Do you remember this poem from your youth?
We had to memorize it in the eighth grade.
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70-79, MVIP
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Thinkerbell · 41-45, F
I think Goethe's Der Erlkoenig is better.
Here it is in translation:
Who rides by the night in the wind so wild?
It is the father, with his child.
The boy is safe in his father’s arm.
He holds him tight, he keeps him warm.
My son, what is it, why cover your face?
Father, you see him, there in that place,
The elfin king with his cloak and crown?
It is only the mist rising up, my son.
“Dear little child, will you come with me?
Beautiful games I’ll play with thee;
Bright are the flowers we’ll find on the shore,
My mother has golden robes fullscore.”
Father, O father, and did you not hear
What the elfin king breathed into my ear?
Lie quiet, my child, now never you mind:
Dry leaves it was that click in the wind.
“Come along now, you’re a fine little lad,
My daughters will serve you, see you are glad;
My daughters dance all night in a ring,
They’ll cradle and dance you and lullaby sing.”
Father, now look, in the gloom, do you see
The elfin daughters beckon to me?
My son, my son, I see it and say:
Those old willows, they look so grey.
“I love you, beguiled by your beauty I am,
If you are unwilling I’ll force you to come!”
Father, his fingers grip me, O
The elfin king has hurt me so!
Now struck with horror the father rides fast,
His gasping child in his arm to the last,
Home through the thick and thin he sped:
Locked in his arm, the child was dead.
Here it is in translation:
Who rides by the night in the wind so wild?
It is the father, with his child.
The boy is safe in his father’s arm.
He holds him tight, he keeps him warm.
My son, what is it, why cover your face?
Father, you see him, there in that place,
The elfin king with his cloak and crown?
It is only the mist rising up, my son.
“Dear little child, will you come with me?
Beautiful games I’ll play with thee;
Bright are the flowers we’ll find on the shore,
My mother has golden robes fullscore.”
Father, O father, and did you not hear
What the elfin king breathed into my ear?
Lie quiet, my child, now never you mind:
Dry leaves it was that click in the wind.
“Come along now, you’re a fine little lad,
My daughters will serve you, see you are glad;
My daughters dance all night in a ring,
They’ll cradle and dance you and lullaby sing.”
Father, now look, in the gloom, do you see
The elfin daughters beckon to me?
My son, my son, I see it and say:
Those old willows, they look so grey.
“I love you, beguiled by your beauty I am,
If you are unwilling I’ll force you to come!”
Father, his fingers grip me, O
The elfin king has hurt me so!
Now struck with horror the father rides fast,
His gasping child in his arm to the last,
Home through the thick and thin he sped:
Locked in his arm, the child was dead.
ProfessorPlum77 · 70-79, MVIP
@Thinkerbell Wow. What a tragic ending.
val70 · 56-60
@Thinkerbell ‘The Erl King’ was inspired by Herder’s translation of a Danish ballad about the daughter of an ‘ellerkonge’ (Elf King): the night before his wedding, Oluf strays into the Elf King’s kingdom. The Elf King’s daughter wants him to dance with her, but he refuse:
“Welcome, Herr Oluf, what’s the hurry to leave?
Step into the line here and dance with me.”
“I must not dance, dance not I may,
Tomorrow is my wedding day.”
“Welcome, Herr Oluf, what’s the hurry to leave?
Step into the line here and dance with me.”
“I must not dance, dance not I may,
Tomorrow is my wedding day.”