The Erl-King
Who rides there so late through the night dark and drear?
The father it is, with his infant so dear;
He holdeth the boy tightly clasp'd in his arm,
He holdeth him safely, he keepeth him warm.
"My son, wherefore seek'st thou thy face thus to hide?"
"Look, father, the Erl-King is close by our side!
Dost see not the Erl-King, with crown and with train?"
"My son, 'tis the mist rising over the plain."
"Oh, come, thou dear infant! oh come thou with me!
Full many a game I will play there with thee;
On my strand, lovely flowers their blossoms unfold,
My mother shall grace thee with garments of gold."
"My father, my father, and dost thou not hear
The words that the Erl-King now breathes in mine ear?"
"Be calm, dearest child, 'tis thy fancy deceives;
'Tis the sad wind that sighs through the withering leaves."
"Wilt go, then, dear infant, wilt go with me there?
My daughters shall tend thee with sisterly care.
My daughters by night their glad festival keep,
They'll dance thee, and rock thee, and sing thee to sleep."
"My father, my father, and dost thou not see,
How the Erl-King his daughters has brought here for me?"
"My darling, my darling, I see it aright,
'Tis the aged grey willows deceiving thy sight."
"I love thee, I'm charm'd by thy beauty, dear boy!
And if thou'rt unwilling, then force I'll employ."
"My father, my father, he seizes me fast,
Full sorely the Erl-King has hurt me at last."
The father now gallops, with terror half wild,
He grasps in his arms the poor shuddering child;
He reaches his courtyard with toil and with dread,
The child in his arms finds he motionless, dead.
Commentary
(1782)
Translated in the original metres by Edgar Alfred Bowring, 1853
Goethe’s “Elf-King” is probably the grand-daddy of all literary ballads about charming but devastating elves. I had to commit this to memory in the original in my first-year German class in high school, and the duality of these fey creatures has remained constant for me ever since. This is a drama in three voices – the narrator – a “camera” that reports the facts, the feverish child moving from a kind of puzzled interest to sheer terror, the father who seeks to reassure the child through denial and by calling him back to the natural world and the seductive Elf-King, luring the boy with childish delights and implied promises of the erotic. Essential listening: Franz Schubert’s setting of this poem, of which there are recordings by any number of male and female singers.
— Vivian
Links
A biography of Goethe:
http://www.blupete.com/Literature/Biographies/Science/Goethe.htm
A Gutenberg copy of Bowring's "Poems of Goethe":
[broken link] http://sailor.gutenberg.org/by-author/bo7.html
An extensive Goethe page:
[broken link] http://www.econ.jhu.edu/People/fonseca/goethe.htm
Today’s poem was a followup to Allingham’s “The Fairies”: poem #919
And while on the subject of Goethe, don’t miss Thackeray’s “Sorrows of Werther”: poem #183
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From the Wondering Minstrels mailing list, 1999–2008.
Garrrett Rowlan · 11 January 2003
Where can I get the German original of this poem, particularly as it is used in the Schubert song.
garrett rowlan
Martin DeMello · 25 August 2003
Hi Celia,
As you doubtless guessed, we know no German, and hence could not tell how good Bowring’s translation was. Is there a preferred translation, do you know?
And thanks for pointing out the misspelling - that was definitely our mistake, novices or no :)
martin
Martin DeMello · 25 August 2003
We’re dumb. Really dumb. You just won’t believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly dumb we are. I mean, you may think it’s a long way down the evolutionary tree to the dodo, but that’s just peanuts to us.
However, “Erl King” nonetheless seems to be the preferred translation - I believe that’s because the word “elf” has connotations in English that do not match those of the German “erl”, and adopting the German word therefore helps keep the mythological reference in its proper cultural context.
martin
William Bystrynski · 25 August 2003
By the way I wrote before,
IT IS NOT ERL KING IT IS ELF KING… HOW DUMB ARE YOU????????
Celia Hartnett · 25 August 2003
Oh my gosh… I have been studing German for years and I have not seen such a bad translation of the story. Not to mention you spell the man’s name wrong. Well, I guess your just a novice. If you want to respond, do so with my other address please thanks
John Vizzuto · 28 September 2003
Martin,
You are indeed a gracious person not to point out her spelling error. I suspect studied German so long, that she forgot how to spell in English. Gott in Himmel!
John Vizzuto
Hi Celia,
As you doubtless guessed, we know no German, and hence could not tell how good Bowring’s translation was. Is there a preferred translation, do you know?
And thanks for pointing out the misspelling - that was definitely our mistake, novices or no :)
martin
Tammy Benda · 2 March 2004
dude, sorry to say it is the ERL KING, because i am studying it in english.
John J. Vizzuto · 29 November 2007
Upon second glance at this review of “Der ErlKoenig” one gets to check the math. The translator, Vivian says that there are THREE voices in the poem. She names them as follows:
1. the narrator – a “camera” that reports the facts
2. feverish child moving from a kind of puzzled interest to sheer terror,
3. the father who seeks to reassure the child through denial and by calling him
back to the natural world
4. and the seductive Elf-King, luring the boy with childish delights and implied promises of the erotic.
OOPS! That makes four doesn’t it?
Johnagain
the
father who seeks to reassure the child through denial and by calling him