Analysis of Open water!

Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson 1832 (Kvikne) – 1910 (Paris)



Open water, open water!
All the weary winter's yearning
Bursts in restless passion burning.
Scarce is seen the blue of ocean,
And the hours seem months in motion.

Open water, open water!
Smiles the sun on ice defiant,
Eats it like a shameless giant:
Soon as mouth of sun forsakes it,
Swift the freezing night remakes it.

Open water, open water!
Storm shall be the overcomer
Sweeping on from others' summer
Billows free all foes to swallow,-
Crash and fall and sinking follow.

Open water, open water!
Mirrored mountains are appearing,
Boats with steam and sail are nearing,
Inward come the wide world's surges,
Outward joy of combat urges.

Open water, open water!
Fiery sun and cooling shower
Quicken earth to speak with power.
Soul responds, the wonder viewing:
Strength is here for life's renewing.


Scheme Abbcc Addee Aaaff Abbgg Aaabb
Poetic Form Tetractys  (20%)
Metre 10101010 10101010 10101010 11101110 001011010 10101010 10111010 11101010 1111111 10101111 10101010 11101 10111010 10111110 10101010 10101010 10101010 11101110 10101110 10111010 10101010 100101010 10111110 10101010 11111010
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 783
Words 138
Sentences 13
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 5, 5, 5, 5, 5
Lines Amount 25
Letters per line (avg) 25
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 127
Words per stanza (avg) 27
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

42 sec read
118

Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson

Bjørnstjerne Martinius Bjørnson was a Norwegian writer who received the 1903 Nobel Prize in Literature "as a tribute to his noble, magnificent and versatile poetry, which has always been distinguished by both the freshness of its inspiration and the rare purity of its spirit", becoming the first Norwegian Nobel laureate. Bjørnson is considered to be one of The Four Greats (De Fire Store) among Norwegian writers, the others being Henrik Ibsen, Jonas Lie, and Alexander Kielland. Bjørnson is also celebrated for his lyrics to the Norwegian National Anthem, "Ja, vi elsker dette landet". more…

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