Mörike's poetry gives abundant proof of a rich creative imagination. Even his everyday speech was of an astounding concreteness, and thus the various aspects of Nature assume bodily shape. Spring becomes a youth, the symphony of spring the soft tone of a harp (81); the night--a fairy woman--leans against the rocky cliff listening to the azure of the sky (79). Although the idyllic predominates, deeper tragic notes are not wanting (84, 85) nor is the full note of exuberant joy (86). But early in life Mörike realized that any overflowing measure of joy or grief would prove destructive to his oversensitive nature, and the golden mean became inevitably his ideal (88). Never has he expressed that sweet serenity of soul, which he gained not without a bitter struggle, more beautifully than in the melodious lines: "_Auf eine Lampe_" (87). 79. In its allegorical personification the poem might be compared to a painting of Böcklin. Like Venus of yore, the night rises from the sea and at midnight sees the golden balance of time (the heavenly bodies) rest in equilibrium. The springs try to lull the night, their mother, to sleep with a song of the beauty of the day. She prefers the azure melody of the midnight sky, but the waters continue to sing, even in their sleep, of the day that has just passed. This contest the poet has also portrayed rhythmically: compare the measured trochaic movement of the first half of each stanza with the lighter and more rapid dactylic movement of the second half. 5. KECKER, since the noises of the day no longer interfere with their song. 12. In apposition with _des Himmels Bläue_. The firmament is the yoke along which the fleeting hours glide; GLEICHGESCHWUNGEN, _equally arched_, i.e., perfectly circular. 80.--3. SCHLEIER, of mist. 5. HERBSTKRÄFTIG, full of autumnal vigor; GEDÄMPFT, because the mists and the haze have softened all sharpness of outline and color. 81.--1. BLAUES BAND, metaphorical for blue sky. 7. HARFENTON, the symphony of spring, the heard and unheard stirring of new life. 82. The stanza form is an adaptation of a famous Lutheran hymn: _Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern_. 83. Of the character of the _Feuerreiter_, a creation of Mörike, only this much is clear: he fights fire and has often used sinfully (_freventlich_) holy means (_des heil'gen Kreuzes Span_) to charm fire. Finally, however, he becomes a victim of the infernal powers. 21. DER ROTE HAHN, the symbol of fire. 26. FEIND, Satan. 40. As the refrain in the preceding stanzas has depicted the tolling of the bell, so the sudden break here depicts the ceasing. 42. MÜßEN, old weak dative. 84. In its beautiful simplicity this song has become a folksong, Since it presents many metrical irregularities, the following scansion may be found useful. A dot is used to indicate pitch accent.[*] [* Transcriber's note: Here represented by 'Y'.]