I decided to share a truly awesome poem with the rest of you English-only speakers. A little background: Goethe can be described as Germany's national poet. He is to the Germans what Shakespeare is the the British, what Poe is to the Americans. He was, by the way, also way more than just a poet. ("just a poet"?!?! I ought to shoot myself for saying that). Nevertheless, he was also a playwright, essayist, and knowledgeable critic of many, many things, ranging from poetry to literature to art and architecture. He is most famously remembered outside Germany for his amazing poem written in play form (or play, written in rhyming poetry) Faust, a magnificent piece of work redone and referenced and copied and so forth by many people and artists in many languages, the foremost of which comes to mind is the Trans Siberian Orchestra's album Beethoven's Last Night which replaces the doctor/philosopher Faust with the musician conductor Beethoven, then follows the exact plot, and even much of the dialogue. It has been reworked for the modern stage, and for television by the BBC, and for the big screen as well.
His second most famous work, and a poem that can be recited by almost any German, apparently, is Der Erlkonig, ofttimes mistranslated as "The Elf King" but should actually be rendered as "The Erl King," a mistranslation from a Scandinavian flower, alder, as old Danish folklore was the source of inspiration for this poem. Here is the original and my translation on the right.
A word on the translation: I am not fluent in German, and have chosen to translate more literally than beautifully, as any attempt I made at rhyming while keeping true to form and meaning would have undoubtedly fallen drastically short.
A word on the poem itself: Besides the narrator, the father, the child, and the Erl King all speak. The first three are easy to spot, in case you are wondering about the Erl King's lines they are stanzas 3, 5, and the first two lines of 7. Unfortunately, we never get to hear the Erl King's daughters (see below).
Wer reitet so spät durch Nacht und Wind?
Who rides, so late, through Night and wind?
Es ist der Vater mit seinem Kind; It is the father with his child;
Er hat den Knaben wohl in dem Arm, He has the boy tight in his arms,
Er faßt ihn sicher, er hält ihn warm. He holds him safely, he keeps him warm.
"Mein Sohn, was birgst du so bang dein Gesicht?"
“My son, why do you hide your face with fear?”
"Siehst, Vater, du den Erlkönig nicht? “Father, don't you see the Erl King?
Den Erlenkönig mit Kron und Schweif?" — The Erl King with crown and tail?”
"Mein Sohn, es ist ein Nebelstreif." “My son, it's only a wisp of fog.”
"Du liebes Kind, komm, geh mit mir! “You lovely child, come, go with me!
Gar schöne Spiele spiel' ich mit dir; Many beautiful games I'll play with you;
Manch' bunte Blumen sind an dem Strand, Many colorful flowers are on the shore,
Meine Mutter hat manch gülden Gewand." My mother has many golden robes.”
"Mein Vater, mein Vater, und hörest du nicht, “My father, my father, and don't you hear,
Was Erlenkönig mir leise verspricht?" — What the Erl King quietly promises me?”
"Sei ruhig, bleibe ruhig, mein Kind; “Be quiet, stay calm, my child;
In dürren Blättern säuselt der Wind." — The wind is rustling in the withered leaves.”
"Willst, feiner Knabe, du mit mir gehen? “Dear boy, do you not want to come with me?
Meine Töchter sollen dich warten schön; My daughters shall well wait for you;
Meine Töchter führen den nächtlichen Reihn, My daughters lead the nightly dance,
Und wiegen und tanzen und singen dich ein." And rock and dance and sing you to sleep.”
"Mein Vater, mein Vater, und siehst du nicht dort
“My father, my father, and don't you see there
Erlkönigs Töchter am düstern Ort?" — The Erl King's daughters in the gloomy place?”
"Mein Sohn, mein Sohn, ich seh es genau: “My son, my son, I see it fine:
Es scheinen die alten Weiden so grau. — " The old willows appear very grey.”
"Ich liebe dich, mich reizt deine schöne Gestalt; “I love you, your beautiful form entices me;
Und bist du nicht willig, so brauch ich Gewalt."
And if you're not willing, then I need to use force.”
"Mein Vater, mein Vater, jetzt faßt er mich an! “My father, my father, now he's grabbing me!
Erlkönig hat mir ein Leids getan!" — The Erl King is hurting me!”
Dem Vater grauset's, er reitet geschwind, The father shudders, he rides swiftly,
Er hält in Armen das ächzende Kind, He holds the moaning child in his arms,
Erreicht den Hof mit Müh' und Not; He reaches his farm with trouble and misery;
In seinen Armen das Kind war tot. But in his arms the child was dead.
Besides being a national treasure and a masterpiece of a great poet, this is a good example of German poetry at the time. Even though in the twilight of its popularity, this type of unexplained mysticism can still be found in German culture. The dark forests of Tolkien's world was heavily influenced by German folklore describing their own Black Forest, which once covered most of Germany, and the various elves, nymphs, faeries, and spirits they invented to explain the other-worldliness of that ancient place.
One of the reasons I like this poem so much is the dynamic of the various voices. I imagine it being performed as one of the ancient Greek plays. A very common (even to the point of necessary) element of Greek plays was the presence of the "chorus." This was usually performed by a group of men standing to one side, singing their lines rather than speaking them. They could narrate, describe the characters or settings, act as an emotional guide to the audience by bemoaning all the horrible things going on onstage, or even speak directly to the characters. If Der Erlkonig had been an ancient Greek play, the Erl King himself, being never actually seen, would probably have been voiced by the chorus.
An interesting take on this poem is a remake/tribute to it done by the modern German hard rock band "Rammstein." Their version is set on an airplane, and so, in typical ironic/mocking Rammstein fashion, is named Dalai Lama, because the actual current Dalai Lama is afraid of flying. The song, though, is very much just a modernization of the original poem. What is very interesting, though, is that Rammstein chose to include an actual chorus, sung by women, throughout the song, voicing the Erl King's daughters, whom we never get to hear in the original. I have underlined their lines. Here is their song with my translation.
Ein Flugzeug liegt im Abendwind An airplane lies on the evening wind
An Bord ist auch ein Mann mit Kind On board is also a man with his child
Sie sitzen sicher sitzen warm They sit there safe, they sit there warm
und gehen so dem Schlaf ins Garn and fall into the snare of sleep
In drei Stunden sind sie da In three hours they will be there
zum Wiegenfeste der Mama at mother's birthday party
Die Sicht ist gut der Himmel klar The view is good, the sky is clear
Weiter, weiter ins Verderben Further, further, into destruction
Wir müssen leben bis wir sterben We must live until we die
Der Mensch gehört nicht in die Luft The man hears nothing in the air
So der Herr im Himmel ruft Thus the god in the heavens calls
seine Söhne auf dem Wind his sons on the wind
Bringt mir dieses Menschenkind “Bring me this man-child!”
Das Kind hat noch die Zeit verloren The child has yet lost time
Da springt ein Widerhall zu Ohren Then an echo springs to his ears
Ein dumpfes Grollen treibt die Nacht A muffled rumbling drives the night
und der Wolkentreiber lacht and the cloud-driver laughs
Schüttelt wach die Menschenfracht He shakes the human cargo awake
Weiter, weiter ins Verderben Further, further, into destruction
Wir müssen leben bis wir sterben We must live until we die
Und das Kind zum Vater spricht And the child speaks to his father
Hörst du denn den Donner nicht “Do you then not hear the thunder?
Das ist der König aller Winde That is the king of all the winds,
Er will mich zu seinem Kinde He wants me for one of his children.”
Aus den Wolken tropft ein Chor Out of the clouds a choir drops
Kriecht sich in das kleine Ohr Crawling into his little ear
Komm her, bleib hier Come here, stay here
Wir sind gut zu dir We will be good to you
Komm her, bleib hier Come here, stay here
Wir sind Brüder dir We are brothers to you
Der Sturm umarmt die Flugmaschine The storm embraces the flying machine
Der Druck fällt schnell in der Kabine The pressure falls quickly in the cabin
Ein dumpfes Grollen treibt die Nacht A muffled rumbling drives the night
In Panik schreit die Menschenfracht In panic the human cargo screams
Weiter, weiter ins Verderben Further, further, into destruction
Wir müssen leben bis wir sterben We must live until we die
Und zum Herrgott fleht das Kind And to the god the child begs
Himmel nimm zurück den Wind “Sky, take back the wind!
Bring uns unversehrt zu Erden Bring us unharmed to earth.”
Aus den Wolken tropft ein Chor Out of the clouds a choir drops
Kriecht sich in das kleine Ohr Crawling into his little ear
Komm her, bleib hier Come here, stay here
Wir sind gut zu dir We will be good to you
Komm her, bleib hier Come here, stay here
Wir sind Brüder dir We are brothers to you
Der Vater hält das Kind jetzt fest The father is now holding the child firmly
Hat es sehr an sich gepresst He has him pressed tightly against himself
Bemerkt nicht dessen Atemnot Not noticing his labored breath
Doch die Angst kennt kein Erbarmen But fear knows no mercy
So der Vater mit den Armen So the father, with is arms,
Drückt die Seele aus dem Kind Squeezes the soul out of the child
Diese setzt sich auf den Wind und singt: Which goes upon the wind and sings:
Komm her, bleib hier Come here, stay here
Wir sind gut zu dir We will be good to you
Komm her, bleib hier Come here, stay here
Wir sind Brüder dir We are brothers to you
As you can see, they changed the meaning somewhat (though I imagine the argument could be made that that was what Goethe was insinuating, but I don't believe it) but much of the feel of the poem is the same. In place of the horse, you have the plane. In place of the fog, you have turbulence. And just like in the original, you have the child hearing the voices on the wind. The addition of the chorus (if you heard the song, you'd agree) I always found creepy and disturbing, thus totally in keeping with the feel of the original. Please do not think, though, that I am really comparing Rammstein to Goethe. I show their song merely for interest's sake.
A side note for those who actually payed attention to the original German: When I translated "komm her" as "come here" and then "bleib hier" as "stay here" I did not make a spelling mistake. "Bleiben" does mean "to stay, remain" and "hier" is pronounced the same and has the same meaning as the English "here," and "komm" is from the verb "kommen," meaning "to come," but "her" (pronounced like the English hair) is actually a part of the verb "kommen." This forms what is called a separable-prefix-verb. These are a class of verbs in German that have a prefix, usually a preposition or pseudo-preposition attached to it, that separates and goes to the end of the sentence, though even in that case they are not treated as prepositions of the verb, but rather as an actual part of the verb, modifying the verb itself. "Her" is a difficult preposition, not translatable by itself into English, but usually used with verbs of motion, insinuating motion towards the object of the subject's attention. Therefore: "hergehen" separates to "ich gehe her," "I'm going to 'that place we were speaking of'." As you can see, in this case, considering that the verb "kommen" is used in the imperative (command) sense, the object of the speaker's attention would logically be the speaker's own locale in this instance, both "come here" and "come to me" are perfectly adequate translations. I merely chose the former for the sake of brevity (which, I now realize, has long been forsaken).
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