Analysis of The Greatness Of The World
Friedrich Schiller 1759 (Marbach am Neckar) – 1805 (Weimar)
Through the world which the Spirit creative and kind
First formed out of chaos, I fly like the wind,
Until on the strand
Of its billows I land,
My anchor cast forth where the breeze blows no more,
And Creation's last boundary stands on the shore.
I saw infant stars into being arise,
For thousands of years to roll on through the skies;
I saw them in play
Seek their goal far away,--
For a moment my fugitive gaze wandered on,--
I looked round me, and lo!--all those bright stars had flown!
Madly yearning to reach the dark kingdom of night.
I boldly steer on with the speed of the light;
All misty and drear
The dim heavens appear,
While embryo systems and seas at their source
Are whirling around the sun-wanderer's course.
When sudden a pilgrim I see drawing near
Along the lone path,--"Stay! What seekest thou here?"
"My bark, tempest-tossed,
I sail toward the land where the breeze blows no more,
And Creation's last boundary stands on the shore."
"Stay, thou sailest in vain! 'Tis INFINITY yonder!"--
"'Tis INFINITY, too, where thou, pilgrim, wouldst wander!
Eagle-thoughts that aspire,
Let your proud pinions tire!
For 'tis here that sweet phantasy, bold to the last,
Her anchor in hopeless dejection must cast!"
Scheme | aabbcC ddeexx ffcghh gxxcC iixijj |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 101101001001 11111011101 01101 111011 11011101111 0111001101 11101011001 11011111101 11101 111101 101011001101 111101111111 101011011011 11011101101 11001 011001 1101001111 110010111 11001011101 0101111111 11101 110101101111 0111001101 111011010010 1010011110110 101101 111110 1111111101 010010111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,201 |
Words | 222 |
Sentences | 14 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 5, 6 |
Lines Amount | 29 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 189 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 43 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:06 min read
- 105 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"The Greatness Of The World" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/14393/the-greatness-of-the-world>.
Discuss this Friedrich Schiller poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In