Analysis of Song of The Western Countries
Georg Trakl 1887 (Salzburg) – 1914 (Kraków)
Oh the nighttime beating of the soul’s wings:
Herders of sheep once, we walked along the forests
that were growing dark,
And the red deer, the green flower and the speaking
river followed us
In humility. Oh the old old note of the cricket,
Blood blooming on the altarstone,
And the cry of the lonely bird over the green silence
of the pool.
And you Crusades, and glowing punishment
Of the flesh, purple fruits that fell to earth
In the garden at dusk, where young and holy men
walked,
Enlisted men of war now, waking up out of wounds
and dreams about stars.
Oh the soft cornflowers of the night.
And you long ages of tranquillity and golden
harvests,
When as peaceful monks we pressed out the purple
grapes;
And around us the hill and forest shone strangely.
The hunts for wild beasts, the castles, and at night,
the rest,
When man in his room sat thinking justice,
And in noiseless prayer fought for the living head
of God.
And this bitter hour of defeat,
When we behold a stony face in the black waters.
But radiating light, the lovers lift their silver eyelids:
They are one body. Incense streams from rosecolored pillows
And the sweet song of those risen from the dead
Scheme | ABCDEFGHIJKGLMNOGBPQROSETUVWXYT |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 101101011 101111101010 10101 00110110010 10101 00100101111010 110101 00110101100110 101 0101010100 1011011111 001011110101 1 0101111101111 01011 10111101 0111011010 10 11101111010 1 001101010110 01111010011 01 1101111010 0011110101 11 011010101 1101010100110 1100101011101 111100111110 00111110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,177 |
Words | 218 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 31 |
Lines Amount | 31 |
Letters per line (avg) | 30 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 939 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 213 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:05 min read
- 104 Views
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