These translations aim at being as true to the spirit, more particularly the mood, of the originals as possible. They are fairly literal, the changes being mainly in the order of words in a phrase. Very occasionally whole lines have been transposed. The metres and rhyme schemes are, with slight exceptions, as nearly identical as possible. As Hofmannsthal's poetry is so notably com pressed and full of meaning, it is hoped that these trans lations, together with the Introduction, may enable some of those who already know him in the original to see even more in his work than they have already done.