42. ALLER HARFEN PREIS, the best of all harps.
63. HELDENBUCH, a book telling of heroes and their deeds.
EICHENDORFF
Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff, the scion of an old aristocratic family, was born in his ancestral castle in Silesia, March 10, 1788, and died November 26, 1856. Three things especially have left an impression on his poetry: his deeply loved Silesian home with its castle-crowned wooded hills and its beautiful valleys and streams; a simple childlike piety; and an early acquaintance with the Volksbücher and the Volkslied. The only things in Eichendorff's life that have a romantic glamor are his happy, carefree student days and his participation in the Wars of Liberation (1813-1815). When peace was declared, the poet entered the service of the Prussian state and proved himself a careful and trusted official. Thus, living a busy life, he could write that classic of romantic idleness: Aus dem Leben eines Taugenichts, The Autobiography of a Good-for-Nothing.
Eichendorff's lyric verse can be described best by Nietzsche's definition of a Lied: " Takt als Anfang, Reim als Ende, und als Seele stets Musik." Music is the very soul of his lyrics to an unusual degree. A melody of haunting sweetness dwells in his simple lines. It is as if the music of Robert Schumann had sought to clothe itself in words. Coupled with this, we meet a most delicate perception of nature and a remarkable ability to portray her various aspects and her ever varying moods. Romantic Sehnsucht (yearning), romantic Wanderlust and the romantic love of nature have found in Eichendorff their finest expression.
33.—10. VOR, on account of, because of.
11. WAS, why.
12. with free throat and joyous breast.
16. AUFS BEST', in the best way.
34.—3. WOHL. indeed.