There are several English versions written for the old Irish air "Eileen Aroon," all having "Robin Adair" as the refrain. The German version by some unknown poet of the first quarter of the present century, possesses all the charming simplicity and dramatic directness of the „Volkslied“ of earlier times. Though adapted to the same air and with the same refrain, its contents are altogether original.—Of the different English versions, the following comes nearest the German wording, and may therefore be used in translating:

19-2. doch. Cf. Page 10, Note 11.

19-3. „Ännchen von Tharau,“ a popular song by Simon Dach, a native of East Prussia (1605-1659), made known to English readers through Longfellow’s translation: „Annie of Tharaw.“

19-4. schlahn and (in the following verse) stahn (Sambian, i.e. East Prussian dialect) for schlagen and stehen.

Page 20.—20-1. Verkno´tigung.—Longfellow renders the fifth strophe:

20-2. die Hitsche, "foot-stool," (students’ slang) for das Katheder, professor’s chair or desk.

20-3. er, refers to Ausdruck.

20-4. das Volkslied (sing., collectively), for pl., „Volkslieder“.

20-5. hier, i.e. in the Alpine districts of Bavaria, Austria, and Tyrol whose people, old and young, for ages have been noted for their remarkable skill of giving vent, extempore, to their feelings in the form of „Schna´derhüpfel“ (lit., reapers [= country-people’s] dancing-songs) or "Tyrolese ditties." They have all the same rhythm, are sung to the accompaniment of the cithern, the favorite musical instrument of the mountaineers, and recite in verse, more or less rude, the interests of mountain-life, such as the adventures of lovers, and the mysteries of fairyland, etc.

20-6. singt’s! (Alpine dialect) = singt!—einmal (indef., persuasivly), just sing! won’t you?

20-7. einen Steirer, a Styrian country-dance—a musical recitative accompanied by the cithern and set to a tune sufficiently rhythmical to act as one of the original purposes of a ballad, namely a dance tune.

20-8. zahlt, here = muß zahlen or hat zu zahlen.

20-9. einen Zwanziger Münz, a 20-kreutzer-piece (also called ein Kopfstück), equal to 10 American cents, trans. a dime.

20-10. Dialect. = „das würde schon ganz recht (or gut) sein.“

20-11. wie es Euch ums Herz (or zu Mut) ist, cf. Page 4, Note 2.

Page 21.—21-1. einen Herzog-Maxländler, a country-dance tune, named after the popular Duke Max Joseph of Bavaria, the father of the lamented Empress Elisabeth of Austria, whose recent assassination (September 10, 1898) in Geneva (Switzerland) startled the whole world.

21-2. in optima forma (Lat. phrase), in the best possible manner or masterly.

21-3. mit dem Gemsbarte (am Hut), cf. Page 5, Note 1.

21-4. mit den Armen, omit the preposition in English.

21-5. man, best to be rendered by changing to passive with the relat. pron. as subject.

21-6. es (indef.), here = eine Stimme or der Gesang.

21-7. Dialect. =

21-8. was—das (neuter, correlative), idiom, for masc. and fem. pl. = die, welche, those who.

21-9. a (dialect.) = (1) ein, eine, ein, and (2) auch; here = ?

21-10. schallte es (cf. Note 6, above), another voice was heard.

21-11. Dialect. =

21-12. es (introductory or grammatical subject), cf. Page 16, Note 9.

Page 22.—22-1. Dialect. =

The meaning is: Do not hurry in matters of love, for appearances are often deceitful, and what at first glance looks like a smooth and comfortable fur-cap (or fur-coat) may after all prove the hiding-place of a cunning fox; a simile taken from the old mountaineer’s sphere of observation (cp. the biblical phrase "a ravening wolf in sheep’s clothing").

22-2. ja (adverb. idiom), why, you know! or you must know.

22-3. für’s Geld, in English without article.

22-4. wohl (adverb. idiom), sure enough; it is true.

22-5. guter Dinge sein (a phrase with adverbial genit. of manner or quality), to be of good cheer or in high spirits ("in high feather").

22-6. nahm sich auf die Seite, trans., called to his side.

22-7. es (indef.), here for (the contents of) pans and pots.

22-8. dafür, daß er nicht singen könne (lit., for this that he could not sing), for his being unable to sing.

22-9. spielte (obj. die Zither being implied).

22-10. es geht was (= etwas) drauf (colloq. phrase), considerable money is spent, or business is booming.

22-11. was thut’s? (colloq. phrase), what does it matter?

Page 23.—23-1. machen (in colloquial language used as substitute for almost any verb, = Eng. to get); sich machen unter ... = sich mischen or sich begeben unter ...

23-2. sich (dat. of interest) = für sich, for himself (exclusively).

23-3. es (indef.), here perhaps "curiosity."

23-4. wie wäre es? (condit. subj.), for condit. würde es sein? (how would it be?), how would it do? or what do you think of ...?

23-5. erzählte (subj. impf.) = erzählen würde.

23-6. es wird nicht viel werden mit dem Schlaf heute Nacht (colloq. phrase), sleep is hardly to amount to anything to-night.

23-7. trotz Ihres hohen Bettes—to spare room, in the Alpine huts the beds are found high up on the wall, near the ceiling of the room, resting on pegs driven into the wall.

23-8. mein Fräulein—directed to Elsa.

23-9. das wäre schön, cf. Note 4, above.

23-10. Fräuleins (pl. for Fräulein), comp. Kerls for Kerle, Page 16, Note 1.

Page 24.—24-1. wes (obsol. genit. for welches) Zeichens und Standes (colloq. phrase with adverbial genitive) lit., "what the inscription of my sign-board is and my [social] standing," trans., what my occupation is and my standing in life.

24-2. wo ... her (separated) for the more common form woher´.

24-3. nie´derrheinisch, from the Lower Rhine, i.e. from the northwestern part of Germany.

24-4. ehrlicher Leute Kind (sing., collectively), a phrase for ehrlicher Leute Kinder. Cf. Page 20, Note 4.

24-5. es (indef.), perhaps: things or affairs.

24-6. es (indef.), here perhaps: my fate or a change in my life.

24-7. es wurde ... gestrickt, some little knitting was done.

24-8. wanderten (wandered). Account for the idiom. Cf. Page 4, Note 12.

24-9. es (introductory or grammatical subject); what is the logical subject?

24-10. doch (adverb. idiom), adds force to the request.

24-11. geben Sie mir die Körbchen!—The point lies in the double meaning of the phrase Einem einen Korb geben = (1) literally: to give one a basket, and (2) figuratively: to refuse a suitor; to give "the sack" or "the mitten."

Page 25.—25-1. es (indef.), here the thought.

25-2. komm. Note the sudden change of address from the formal second pers. pl. to the affectionate second pers. singular.

25-3. die (emphat.) = diese, sie—how known that it is not relative pronoun?

25-4. um so hübscheres, all the prettier.

25-5. ein Kuß brannte (burnt), was fired.

25-6. ob (obsol. prepos.) = über or wegen.

25-7. es (introductory), there.

25-8. es hat nicht seine Richtigkeit mit der ..., there is (or must be) some misconception as to her being a ...

25-9. Knigge’s „Umgang mit Menschen,“ Baron Knigge’s (1751-1796) once famous standard book „Instruction in Deportment.“

25-10. Pen(pronounce as in French)sions´mutter.

Page 26.—26-1. sich (dat. = mit sich), with himself; in his mind.

26-2. das, refers to the kissing and embracing.

26-3. kurze Verlobungszeit, while as a rule, in Germany, years elapse between betrothal and marriage of a young couple.

26-4. bei mir (zu Hause being understood).

26-5. wohin´ (wir reisen sollten being understood).

26-6. kamen gefahren. Note the idiomatic use of the perf. partic. instead of the pres. partic. after kommen—came riding or driving.

26-7. wo ... hin´fährt (separated), for the more common form wohin ... fährt. Cf. Page 24, Note 2.

26-8. Kassel, capital of the Prussian province of Hesse-Kassel.

26-9. hast du (cf. Page 2, Note 1) = wenn (time) du hast.

26-10. Frankfurt a. M., Frankfurt-on-the-Main (river), a far-famed city of the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau.—From 1562 to 1792 the German emperors were crowned in the Frankfurt Cathedral. The town was also the residence of the German kings under the Franconian Dynasty, 768-911, after whom the town has been named.

26-11. sagt—colloq. omission of an adverb as darauf or da.

26-12. da´hin laß mich mit dir, o mein Geliebter, ziehen! there, O, my true lov’d one, thou with me must go! (Thomas Carlyle).—These words of Mignon forming the refrain of each of the three strophes of Goethe’s ballad „Mignon“ (see page 28) are here skillfully and affectionately attributed to the young wife of the narrator.

26-13. uns (dat. of interest), humorously, trans. somewhat like to our edification.

26-14. wir gehen—present tense instead of the future, to express an immediate or certain future as if actually present, or it may be taken in the sense of an imperative.

26-15. Heidelberg, town in the grand-duchy of Baden, charmingly situated on the Neckar (river), with a famous university founded in 1386, the oldest in the present German Empire.

26-16. Heidelberg, das Wetterloch! (bad weather-quarters). In a similar manner, Joseph Victor Scheffel, the life-long admirer and bard of Heidelberg, complains of the wet character of the old university-town on the Neckar, in the closing line of the Preface to his "Gaudeamus," a collection of merry college-songs, where he says: „Der genius loci Heidelbergs ist feucht,“—now a familiar quotation.

26-17. sitzt. Cf. Note 11, above.

26-18. im „Ritter,“ i.e. im Hotel „zum Ritter,“ an inn in the Market-Square of Heidelberg, erected in 1592, almost the only house in town which escaped destruction by the French in 1693.

Page 27.—27-1. Freiburg im Breisgau, also called Freiburg in Baden (abbrev. Freiburg i. B., for either designation), a town with university, in the southern part of the grand-duchy of Baden, beautifully situated on the western edge of the Black Forest.—About Breisgau see the Vocabulary.

27-2. u. s. w. (abbrev. for und so weiter), and so on.

27-3. der Blauen ("Blue Mountain"), name of one of the highest peaks in the Black Forest; in translation retain the German form of the name.

27-4. was, colloq. for etwas.

27-5. guck, colloq. for sieh!

27-6. mal, colloq. for einmal (indef., adverb. idiom), cf. Page 20, Note 6.

27-7. siehste, colloq. contraction of siehst du, "you see"; you know; you must know.

27-8. das sind die Alpen (idiom), these are the Alps.—The neut. sing. of the demonstrat. pron. (das), when immediately preceding or following the auxil. sein, is used without regard to the gender and number of the logical subject (here die Alpen).

27-9. der Sankt Gott´hard, St. Gothard, a mountain-group of the Lepontine Alps of Switzerland.

27-10. wollten (idiom., infinit. gehen or reisen being understood), cf. Page 5, Note 12.

27-11. Remember that the longing of the Germans for Italy is proverbial.

27-12. Land for das Land. Note the force of the ellipsis.

27-13. wo die Citro´nen blühen, likewise a quotation from Goethe’s ballad „Mignon,“ the text of which is found on Page 28.

27-14. zu tragen = welcher in der Hand zu tragen war, cf. Page 10, Note 5.

27-15. es. Account for the idiom. Cf. Page 24, Note 9.

27-16. Mai´land, the German name for Milan in the Lombard plain.

27-17. Ge´nua, the German name for Genoa in Northern Italy, a seaport charmingly situated on the Gulf of Genoa in the Mediterranean Sea.

27-18. wat (dialect of the Lower Rhine), for High German „was.“

27-19. avan´ti!E-6 (Ital.), forward!

27-20. der Vesuv´, Mount Vesuvius, the most noted volcano in the world, situated on the Bay of Naples, nine miles southeast of Naples (Italy).

27-21. ging’s = ging es (indef.), cf. Page 3, Note 4.

27-22. Vene´dig, the German name for Venice; „über Venedig,“ by way of Venice; via Venice.

27-23. fest´geschneestöbert (perf. partic.), a bold verb-formation consisting of „fest“ (fast; up) and „das Schneegestöber“ (snow-storm) = eingeschneit, snowed up; snow-bound.

27-24. State three mistakes in the Englishman’s German.

Page 28.28-1. al´so die (emphat.), so, they, or they, then.—Remember that also is never = English "also."

28-2. gewesen. Explain the idiom and supply the proper form of the auxiliary.

28-3. In English with definite article.

28-4. mal, cf. Page 27, Note 6.

28-5. Einem im Garten wachsen (colloq. phrase), to fall to one’s share; wenn doch ... wüchse.—The past subj. expresses a wish the realization of which is not expected by the speaker.

28-6. Hora´tius, Horace.—Quintus "Horatius" Flaccus (65-8 B.C.), a famous Roman lyric and satirical poet. Virgil´, Vergil.—Publius "Vergilius" Maro (70-19 B.C.), a famous Roman epic, didactic, and idyllic poet.—Both Horace and Vergil extol in their works Italian life and scenery.

28-7. das Loch, colloq. for Stube or Studierzimmer; comp. Goethe’s "Faust," verse 399: „Verfluchtes dumpfes Mauerloch ...“

28-8. sein Leben (adverbial accusative expressing duration of time) = sein Leben lang or sein ganzes Leben lang.

28-9. davon´, of it, i.e. of Italian life and scenery.

28-10. "Bea´tus ille!" "Happy he!" or "Fortunate that man!" the much quoted beginning of the second epode of Horace:

28-11. The first stanza of Goethe’s ballad "Mignon" from the third book of the novel „Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre,“ in which Mignon, a young Italian girl who has been abducted from home and taken to Germany, gives vent to her longing for Italian skies:

28-12. wohl (adv. idiom, not easy to render), perhaps or say! or then (explet.).

28-13. alles (idiomatic use of neut. sing. for masc. and fem. pl.) = alle.

Page 29.—29-1. vor (of time), ago.

29-2. da´mit (emphat. = hiermit), i.e. mit diesen Worten.

29-3. die Ces´tiuspyramide, the Pyramid of Cestius in Rome, a huge monument, once the last resting-place of Caius Cestius, a Roman prætor and tribune of the time of Emperor Augustus. Close to this pyramid is the Protestant Cemetery, where tall cypresses rise above the graves of numerous English, American, German, and other visitors. Prominent among those resting there are: Shelley, the English poet (died 1822), whose heart only was buried there; the tombstone of the English poet Keats (died 1821) bears the melancholy inscription: "Here lies one whose name was writ in water." There is also the grave of August Goethe (died 1830), the only son of the poet.

29-4. es (indef., "something"), a thought.

29-5. es (indef.) kämpfte in ihm, trans. perhaps: there was a struggling of feelings in his heart.

29-6. The form im Jahre 18.. may be read: „achtzehn hundert und so und so.“

29-7. doch (adverb. idiom), here: I hope or let me hope.

Page 30.—30-1. uns, reciproc. pron. = ?

30-2. The beginning of one of the most exquisite and popular treasures of German lyric poetry, by the Austrian poet Ernst von Feuchtersleben (1806-1849) with music by Mendelssohn-Bartholdi. The second and third stanzas run thus: