Analysis of To Laura (Mystery Of Reminiscence)
Friedrich Schiller 1759 (Marbach am Neckar) – 1805 (Weimar)
Who and what gave to me the wish to woo thee--
Still, lip to lip, to cling for aye unto thee?
Who made thy glances to my soul the link--
Who bade me burn thy very breath to drink--
My life in thine to sink?
As from the conqueror's unresisted glaive,
Flies, without strife subdued, the ready slave--
So, when to life's unguarded fort, I see
Thy gaze draw near and near triumphantly--
Yields not my soul to thee?
Why from its lord doth thus my soul depart?--
Is it because its native home thou art?
Or were they brothers in the days of yore,
Twin-bound both souls, and in the link they bore
Sigh to be bound once more?
Were once our beings blent and intertwining,
And therefore still my heart for thine is pining?
Knew we the light of some extinguished sun--
The joys remote of some bright realm undone,
Where once our souls were ONE?
Yes, it is so!--And thou wert bound to me
In the long-vanish'd Eld eternally!
In the dark troubled tablets which enroll
The Past--my Muse beheld this blessed scroll--
"One with thy love my soul!"
Oh yes, I learned in awe, when gazing there,
How once one bright inseparate life we were,
How once, one glorious essence as a God,
Unmeasured space our chainless footsteps trod--
All Nature our abode!
Round us, in waters of delight, forever
Voluptuous flowed the heavenly Nectar river;
We were the master of the seal of things,
And where the sunshine bathed Truth's mountain-springs
Quivered our glancing wings.
Weep for the godlike life we lost afar--
Weep!--thou and I its scattered fragments are;
And still the unconquered yearning we retain--
Sigh to restore the rapture and the reign,
And grow divine again.
And therefore came to me the wish to woo thee--
Still, lip to lip, to cling for aye unto thee;
This made thy glances to my soul the link--
This made me burn thy very breath to drink--
My life in thine to sink;
And therefore, as before the conqueror's glaive,
Flies, without strife subdued, the ready slave,
So, when to life's unguarded fort, I see
Thy gaze draw near and near triumphantly--
Yieldeth my soul to thee!
Therefore my soul doth from its lord depart,
Because, beloved, its native home thou art;
Because the twins recall the links they bore,
And soul with soul, in the sweet kiss of yore,
Meets and unites once more!
Thou, too--Ah, there thy gaze upon me dwells,
And thy young blush the tender answer tells;
Yes! with the dear relation still we thrill,
Both lives--though exiles from the homeward hill--
One life--all glowing still!
Scheme | aAbbBcCAAaddeeeffgggaahhhijkkljjmmmnnoopaAbbBcCAAaddeeeqqrrr |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (20%) |
Metre | 10111101111 11111111101 1111011101 1111110111 110111 11010011 1011010101 1111010111 1111010100 111111 1111111101 1101110111 1011000111 1111000111 111111 01101010100 0111111110 1101110101 0101111101 1110101 1111011111 0011010100 0011010101 01111111 111111 1111011101 11111110 11110010101 1110111 1101001 11010101010 0100101001010 1001010111 010111101 110101 110111101 1101110101 010110101 1101010001 010101 0111101111 11111111101 1111011101 1111110111 110111 0110101001 1011010101 1111010111 1111010100 11111 111111101 0101110111 010110111 0111001111 100111 1111110111 0111010101 1101010111 111110101 111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 2,433 |
Words | 451 |
Sentences | 20 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 60 |
Lines Amount | 60 |
Letters per line (avg) | 32 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 1,919 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 445 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 2:16 min read
- 101 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"To Laura (Mystery Of Reminiscence)" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/14441/to-laura-%28mystery-of-reminiscence%29>.
Discuss this Friedrich Schiller poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In