How does Goethe portray nature in his poetry?

I looked at a variety of poems and secondary literature about Goethes poetry in order to answer that question. Based on the knowledge I have gained I will analyze each poem and conclude my findings at the end. After taking the first analytic look at Goethes poems it struck me that they are all, to bigger or lesser extent, about nature. The way he portrays it, however, varies. In Mit einem gemalten Band (1771/1789), for example, Goethe starts by exalting at the beauty of nature (e.g. stanza 1; verse 3), but soon he switches to the topic of love and the beloved woman and perhaps marriage. Natures importance lays in this change. One of the interpretations could be, that the dress meine liebste wears in front of the mirror is a wedding dress and the band that joins the two is indeed a band of marriage i.e. the band priests use when performing marriages. Then eine schwache Rosenband is what allows us to see the contrast between weak and perishable nature and the binding power of marriage, love, etc. all of which are stereotypically permanent. Descriptive words such as klein, leicht, gut, tandeln (Stanza 1; verses 1-4) help to portray nature as gentle, good and nonresisting. Such a portrayal of nature could also be showing us the similarity between perishable beauty of nature and perishable beauty of the woman. Adjective of the sort listed above help us to realize that connection. In Heidenrslein (1771) again Nature is portrayed as good, young, innocent, but also helpless, since she musste es eben leiden. The special relationship between man and nature can be seen to be the focus here and this particular take on that relationship shows the nature to be the victim. The varied faces of nature can be weak and helpless, but can also be powerful and dangerous. Willkommen und abschied (Sptere Fassung, ~1785) shows us nature which looks at us mit einen hundert schwarzen Augen. An atmosphere of a dark and scary night is created to accentuate the power of the feeling that makes our main character ride through the night the power of love. The danger is then replaced with a positive portrayal of nature when the journeys destination is reached using descriptions, like Ein rosenfarbnes Frhlingswetter. And although some critics (Liselotte Dieckman 1974) would describe Goethes love poems as not reaching his true emotions and potential, I believe they try to show us the bare feelings in a romantic kind of way. The nature plays an important part in that, as this imagery seems to strip us down to our bare essentials. The nature surroundings, although described in richness (e.g. Nebelkleid, Der Abend wiegte schon die Erde), are made for quality and force therefore using fewer words. They speak to imagination and wake our feelings through images so overwhelming, like that where the evening is cradling the earth to sleep. An image of all that wonder hidden in the darkness of night emerges in my mind thanks to such descriptions. But the dark portrayal of Goethes nature gets even darker in Der Erlknig (1778). There the metaphorical identity behind which Goethe hides the concept of nature (Erlknig) takes a small boys life away. Nature is personified here as an elven king who speaks with the child and could be considered a personification of death as well as nature (the father says it is only ein Nebelstreif). Then eine Alte Weide is portrayed as elf kings daughters. In my opinion Goethes usage of different natural objects and phenomena to portray the nature creates two storylines. One is the perception of the boy, who, most likely in a fever, imagines mythical creatures and the other is the perception of the father, who explains the apparitions as nature and tries to maintain that view. Those two storylines combined give us a unique view at the story and the nature within a mix of Para natural and natural. This poem has similar properties to Der Fischer. As mentioned in Liselotte Dieckmann J.W.Goethe (1974), In both of them, nature is an irresistible lure. In Der Erlknig the elven king, in form of

the mist, lures the child or rather the childs soul or life away. In both Der Erlknig and Willkommen und abschied natures dark portrayal has also a positive essence. In Willkommen und Abschied the main character, although surrounded by ungeheuer, has a lot of frisch und frhlich courage. Similarly, the elven king seems to simply be helping the child pass away, although we hear him making threats (Und bist du nicht willig, so brauch ich Gewalt!). This could point to a nature both magical, full of secrets, but an alluring one, as well as dangerous or even deadly one. The positive portrayal of nature becomes only ever more evident when we read Mailied (1771). There, Goethes meter of 5,4,5,4 plays important role in portraying the nature as abundant and overwhelming. The author seems to accentuate nouns at the end of each verse with such a short meter. We are hit by all that surrounding nature: Natur, Sonne, Flur; Brust, Sonne, Lust; Lerche, Luft, Morgenblumen, Himmelsdurf; A naturalist that Goethe was surfaces through poems similar to Mailied. Agreeing with the words of C.H.Herford (1913), I believe a fitting supplement to Mailieds intoxication of the wakening of spring is the calamity of theWandrers Nachtlied II (1780), where we read, that ber allen Gipfeln ist Ruh. An image of timeless nature emerges there, one that follows its own rhythm. Auf dem See (1775/1789) shows a rather contrasting image. It has the same basic qualities as Mailied, since it still is hold und gut, but now it is also calm. However, it is not the weak nature of Heidenrslein, but a mighty one (Und Berge, wolkig himmelan,), and incomprehensible, uncountable one (stanza 3; verse 2). The image created for mountains makes us imagine that the clouds are located somewhere in the middle of the mountain and the peaks go way higher to reach the sky. The power of this earthly mountain is then put beside the image of countless stars reflected on the surface. Here we see confirmation of the words of Dieckmann who pointed out Goethes fascination with water and still surfaces, seen also in Der Fischer. Yet another face of nature is shown to us in Ganymed (1774/7), where Goethe makes a link between it and god. The story, which we are told is the mythological story of Ganymede who was abducted by Zeus, because he was the most beautiful mortal. Main character exalts at natures beauty and seems to be thanking Zeus for it. der alliebende Vater on whose busen we lay, das heilig Gefhl, etc. are all examples of such awe. In this interpretation nature is portrayed as safe and beautiful home from which we are taken away to an even better place. The positive portrayal of gods and natural world, which seem to be connected, is twisted the other way round in the Prometheus (1774). This anti-hymn is, like Ganymed, symbolic, with a central mythical character, but Prometheus represents a contrasting with Ganymed ideological point of view. Paraphrasing words of L.Dieckmann (1974), Ganymed wants to unite with the gods, whereas Prometheus is rebellious towards them. Unlike in Ganymed, where quite a considerable reference to nature can be found, nature in Prometheus is rather in the background. Nature here is more of a world on its own and gods stand aside, whereas Ganymeds Nature seems to be affected by Gods influence. Aforementioned author of the secondary text would disagree by saying: They [gods] may have powers over nature, but man is free to make his own moral choices. I believe they dont have powers over nature in Prometheus. He, along with the human race which he creates, controls nature and says: [Zeus] Mut mir meine Erde doch lassen stehn. Its Prometheus Herd and Glut and he has built his own house (Und meine Htte, Die du [Zeus] nicht gebaut), which in my opinion indicates he at least tries to control the nature. Gods rather than described as the ones controlling nature are put at the same level as Prometheus and the same ewige Schicksal rules over them and people.

Grenzen der Menschheit (1780), similarly to two other odes, talks about the relationship between man and god. The nature in the midst of it all seems to play a small part, compared to so nature centered poems, like Mailied. Here, nature seems to be split into two categories. Mans nature and gods nature. Using the simplest divide, all the earthly aspects of nature, like die Erde itself, belong to man. He is associated with die Rebe and die Eiche, whereas Zeus is associated with die Blitzen, Die Wolken and der Wind. This portrayal of nature gives gods an incorporeal form (wind, lightning) and they control the elements, especially those not very well understood by men. (In a way they are the elements) After analyzing my sample poems so thoroughly, some things become clear. One is that nature is always present in Goethes poetry. I havent found a single poem which would not address it in some way. Then, thanks to the abundance of poems available and the genius within them, we are faced with varied perceptions of nature. Each poem focuses on one or more of those perceptions. The portrayal differs in imagery, from dark and scary forests and misty roads to bright, sunny and warm fields, lakes and skies. It also differs in the emotions shown. Even a black, eerie forest can be filling ones hearth with courage and a sunny, warm boat trip across the lake can be tiring and slow. Nature can be related to man and his feelings (like Mailied, Heidenrslein) or be a medium between man and god: (Prometheus, Ganymed) L.Dieckman adds to that view:Mans role and participation in nature is one of the great themes that run through Goethes work. () Nature was an object of delight and () the manifestation of the World-Soul of which he attempted to become a part. The portrayal of nature in Goethes poetry varies also across time. In different life periods his ideals and ideas changed and so did his style, but I think its fair to say that nature never ceased to be the question on his mind, which is largely reflected in his poetry.