Auf dem See; On the Lake

https://www.projekt-gutenberg.org/goethe/gedichte/chap063.html

The first stanza is iambic; the second and third stanzas are trochaic. The iambic metre conveys the sense of the waves lapping leisurely against the boat, whereas the trochaic metre is more incisive and is arguably better suited to the sense of crisis and decision in stanzas two and three.

This is a poem about the process of maturing. At the beginning the ‘I’ sucks nourishment from the breast of mother nature, and is gently rocked by the waves. There is a crisis of confidence in the second stanza, as dream threatens to supplant reality, but the dream is rejected in favour of life and love. The third stanza shows a new sense of precision: the personal pronouns of the first two stanzas are gone, suggesting that the ‘I’ is no longer so self-absorbed. The use of metaphor has been replaced by acute observation. Notable in this third stanza are adjectives formed from present participles ‘schwebend’ (hovering), ‘türmend’ (towering), ‘reifend’ (ripening), expressing an awareness of ongoing, moving processes in the surrounding nature. The final image of the ripening fruit reflected in the water conveys a sense of gradual maturity through the word ‘reifend’ (ripening); also the reflexive verb ‘sich bespiegeln’ (to mirror itself) suggests that self-reflection is an important aspect of this process.

Further Reading

Nicholas Boyle, ‘“Maifest” and “Auf dem See”’, German Life and Letters 36:1-2 (1982-83), 18-34

Charlie Louth, ‘Reflections: Goethe’s “Auf dem See” and Hölderlin’s “Hälfte des Lebens”’, Oxford German Studies 33 (2004), 167-75

Brigitte Peucker, ‘Goethe’s Mirror of Art: The Case of “Auf dem See”’, Goethe Yearbook: Publications of the Goethe Society of North America 2 (1984), 43-49

S. S. Prawer, German Lyric Poetry: A Critical Analysis of Selected Poems from Klopstock to Rilke (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1965), pp. 63-67