9. Written in 1813 in memory of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the day when the poet had first met Christiane Vulpius. Its never failing charm lies in its utter simplicity, its Selbstverständigkeit, and in this one respect it may well be compared to Wordsworth's Lucy ("She dwelt among the untrodden ways").
1 and 2. FÜR SICH (i.e., vor sich) HINGEHEN, to saunter along, to walk along without any special purpose.
10. Mignon, a fascinating character in Goethe's novel Wilhelm Meister, a strange premature child, expresses in this song her longing for her Italian land. In succinct pictures there arise before us her native land, her ancestral home and the way thither. The very soul of this poem is longing, culminating with ever increasing intensity in the refrain. Note the vivid concreteness of the verbs and the noble simplicity of the adjectives; the vowels, especially in 2.
13. WOLKENSTEG, bridge that hangs on clouds (Carlyle).
16. STÜRZT, plunges down, i.e., descends precipitously.
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.