How does Lisel Mueller use imagery in Blood Oranges?

The "long-dead German poet" referred to in lines 17-18, might be a generalization about poets of the romantic age, but Mueller's use of specific imagery implies that she had a specific old poem in mind. The poem that seems to match her references most closely is "Abendlied" ("Evening Song"), by Matthias Claudius (1740-1825). The first stanza of Claudius' poem contains the same imagery that Mueller uses. It translates, roughly, "The forest stands black and silent / And out of the meadow is rising / The white fog, beautifully."