The ballad poet, Goethe writes, "makes use of all three fundamental types of poetry to initially express what should stimulate the imagination and engage the mind; he can begin lyrically, epically, or dramatically, and, as he pleases, continue by changing forms, rushing toward the end or extending it far beyond. Moreover, a selection of such poems could very well present the entire poetics, as here the elements are not yet separated, but are together like in a living primordial egg that may only be incubated.".