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/lit/ - Literature


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File: 184 KB, 700x537, Erl_king_sterner.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
4954976 No.4954976 [Reply] [Original]

Who rides there so late through the night dark and drear?
The father it is, with his infant so dear;
He holdeth the boy tightly clasp'd in his arm,
He holdeth him safely, he keepeth him warm.

"My son, wherefore seek'st thou thy face thus to hide?"
"Look, father, the Erl-King is close by our side!
Dost see not the Erl-King, with crown and with train?"
"My son, 'tis the mist rising over the plain."

"Oh, come, thou dear infant! oh come thou with me!
For many a game I will play there with thee;
On my strand, lovely flowers their blossoms unfold,
My mother shall grace thee with garments of gold."

"My father, my father, and dost thou not hear
The words that the Erl-King now breathes in mine ear?"
"Be calm, dearest child, 'tis thy fancy deceives;
'Tis the sad wind that sighs through the withering leaves."

"Wilt go, then, dear infant, wilt go with me there?
My daughters shall tend thee with sisterly care;
My daughters by night their glad festival keep,
They'll dance thee, and rock thee, and sing thee to sleep."

"My father, my father, and dost thou not see,
How the Erl-King his daughters has brought here for me?"
"My darling, my darling, I see it aright,
'Tis the aged grey willows deceiving thy sight."

"I love thee, I'm charm'd by thy beauty, dear boy!
And if thou'rt unwilling, then force I'll employ."
"My father, my father, he seizes me fast,
For sorely the Erl-King has hurt me at last."

The father now gallops, with terror half wild,
He grasps in his arms the poor shuddering child;
He reaches his courtyard with toil and with dread, –
The child in his arms finds he motionless, dead.


Your interpretations?

>> No.4954988

Fairies, brah.

>> No.4955020

The Erlkönig is a fever or disease

>> No.4955030

>>4955020
No, you shit. It's a fucking fairy coming to steal children.

>> No.4955035

>>4955030
Holy shit you're right

>> No.4955038

>>4954976
What the fuck is all this "thou" and "dost"?

Also love how translators change poems so they can rhyme it in their own language.

>> No.4955054

>>4955020
How To Read Literature Like A Professor pls go

>> No.4955057

Hermann Prey singt Der Erlkönig: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hTC_JFQ3IQ

>> No.4955058

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yh38Ej7N2go

>> No.4955059

>>4955020
this is actually a totally reasonable interpretation and >>4955030 literally doesn't know what a metaphor is

>> No.4955063

>>4955020
It's the cold. Goethe didn't like winter

>> No.4955064

>>4955054
This is a hilariously bad post

>> No.4955077

Literal translation:

Who rides, so late, through night and wind?
It is the father with his child.
He has the boy well in his arm
He holds him safely, he keeps him warm.

"My son, why do you hide your face so anxiously?"
"Father, do you not see the Elfking?
The Elfking with crown and tail?"
"My son, it's a wisp of fog."

"You dear child, come, go with me!
Very lovely games I'll play with you;
Some colourful flowers are on the beach,
My mother has some golden robes."

"My father, my father, and don't you hear
What the Elfking quietly promises me?"
"Be calm, stay calm, my child;
The wind is rustling through withered leaves."

"Do you want to come with me, pretty boy?
My daughters shall wait on you finely;
My daughters will lead the nightly dance,
And rock and dance and sing you to sleep."

"My father, my father, and don't you see there
The Elfking's daughters in the gloomy place?"
"My son, my son, I see it clearly:
There shimmer the old willows so grey."

"I love you, your beautiful form entices me;
And if you're not willing, then I will use force."
"My father, my father, he's grabbing me now!
The Elfking has done me harm!"

It horrifies the father; he swiftly rides on,
He holds the moaning child in his arms,
Reaches the farm with trouble and hardship;
In his arms, the child was dead.

--
Sounds like some sort of illness to me.

>> No.4955093

>>4955077
A literal interpretation is possible as well. The father doesn't listen to the cries of the child till it is too late.
A faggot might say that it represents the ignorance of adults, who always try to reason with what they experince.
Or something like that

>> No.4955095

>>4955093
Experience.

>> No.4955099
File: 2.74 MB, 300x169, megabert.gif [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
4955099

>>4955058

>subtitulos en español

>> No.4955100

>>4955093
Your interpretation completely ignores the fact that the father is clearly very worried and riding quickly with the child somewhere even though he doesn't believe the erlkönig is real.

>> No.4955103
File: 29 KB, 396x385, Sad Frog.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
4955103

>>4955077
>that feel when you will never be snatched away from life by the Elf King to go chill with his daughters in the fairy realm

>> No.4955107

>>4955093
I'm showing my age here, but anyone who has "set up" with a dying relative and listened to the things they say, and the people they talk to and things they see as they're dying will get the meaning of this poem. death delirium fever dreams are exactly like this.

>> No.4955146
File: 48 KB, 535x577, tfw+crying[1].jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
4955146

>>4955103
>you will never sit in a European parlor room and watch a private piano performance of Der Erlkönig by Franz Schubert for his closest friend circle

>> No.4955156

>>4955146
>>4955103
You bastards.

It's too early in the day for feels.

>> No.4955166

>>4955103
>>4955146
>>4955156
Do you guys want to dress classily and form a gentlemen's literature club? We can recline on chaise longues and hire prostitutes to sit on our laps as we read Rimbaud.

>> No.4955179

>>4955166
While that sounds like an amazing idea, I can't help but get the sense that, given the population base from which we would be drawing our members, such a group would invariably end up like those /mlp/ meet-ups full of fat people wearing baggy bluejeans and cheap fedoras.

>> No.4955198

>>4955179
People who wish to join must fill in an application form with a personal photo attached. The venue will be a heavily-guarded secret and we'll have bouncers and shit. It will be tight.