Song of the Spirits Over the Water
Song of the Spirits Over the Water - context Summary
Wilhelm Meister, 1797
This short lyric appears in Goethe's novel Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship (1797). It uses the natural cycle of water—falling from heaven, rushing over rocks, pooling in lakes—and the wind to picture the human spirit. The poem links ascent and descent, energy and repose, suggesting a shared fate of movement, change, and reflection. It frames human life as both fluid and vulnerable, caught between heights and depths.
Read Complete AnalysesThe spirit of Man Resembles water: Coming from heaven, Rising to heaven, And hither and thither, To Earth must then Ever descend. It leaps from the heights Of the sheer cliff, In a pure stream, Then rises sweetly In clouds of spray Against smooth stone, And lightly received Flows like a veil Streaming softly To depths beneath. When the sheer rocks Hinder its fall, It foams angrily Flowing stepwise Into the void. Along its flat bed It wanders the vale, And on the calm lake All the bright stars Gaze at their faces. Wind is the water’s Sweet lover: Wind stirs up foaming Waves from the deep. Spirit of Man How like water you are! Man’s fate, oh, How like the wind!
Feel free to be first to leave comment.