Elfenlied

Poem

"Elfenlied" (German pronunciation: [ˈɛlfənˌliːt], "fairy song") is the conventional title of a 1780 poem by Goethe, and of a later (c. 1830) poem by Eduard Mörike (and of their various respective adaptations to music). Goethe's poem was written in 1780, in a letter sent to Charlotte von Stein, without a title, but introduced by Die Elfen sangen "the elves/fairies sang"; the title "Elfenlied" (and variants) were only set in editions of Goethe's collected poems (titled "A Midnight Fairy Song" by Thomas 1859).