Analysis of Spirit Song Over The Waters
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1749 (Frankfurt) – 1832 (Weimar)
THE soul of man
Resembleth water:
From heaven it cometh,
To heaven it soareth.
And then again
To earth descendeth,
Changing ever.
Down from the lofty
Rocky wall
Streams the bright flood,
Then spreadeth gently
In cloudy billows
O'er the smooth rock,
And welcomed kindly,
Veiling, on roams it,
Soft murmuring,
Tow'rd the abyss.
Cliffs projecting
Oppose its progress,--
Angrily foams it
Down to the bottom,
Step by step.
Now, in flat channel,
Through the meadowland steals it,
And in the polish'd lake
Each constellation
Joyously peepeth.
Wind is the loving
Wooer of waters;
Wind blends together
Billows all-foaming.
Spirit of man,
Thou art like unto water!
Fortune of man,
Thou art like unto wind!
Scheme | ABCCXCB DXXDXXDEFX FXEXX XEXXC FXBF ABAX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (37%) |
Metre | 0111 110 110110 11011 0101 111 1010 11010 101 1011 1110 01010 10011 01010 10111 1100 1001 1010 0111 10011 11010 111 10110 1010111 000101 1010 11 11010 1110 11010 10110 1011 1111010 1011 111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic dimeter |
Characters | 669 |
Words | 118 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 7, 10, 5, 5, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 35 |
Letters per line (avg) | 16 |
Words per line (avg) | 3 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 92 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 19 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 36 sec read
- 120 Views
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