    The drama of this through-composed song unfolds above the tension-filled bass melody in the piano.  Although there is only one singer performing the song, there are, besides the narrator,  three characters in this story by Goethe.  
	The  Narrator  tells of a father riding late at night in bad weather with his sick child in his arms. The father  sings in a low register trying to comfort his son.  The Erlking  sings in a higher register with enticing and luring melodies beckoning the child to him.  The son sings fearful outcries of "Mein Vater" (My father, my father) and tries to describe the pleas of the Erlking to his father. 
	The Erlking is the king of the elves and represents death.  He promises games and happiness to the child in a contrasting vocal range from the father's desperate assurances. The part of the narrator appears twice, starting and ending the song.  Notice the differences of melody and range which separates the identities of the father, Erlking and son.  
The song ends with the narrator.  The father arrived home and "in his arms the child was dead."