The Ram

Franz Werfel 1890 (Prague) – 1945 (Manhattan)



(An interpretation of a Jewish face)

You've inherited the great ram's features,
The black-wooled one that bred with Jacob's herds.
You found yourself enough in the desert,
On the thistleweed that bent in the wind.

When the shepherd called, you fine animal,
You came skipping, your high heart pounding.
You pranced and pawed the ground with your hooves,
Which now is your tendency to make jokes.

But when the warrior with his steel honor
Climbed his horse and poked out his lance,
You timidly forced yourself back into your fold
And baaed there quietly and without hope.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

30 sec read
22

Quick analysis:

Scheme X XXXX XXXX XXXX
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 565
Words 99
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 1, 4, 4, 4

Franz Werfel

Franz Viktor Werfel was an Austrian-Bohemian novelist, playwright, and poet whose career spanned World War I, the Interwar period, and World War II. more…

All Franz Werfel poems | Franz Werfel Books

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