Analysis of The Princess

Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson 1832 (Kvikne) – 1910 (Paris)



The princess looked down from her bower high,
The youth blew his horn as he lingered thereby.
"Be quiet, O youth, will forever you blow?
It hinders my thoughts, that would far away go,
          Now, when sets the sun."

The princess looked down from her bower high,
The youth ceased his blowing, his horn he laid by.
"Why are you so quiet? Now more shall you blow,
It lifts all my thoughts, that would far away go,
          Now, when sets the sun."

The princess looked down from her bower high,
The youth blew again, as he lingered thereby.
Then weeping, she whispered: "O God, let me know
The name of this sorrow that burdens me so! --
          Now has set the sun."


Scheme AabbC AabbC Aabbc
Poetic Form
Metre 0101110101 01111111011 11011101011 11011111011 11101 0101110101 01111011111 11111011111 11111111011 11101 0101110101 01101111011 11011011111 01111011011 11101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 663
Words 127
Sentences 10
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 5, 5, 5
Lines Amount 15
Letters per line (avg) 32
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 161
Words per stanza (avg) 41
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 19, 2023

37 sec read
117

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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