The Erl-King

Who rides there so late in a night so wild?
A father is riding with his child.
He clasps the boy close in his arm,
He holds him tightly, he keeps him warm.

"My son, you are trembling, what do you fear?"
"Look father, the Erl-King is coming near!
With his crown and his shroud, yes that is he!"
"My son, it's only the mist you see."

"Oh, lovely child, oh come with me!
Such games we'll play, so glad we'll be!
Such flowers to pick, such sights to behold,
My mother will make you clothes of gold."

"Oh, father oh, father did you not hear
The Erl-King whispering in my ear?"
"Lie still my child, lie quietly,
It is only the wind and the leaves of the tree."

"Dear boy, if you come away,
My daughters will wait on you everyday.
They'll give you the prettiest presents to keep,
They'll dance when you wake and they'll sing you asleep."

"My father, my father, do you not see
The Erl-King's pale daughters waiting for me?"
"My son, my son, I see what you say,
The willow is waving it's branches of gray."

"I love you so come without fear or remorse!
And if you are not willing I'll take you by force."
"My father, my father, tighten your hold,
The Erl-King has caught me, his fingers are cold!"

The father shudders, he spurs on his stead,
He carries the child with desperate speed,
He reaches the courtyard and looks down with dread,
There in his arms the boy lies dead.

-- Johann Wolfgang van Goethe


(Johann Wolfgang van Goethe was a German poet. The version of "The Erl-King" above is the English translation by Louis Untermeyer.)