Analysis of One Hour Ater The Dance Of Death

Franz Werfel 1890 (Prague) – 1945 (Manhattan)



I lay in the abyss, where twisting squeezing
The lowest form of life pushed itself peristaltically.
Where slippery and slimy worm and eel entwined,
I was a worm myself, overwhelmed with exhaustion.

This lasted an eon before I succeeded,
And one of my senses could slowly lift itself up,
The sense of hearing. Listening, it scouted out if
The dancer, Death, had finally waltzed into the distance.

I eavesdrop breathless. Then a sparkling chromatic scale
Flows wanly from the open window next door.
Maybe Death is sitting there tuning his piano.

And while my life enjoys zestfully eating and fills with gas,
I feel him lean in that requisite little side room,
Where he invisibly reads, rustling the evening paper.


Scheme XAXX XXXX AXX XXX
Poetic Form
Metre 11000111010 0101111011 110001010101 11011011010 110110011010 0111101101011 0111010011011 01011100101010 1110101011 1110101011 1011101101010 0111011100111 1111011001011 11111001010
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 706
Words 122
Sentences 9
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 3, 3
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 41
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 143
Words per stanza (avg) 30
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

36 sec read
101

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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