Analysis of Epiphanias
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1749 (Frankfurt) – 1832 (Weimar)
THE three holy kings with their star's bright ray,--
They eat and they drink, but had rather not pay;
They like to eat and drink away,
They eat and drink, but had rather not pay.
The three holy kings have all come here,
In number not four, but three they appear;
And if a fourth join'd the other three,
Increased by one their number would be.
The first am I,--the fair and the white,
I ought to be seen when the sun shines bright!
But, alas! with all my spices and myrrh,
No girl now likes me,--I please not her.
The next am I,--the brown and the long,
Known well to women, known well to song.
Instead of spices, 'tis gold I bear,
And so I'm welcome everywhere.
The last am I,--the black and small,
And fain would be right merry withal.
I like to eat and to drink full measure,
I eat and drink, and give thanks with pleasure.
The three holy kings are friendly and mild,
They seek the Mother, and seek the Child;
The pious Joseph is sitting by,
The ox and the ass on their litter lie.
We're bringing gold, we're bringing myrrh,
The women incense always prefer;
And if we have wine of a worthy growth,
We three to drink like six are not loth.
As here we see fair lads and lasses,
But not a sign of oxen or asses,
We know that we have gone astray
And so go further on our way.
Scheme | AAAA XXBB CCDD EEFF GGDD HHII DDXX JJAA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (75%) |
Metre | 0110111111 11011111011 11110101 1101111011 011011111 0101111101 010110101 011111011 011101001 1111110111 1011111001 111111110 011101001 111101111 011101111 0111010 01110101 01111101 1111011110 1101011110 0110111001 110100101 010101101 0100111101 11011101 01001101 0111110101 111111111 11111101 1101110110 11111101 011101101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,250 |
Words | 257 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 30 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 120 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 31 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:18 min read
- 124 Views
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"Epiphanias" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 1 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/21646/epiphanias>.
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