Symbols and Allegories in Goethe's “Maifest“ (Mayfest)

Abstract

Although the field of semiotics is fairly new in academia, the ideas that are discussed and researched date back centuries, if not millennia. The field itself seeks to study symbols that are either visual, such as art in various media or, as this essay demonstrates, poetry, which is written language and often considered visual art in-and-of-itself. It also includes auditory signs, which are spoken words and sentences, or musical notes and acoustic signals of objects which can be seen and heard simultaneously. The field of poetry in semiotics, however, is very unique because it contains both spoken symbols and allegories at the same time: allegory refers to concentrated ideas that can also be depicted in paintings. The way that allegory in poetry differs from that in paintings lies in the fact that the message in poetry is conveyed through written or orthographic communication, very similar in effect to spoken language, save for the fact that orthography is a visual sign as opposed to an acoustic one which is spoken language per se. Basing upon Roman Jakobson's six-factor six-function communication model, this paper discusses and enhances the links between semiotics and poetics. It also demonstrates the interplay between symbol and allegory in Goethe's love poem, ”Maifest” (Mayfest).