Der Siebente Ring Summary

Like the previous poem, the third Lied from Der siebente Ring expresses the emotions of a person symbolically through a spring landscape. However, as Morwitz (1969) argues, the described scene hints at an earlier time than May, which was mentioned in the second Lied. Morwitz infers that George deliberately avoided a chronological order of the poems.
The third Lied consists of twelve mostly iambic verses. With few exceptions, each of them contains four syllables. The poem describes nature at the very beginning of spring. It is so early that only hazels bloom next to a brook (vv. 1-3). It is noteworthy that George did not use the more common word “Rand” to refer to the bank of the small stream. Instead, he used the word “Ranft” (v. 1), a related, regional term for the crusty end of a bread loaf. The letter “f” adds a certain

6-8), when a sudden gleam of light brushes the speaker and his companion and gently warms them. For the first time in the poem, the speaker mentions a “we”. Unlike the previous Lieder, this one seems to depict a relationship that, albeit being in its very early stages, might turn out not be one-sided. In the first part of the sentence, positive and tender words like “streift” (brushes), “erwärmt” (warms) and “sanft” (gently) are used to convey the young love. However, the gleam of the light does not last. It “zuckt” (quivers) and “bleicht” (pales) and disappears again.
The description of nature continues with harsh, negative images in the two following verses. The field is fallow and the tree leafless. According to Gomringer, these are outer images of the speaker’s inner state. However, like the aspects of winter that were present in the descriptions of the beginning, small hints of spring are hidden in the ninth and tenth verse. The field is fallow, but that might also mean it will soon be ready for new seeds. The tree’s state of “noch” (still) being grey suggests it will not stay like this