Analysis of Along the Sun-Drenched Roadside

Rainer Maria Rilke 1875 (Prague) – 1926 (Montreux)



Along the sun-drenched roadside, from the great
hollow half-treetrunk, which for generations
has been a trough, renewing in itself
an inch or two of rain, I satisfy
my thirst: taking the water's pristine coolness
into my whole body through my wrists.
Drinking would be too powerful, too clear;
but this unhurried gesture of restraint
fills my whole consciousness with shining water.

Thus, if you came, I could be satisfied
to let my hand rest lightly, for a moment,
lightly, upon your shoulder or your breast.


Scheme XXXXXXXXX XXX
Poetic Form
Metre 010111101 101111010 1101010001 111111110 11100101010 011110111 1011110011 1101010101 11110011010 111111110 11111101010 1001110111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 506
Words 87
Sentences 4
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 9, 3
Lines Amount 12
Letters per line (avg) 34
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 204
Words per stanza (avg) 43
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 18, 2023

26 sec read
249

Rainer Maria Rilke

René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke — better known as Rainer Maria Rilke — was a Bohemian-Austrian poet and novelist, "widely recognized as one of the most lyrically intense German-language poets", writing in both verse and highly lyrical prose. more…

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