Analysis of The Fox And The Crane
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1749 (Frankfurt) – 1832 (Weimar)
ONCE two persons uninvited
Came to join my dinner table;
For the nonce they lived united,
Fox and crane yclept in fable.
Civil greetings pass'd between us
Then I pluck'd some pigeons tender
For the fox of jackal-genius,
Adding grapes in full-grown splendour.
Long-neck'd flasks I put as dishes
For the crane, without delaying,
Fill'd with gold and silver fishes,
In the limpid water playing.
Had ye witness'd Reynard planted
At his flat plate, all demurely,
Ye with envy must have granted:
"Ne'er was such a gourmand, surely!"
While the bird with circumspection
On one foot, as usual, cradled,
From the flasks his fish-refection
With his bill and long neck ladled.
One the pigeons praised,--the other,
As they went, extoll'd the fishes,
Each one scoffing at his brother
For preferring vulgar dishes.
If thou wouldst preserve thy credit,
When thou askest folks to guzzle
At thy hoard, take care to spread it
Suited both for bill and muzzle.
Scheme | A BC B D ED E F GF G C HC H I AI X E FE F X BX B |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1110010 11111010 10111010 1011010 10101011 11111010 10111010 1010111 11111110 10101010 11101010 0011010 11101010 11111010 11101110 1110110 1011010 11111001 101111 11101110 10101010 11101010 1111110 10101010 11101110 1111110 11111111 10111010 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 942 |
Words | 163 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 21 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 2, 1, 1, 2, 1, 1, 2, 1, 1, 2, 1, 1, 2, 1, 1, 2, 1, 1, 2, 1 |
Lines Amount | 28 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 35 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 8 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 28, 2023
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