Another group treats the kings of the natural elements, so common in German literature: _The Erl King_ (1798, July 1833, Sept. 1833, 1835, 1836, 1838, 1839), _The Erl King's Daughter_ (1798), _The Water King_, a Danish Ballad (1798), _The Wolf King_, a parody on _The Water King_, _The Fire King_, etc. (1802), _Hrim Thor, or the Winter King_ (1802), _Grim, King of the Ghosts_ (1802) and _The Paint King_, a burlesque on _The Cloud King_, _The Fire King_, etc. (1809, 1810, 1833). This interest in the weird element explains the popularity of Bürger's _Lenore_, which appears in translation in 1798, 1801, 1804, 1823, 1836, 1839, 1840.
Switzerland is described in a variety of poems, treating all phases of the life and scenery. The most prominent among them is the Swiss song, which is variously translated as the _Ranz des Vaches_, the _Cow Boy's Chant_, and _The Song of the Swiss in a Strange Land_ (1805, Oct. 15, Oct. 29, Nov. 1, Nov. 8, Dec. 17, 1808, June, June 3, 1809, twice in 1833 and once in 1835). In addition to the translations, there are four imitations of the same poem: _The Swiss Exiles' Song_ (1835), _The Switzer's Return_ [from America] (1836), _The Switzer's Song of Home_ (1837, 1838), and _The Swiss Emigrant's Dream of Home_ (1840).[30]
[Footnote 30: A translation of Schiller's _Ranz des Vaches in "William Tell"_ is given in _The Constellation_, III-266, July 7, 1832, N. Y.]
The last group of poems to be mentioned refers to Goethe's novel, _Die Leiden des jungen Werthers_. This was evidently popular in America, though by no means causing the widespread delirium and sentimentality that had been rife in Germany. During our period the book was published here six times in translation, and an English imitation, _The Letters of Charlotte, during her Connexion with Werter_, had three American reprints.[31] These, together with translations imported from England, must have made Werter well known in this country. It is not surprising, therefore, to find in the magazines eight poems on the subject: _Narcissa_, containing a reference to Werter in the third stanza (1787), _Charlotte's Soliloquy--to the Manes of Werter_ (1787), _Death of Werter_ (1787), _Werter's Epitaph_ (1787, 1791, 1805), _On Reading the Sorrows of Werter_ (1790), _Letter LXI of the Sorrows of Werter, Versified_ (1791), _Werter's Farewell to Charlotte_ (1798) and _Charlotte at the Tomb of Werter_ (1809).