ABSTRACT
The authors of the Sturm und Drang era embarked on a new literature of life that sought the expression of true emotion. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Sturm und Drang poetry and his work in this area reveal an important influence in the development of song. The reciprocity and encouragement that Goethe received from fellow writers was mirrored in Franz Schubert's circle and the Sturm und Drang tenets and themes of love, nature and fellowship were continued in their art. 'Willkommen und Abschied' represents Goethe's first struggle with love and the poet illustrates this conflict through the polarities of his verse. Throughout his life, Goethe used water as a poetic symbolic of various natural elements. In Goethe's poetry, water is also linked with the daemonic, so through the symbolism of the river, he attributes the prophet's phenomenal ability and personality to a daemonic force of nature which is inherently divine.
