Analysis of By The River II
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1749 (Frankfurt) – 1832 (Weimar)
WHEN by the broad stream thou dost dwell,
Oft shallow is its sluggish flood;
Then, when thy fields thou tendest well,
It o'er them spreads its slime and mud.
The ships descend ere daylight wanes,
The prudent fisher upward goes;
Round reef and rock ice casts its chains,
And boys at will the pathway close.
To this attend, then, carefully,
And what thou wouldst, that execute!
Ne'er linger, ne'er o'erhasty be,
For time moves on with measured foot.
Scheme | A BA B C XC X D XD X |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11011111 11011101 1111111 110111101 0101111 01010101 11011111 0111011 11011100 0111110 110111 11111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 444 |
Words | 80 |
Sentences | 5 |
Stanzas | 9 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 2, 1, 1, 2, 1, 1, 2, 1 |
Lines Amount | 12 |
Letters per line (avg) | 29 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 39 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 9 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 01, 2023
- 25 sec read
- 468 Views
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