Analysis of Our language
Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson 1832 (Kvikne) – 1910 (Paris)
Thou, who sailest Norse mountain-air,
And Denmark's songs by the cradle singest,
Who badest in Hald the war-flames flare,
And, heard in our children's joy, gently ringest,-
Thou treasure of treasures,
Our mother-tongue,
In pains as in pleasures
Our home and our tower,
With God our power,-
We hallow thee!
Whispering secrets that Holberg stored,
Thou borest him home to a brighter morning,
Didst serve him with armor and whet his sword
For satire's assaults and for laughter's warning.
Thou spirit all knowing,
Our mother-tongue,
The ages foregoing,
The future now growing,
The present glowing,-
We hallow thee!
Kierkegaard thou to the deeps didst bring,
Where life's full currents in God he sounded.
For Wergeland wert thou the eagle's wing,
That lifted him sunward to heights unbounded.
Thou treasure of treasures,
Our mother-tongue,
In pain as in pleasures
Our home and our tower,
With God our power,-
We hallow thee!
Radiant warmth of a May-day
Thou to the spring of our freedom gavest.
In thy clearness our Norse flags aye
With song and honor afar thou wavest.
Thou spirit all knowing,
Our mother-tongue,
The ages foregoing,
The future now growing,
The present glowing,-
We hallow thee!
O'er the ocean unrollest thou
Thy carpet of flowers, a bridge that nigher
Can bring dear friends to meet even now,-
While faith grows greater and heaven higher.
Thou treasure of treasures,
Our mother-tongue,
In pain as in pleasures
Our home and our tower,
With God our power,-
We hallow thee!
Best of friends that I found wert thou;
Thou waitedst for me in the eyes of mother.
And leave me last of them all wilt thou,
Who knewest me better than any other.
Thou spirit all knowing,
Our mother-tongue,
The ages foregoing,
The future now growing,
The present glowing,-
We hallow thee!
Scheme | ababCDcEEF bgbgGDGGGF gbgbCDCEEF bbxbGDGGGF haheCDCEEF heheGDGGGF |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (35%) |
Metre | 1111101 01110101 11010111 01010101101 110110 10101 011010 10101010 111010 1101 100101101 1111101010 1111100111 110101110 110110 10101 010010 010110 01010 1101 1110111 1111001110 11110101 11011011010 110110 10101 011010 10101010 111010 1101 10011011 1101110101 01110111 110100111 110110 10101 010010 010110 01010 1101 1001011 1101100111 111111101 1111001010 110110 10101 011010 10101010 111010 1101 11111111 1111001110 011111111 1111011010 110110 10101 010010 010110 01010 1101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,722 |
Words | 309 |
Sentences | 15 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10 |
Lines Amount | 60 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 233 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 50 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:34 min read
- 54 Views
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"Our language" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 13 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/4385/our-language>.
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