Analysis of Motives
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1749 (Frankfurt) – 1832 (Weimar)
IF to a girl who loves us truly
Her mother gives instruction duly
In virtue, duty, and what not,--
And if she hearkens ne'er a jot,
But with fresh-strengthen'd longing flies
To meet our kiss that seems to burn,--
Caprice has just as much concerned
As love in her bold enterprise.
But if her mother can succeed
In gaining for her maxims heed,
And softening the girl's heart too,
So that she coyly shuns our view,--
The heart of youth she knows but ill;
For when a maiden is thus stern,
Virtue in truth has less concern
In this, than an inconstant will.
Scheme | AABBC D XC EEFFG D DG |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 110111110 010101010 01010011 01110101 11110101 111011111 01111101 1100110 11010101 01010101 01000111 111101101 01111111 11010111 10011101 011111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 544 |
Words | 108 |
Sentences | 3 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 5, 1, 2, 5, 1, 2 |
Lines Amount | 16 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 71 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 17 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 33 sec read
- 115 Views
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"Motives" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/21730/motives>.
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