Erlkoenig

[poliphilo]

The Alder King

after Goethe's Erlkoenig

The road is long, the night is wild,
A man is riding with his child.
He holds him close to keep him warm
Against the battering of the storm.

"My dear, why are you shivering?"
"Oh father, look, the Alder King
In his spiky crown and floating  train!"
"There's nothing there but drifting rain."

"My darling come and live with me;
We''ll play such games beside the sea
In meadows full of deathless flowers -
The two of us- for hours and hours..."

"Didn't you hear  that speech of his
Such pretty words, such promises?"
"All I can hear is wind and weather-
The dead, old boughs as they crash together."

"My daughters wait on the dancing floor.
They say they need one dancer more.
They'll sing for you, they'll hold you tight
And sit beside you all the night."

"Father, look, in the shadows there-
The daughters how they stand and stare,
Their white hair falling to their knees."
"There's nothing there but the willow trees."

"Love, I've been gentle for your sake
But what I cannot woo I take."
"Oh father, do not let me go.
The Alder King is hurting so."

He holds his son against his breast.
He shivers. He has done his best.
The lights of home gleam just ahead.
He reaches them. The boy is dead.

Comments

[glitzfrau.livejournal.com]

I love that, and my students loved it too, a bit to my surprise - eighteenth century poetry can be a bit of a turn-off, but the Erlking just goes at such a lick, and is so incredibly dramatic. Have you heard the Lied version of it? The galloping rhythm is gone, but there's a wonderful spooky rumbling piano part in its place.

[lblanchard.livejournal.com]

You mean other than the Schubert?

[glitzfrau.livejournal.com]

No, I do mean the Schubert!

[lblanchard.livejournal.com]

I think there's a remarkable galloping rhythm to the piano in the Schubert -- some killer octaves in the right hand while the left hand rumbles as you say. How my wrists would cramp when I tried to play it!

[glitzfrau.livejournal.com]

Yes, I see what you mean - and I'm really impressed at your ability to play it! Perhaps what I mean is rather that the rhythm is transformed - the poem has an insistent, unavoidable gallop that speeds up (at least when I recite it) as the tension heightens, whereas the song, in the way of songs, builds up the rhythm, drops it again, re-introduces it in a different fashion.

Damn! Now I want to listen to a recording!

[lblanchard.livejournal.com]

I never played it to tempo and I never played it well. I haven't tried it in thirty-five years, either.

I am going to add you to my f-list so that you can access the recording I put up for that purpose. There's one linked from the Wikipedia article, too, but it's not as good. There's a lot more energy, drive, etc. in hers, even if the 1951 recording is a bit tinny.

[sorenr.livejournal.com]

Damn! Now I want to listen to a recording!

My thought exactly! So now I'm sitting at 7am on a Monday morning, waking up to the "soothing (?) sound of the Lied! It always reminds me of sitting by the fireplace in Ye Olde Bobbin Mill in Hawkshead (Lake District). An oddly peaceful association to have to such a tense piece of music.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Yes, we were discussing Schubert's version in Ailz's tutorial yesterday. That's what got me started.

The poem has a genuinely folky quality- not at all typical of the 18th century.