zu, the sound of a weak trembling music met me from one corner of the large dark room. Klopstock says,

"Zudonnern sollen dir Ungewitter die Antwort."

Thunderstorms shall thunder the answer to you.

326. der Busch, es, e, die Büsche, masc. a thicket, a grove, a bush. bei einem auf den Busch klopfen, is a proverbial expression, which means "to sound a person's disposition before a request is preferred." Ein Dornbusch,

« ¡è͹˹éÒ´Óà¹Ô¹¡ÒõèÍ
 »