The poetry of Wilhelm Müller, to whom Heine expressed indebtedness for his renewal of the forms of the German "Volkslied", had rarely been discussed in depth prior to this volume originally published in 1970. Cottrell's study is an interpretation of Müller's three most successful song-cycles: "Die schöne Müllerin", "Die Winterreise", and "Frühlingskranz". The first two, interpreted in chapters one and two, are famed through Schubert's musical settings.
- Chapter three offers an interpretation of the "Frühlingskranz". A last chapter considers Müller's poetic imagination. Full texts of the poems discussed are included in the Appendix and are indexed by titles and first lines.