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Question: I need to know what this poem means and what is happining thanks!?
THE FISHERMAN!. by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
THE waters rush'd, the waters rose,
A fisherman sat by,
While on his line in calm repose
He cast his patient eye!.
And as he sat, and hearken'd there,
The flood was cleft in twain,
And, lo! a dripping mermaid fair
Sprang from the troubled main!.
She sang to him, and spake the while:
"Why lurest thou my brood,
With human wit and human guile
From out their native flood!?
Oh, couldst thou know how gladly dart
The fish across the sea,
Thou wouldst descend, e'en as thou art,
And truly happy be!
"Do not the sun and moon with grace
Their forms in ocean lave!?
Shines not with twofold charms their face,
When rising from the wave!?
The deep, deep heavens, then lure thee not,--
The moist yet radiant blue,--
Not thine own form,--to tempt thy lot
'Midst this eternal dew!?"
The waters rush'd, the waters rose,
Wetting his naked feet;
As if his true love's words were those,
His heart with longing beat!.
She sang to him, to him spake she,
His doom was fix'd, I ween;
Half drew she him, and half sank he,
And ne'er again was seen!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
A fisherman is calmly fishing when a mermaid bursts out of the water, rebukes him for luring her "brood" of fish out of the water, and convinces him that the ocean is the only place to be!. He follows her in and presumably drowns!.
There's a bit of irony here: she lures him into the sea just as he has been luring the fish out of it (with his bait)!.
The stuff about the sun and moon is fancifully referring to their reflections in the water, making it look as if they are bathing in it (lave=bathe)!. "Shines not with twofold charms their face,/When rising from the wave!?" refers to sunrise/moonrise, when the sun/moon is right above its reflection as it rises out of the water, making it shine with "twofold charm"!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Ok, this is how I see it!.!.
The fisherman was just minding his own buisness, not doing much, when this mermaid, or a beautiful woman, appears and seduces him!. This is called a 'siren' and she lures him to take him, and do what she wants!. And, clearly, he is never seen again!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
A fisherman was fishing, and he came across a mermaid!. She sang to him, and talked with him!. He fell in love!. He talks about how he debates in his head what to do, he dreams of being with her!.!.!. then she takes him in the water, and he was never seen again!.
THE END!Www@QuestionHome@Com