The themes out of which the "Idyl" is evolved are, with a single exception, motives from the Nibelungen music-drama "Siegfried," [188] upon which Wagner was engaged when his son was born; the exception is a German cradle-song, Schlaf, Kindchen, balde, Vöglein flieg'n im Walde.
Wagner dedicated the work to his wife in verses which have been translated as follows:
"Thy sacrifices have shed blessings o'er me,
And to my work have given noble aim,
And in the hour of conflict have upbore me,
Until my labor reached a sturdy frame.
Oft in the land of legends we were dreaming—
Those legends which contain the Teuton's fame,
Until a son upon our lives was beaming,
Siegfried must be our youthful hero's name.