Analysis of The Eagle And The Dove
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1749 (Frankfurt) – 1832 (Weimar)
IN search of prey once raised his pinions
An eaglet;
A huntsman's arrow came, and reft
His right wing of all motive power.
Headlong he fell into a myrtle grove,
For three long days on anguish fed,
In torment writhed
Throughout three long, three weary nights;
And then was cured,
Thanks to all-healing Nature's
Soft, omnipresent balm.
He crept away from out the copse,
And stretch'd his wing--alas!
Lost is all power of flight--
He scarce can lift himself
From off the ground
To catch some mean, unworthy prey,
And rests, deep-sorrowing,
On the low rock beside the stream.
Up to the oak he looks,
Looks up to heaven,
While in his noble eye there gleams a tear.
Then, rustling through the myrtle boughs, behold,
There comes a wanton pair of doves,
Who settle down, and, nodding, strut
O'er the gold sands beside the stream,
And gradually approach;
Their red-tinged eyes, so full of love,
Soon see the inward-sorrowing one.
The male, inquisitively social, leaps
On the next bush, and looks
Upon him kindly and complacently.
"Thou sorrowest," murmurs he:
"Be of good cheer, my friend!
All that is needed for calm happiness
Hast thou not here?
Hast thou not pleasure in the golden bough
That shields thee from the day's fierce glow?
Canst thou not raise thy breast to catch,
On the soft moss beside the brook,
The sun's last rays at even?
Here thou mayst wander through the flowers' fresh dew,
Pluck from the overflow
The forest-trees provide,
Thy choicest food,--mayst quench
Thy light thirst at the silvery spring.
Oh friend, true happiness
Lies in contentedness,
And that contentedness
Finds everywhere enough."
"Oh, wise one!" said the eagle, while he sank
In deep and ever deep'ning thought--
"Oh Wisdom! like a dove thou speakest!"
Scheme | ABBCDBBABAEAABFBGHIAJKBABILMJAANNBAOPQRHSBQBTHAAAUHBB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01111111 11 0110101 111111010 111010101 11111101 011 01111101 0111 1111010 10101 11011101 011101 1111011 111101 1101 11110101 0111 10110101 110111 11110 1011011101 1101010101 11010111 11010101 100110101 0100001 11111111 1101011 011101 101101 0111000100 11101 111111 1111011100 1111 1111000101 11110111 11111111 10110101 0111110 11110101011 11010 010101 110111 111101001 111100 101 011 11001 1111010111 01010111 11010111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,688 |
Words | 303 |
Sentences | 17 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 53 |
Lines Amount | 53 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 1,351 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 296 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:31 min read
- 75 Views
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"The Eagle And The Dove" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/21812/the-eagle-and-the-dove>.
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