11. The Harfenspieler has, without knowing it, married his own sister. Mignon is the child of this union. In this song he pours forth his despair and the torments of his conscience.
12. Thule is a mythical land of the far North.
3. STERBEND modifies Buhle.
7. his eyes overflowed with tears.
8. SO OFT, as often as.
12. ZUGLEICH, i.e., with his other possessions.
15. AUF, translate in. Why auf?
21, 22. Note the descriptive effect of the enjambement together with the internal rhyme.
23. His eyes closed (in death), TÄTEN SINKEN = sanken. Täten is an older preterite indicative.
13. The poem embodies the lure of the water. This motif is clearly expressed in 1 and is repeated in 25. In 9, 13, 29 and 31 metrically the same motif recurs. Compare 9 and 29: the speech becomes song and the lure of the nymph's song draws the fisherman down.