Schubert's setting of Goethe's poem, "Gretchen am Spinnrade", is evocatively beautiful and menacing: a haunting feeling of overwhelming melancholy and fateful delirium of love. The lyrics are in stanzas of four and are in strophic form. Schubert's D minor setting is comprehensively composed and illustrates Gretchen's painful feelings accordingly. The first verse, "Meine Ruh' is hin, Mein Herz ist schwer, Ich finde sie nimmer Und nimmermehr" after the third and sixth verses transforms, not into a refrain but into a repeating refrain-like section. This recurring "chorus" reminds the listener of Gretchen's internal anguish and aching heart. Overflowing with anguish and desperate love, the emotional "word painting" effect of this song is achieved by the collaboration of the piano, the musical texture changes and the harmonic blend in the telling of this story. The music and lyrics paint a picture of a girl possessed by the touch and memory of a certain man, yet Gretchen is isolated in her grief. Schubert brings this girl's pain to an increasing level of torment. He can only sit in front of his spinning wheel. The infinite circle that "paints" his emotions. Apparently it requires a pianist's strength and dexterity. The idea behind the accompaniment is simple, but brilliant. The right hand must quickly slide through sixteenth notes emulating the whirring sound of the spinning wheel. It also easily works as a metaphor for the confusing emotions swirling in his mind. Perhaps the spinning wheel reflects the hypnotic effect of the temptation of love. The left hand, divided into two parts, one requiring a steady beat to imitate the treading of the spinning wheel; the other represents Gretchen's beating heart. This setting is striking, the spinning wheel is...... in the center of the paper......Figure 9 Gretchen am Spinnrade by Schubert, mm. 101-112. The setting of the final “chorus” section is a PAC in measure. 114. Here Gretchen's extravagant but unfaithful lover, betraying his affection and depriving her of peaceful happiness, has abandoned her to face her bitter fate alone. Gretchen moans in her lonely anguish: “Meine Ruh ist hin, Mein Herz ist schwer.” The music seamlessly expresses the anguished sadness felt by Gretchen. As a result, the occasional and irregular outpourings of passion are scored evocatively, beautifully and menacingly, while the monotonous whirring of the spinning wheel, literally imitated in the accompaniment, resonates. The piano adapts to the girl's singing, harmonizing Gretchen's sadness. The lie, conforming to this melancholy, echoes the emotions heard in his voice – an illustration of the intimacy and compassion of the fateful love frenzy.