Analysis of The Maiden Speaks

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1749 (Frankfurt) – 1832 (Weimar)



How grave thou lookest, loved one! wherefore so?
Thy marble image seems a type of thee;
Like it, no sign of life thou giv'st to me;
Compared with thee, the stone appears to glow.
Behind his shield in ambush lurks the foe,
The friend's brow all-unruffled we should see.
I seek thee, but thou seek'st away to flee;
Fix'd as this sculptured figure, learn to grow!
Tell me, to which should I the preference pay?
Must I from both with coldness meet alone?
The one is lifeless, thou with life art blest.
In short, no longer to throw words away,
I'll fondy kiss and kiss and kiss this stone,
Till thou dost tear me hence with envious breast.


Scheme ABBAABBACDECDE
Poetic Form
Metre 11111111 1101010111 1111111111 0111010111 011101101 0111010111 11111110111 1111010111 11111101001 1111110101 0111011111 0111011101 111010111 11111111001
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 629
Words 120
Sentences 10
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 35
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 488
Words per stanza (avg) 118
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

37 sec read
141

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer and politician. more…

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