As Goethe matured, his affinity for classic antiquity became more marked, and a consuming desire impelled him to spend two years in Italy (1786-1788). The rest of his years Goethe spent in Weimar, his life enriched above all else by his friendship with Schiller. In this second Weimar period Goethe reached the acme of his powers. Even his declining years, although marked by loneliness and bringing him a full measure of grief (his wife, Christiane Vulpius, whom he had met shortly after his return from Italy, died in 1816, followed in 1830 by his only son), exemplified that earnest striving so characteristic of Goethe. A serene optimism, a deep love of life, was his to the very last. To this das Lied des Türmers, written May 1831, bears eloquent witness. A ripe mellowness seems to blend here with the joyous spirit of youth. Goethe died March 22, 1832.
1. A visit to Sesenheim is the experience that called forth this poem. (Compare Goethe's first letter to Friederike, October 15, 1770) Notice how all nature is personified and assumes human attributes. In the opening stanzas impetuous haste is stirring, the first two lines have a marked rising rhythm. Notice the quieting effect of the metrical inversion at the beginning of 17, 18, and 19 and of the break in 25 after ach and how the whole poem ends with a note of deep joy.
15, 16. WELCHES, WELCHE = what.
21. ROSENFARBNES FRÜHLINGSWETTER, the roseate hues of spring-time.
29. ERDEN, old dative singular.
2. Notice that the second and third stanzas are joined as also the last three. The exuberant fullness of joy creates its own form and overleaps the confines of a single stanza.
3. Written June 1775 in Switzerland on Lake Zürich. Goethe had gone there to escape the unrest into which his love for Lili Schönemann had thrown him. The poem opens with a shout of exultation, 1 and 2; note the inversion — XX — X — Saug' ich aus freier Welt. The rising rhythm of the following lines clearly depicts the movement of rapid rowing. Stanza 2 changes to a falling rhythm; as pictures of the past rise up, the rowing ceases. Stanza 3 depicts a more quiet forward movement; notice the effect of the dactyls in the even lines.
15. TRINKEN, metaphorically for envelop, cause to disappear.
4. The refrain, so common in the Volkslied does not only enhance the melody of the poem, but centers the entire attention on das Röslein and retards the quick dramatic movement of the narrative, which latter is heightened by the omission of the article and the frequent inversion of the verb.
2. HEIDEN, old dative.