
An elderly gentleman, dressed in a bygone fashion and leaning on a gold‑tipped cane, drifts through the quiet streets of his hometown as the autumn light fades. He pauses before a familiar, gabled house, its windows dimming behind green curtains, and slips inside, moving past polished chests and well‑worn bookshelves to a modest, velvet‑cushioned armchair. The room, bathed in the soft glow of moonlight, holds a simple black‑framed portrait that pulls his gaze and his thoughts back in time.
As the silvered beam settles on the picture, a name escapes his lips—Elisabeth—and the world around him seems to shift. The old man’s memory unfurls, revealing a youthful reverie of a girl in a red silk kerchief and the carefree days of school holidays. The scene awakens a tender longing, inviting listeners to linger on the bittersweet beauty of recollection and the lingering echo of first love.
Language
en
Duration
~1 hours (64K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Release date
2004-10-01
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1817–1888
A major voice of 19th-century German literature, he is best loved for lyrical, atmospheric stories that blend everyday life with memory, melancholy, and the uncanny. His work moves easily between poetry and novella, with "Immensee" and "The Rider on the White Horse" among his most enduring classics.
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