Analysis of The Veiled Statue At Sais
Friedrich Schiller 1759 (Marbach am Neckar) – 1805 (Weimar)
A youth, impelled by a burning thirst for knowledge
To roam to Sais, in fair Egypt's land,
The priesthood's secret learning to explore,
Had passed through many a grade with eager haste,
And still was hurrying on with fond impatience.
Scarce could the Hierophant impose a rein
Upon his headlong efforts. "What avails
A part without the whole?" the youth exclaimed;
"Can there be here a lesser or a greater?
The truth thou speak'st of, like mere earthly dross,
Is't but a sum that can be held by man
In larger or in smaller quantity?
Surely 'tis changeless, indivisible;
Deprive a harmony of but one note,
Deprive the rainbow of one single color,
And all that will remain is naught, so long
As that one color, that one note, is wanting."
While thus they converse held, they chanced to stand
Within the precincts of a lonely temple,
Where a veiled statue of gigantic size
The youth's attention caught. In wonderment
He turned him toward his guide, and asked him, saying,
"What form is that concealed beneath yon veil?"
"Truth!" was the answer. "What!" the young man cried,
"When I am striving after truth alone,
Seekest thou to hide that very truth from me?"
"The Godhead's self alone can answer thee,"
Replied the Hierophant. "'Let no rash mortal
Disturb this veil,' said he, 'till raised by me;
For he who dares with sacrilegious hand
To move the sacred mystic covering,
He'--said the Godhead--" "Well?"--"'will see the truth.'"
"Strangely oracular, indeed! And thou
Hast never ventured, then, to raise the veil?"
"I? Truly not! I never even felt
The least desire."--"Is't possible? If I
Were severed from the truth by nothing else
Than this thin gauze--" "And a divine decree,"
His guide broke in. "Far heavier than thou thinkest
Is this thin gauze, my son. Light to thy hand
It may be--but most weighty to thy conscience."
The youth now sought his home, absorbed in thought;
His burning wish to solve the mystery
Banished all sleep; upon his couch he lay,
Tossing his feverish limbs. When midnight came,
He rose, and toward the temple timidly,
Led by a mighty impulse, bent his way.
The walls he scaled, and soon one active spring
Landed the daring boy beneath the dome.
Behold him now, in utter solitude,
Welcomed by naught save fearful, deathlike silence,--
A silence which the echo of his steps
Alone disturbs, as through the vaults he paces.
Piercing an opening in the cupola,
The moon cast down her pale and silvery beams,
And, awful as a present deity,
Glittering amid the darkness of the pile,
In its long veil concealed, the statue stands.
With hesitating step, he now draws near--
His impious hand would fain remove the veil--
Sudden a burning chill assails his bones
And then an unseen arm repulses him.
"Unhappy one, what wouldst thou do?" Thus cries
A faithful voice within his trembling breast.
"Wouldst thou profanely violate the All-Holy?"
"'Tis true the oracle declared, 'Let none
Venture to raise the veil till raised by me.'
But did the oracle itself not add,
That he who did so would behold the truth?
Whate'er is hid behind, I'll raise the veil."
And then he shouted: "Yes! I will behold it!"
"Behold it!"
Repeats in mocking tone the distant echo.
He speaks, and, with the word, lifts up the veil.
Would you inquire what form there met his eye?
I know not,--but, when day appeared, the priests
Found him extended senseless, pale as death,
Before the pedestal of Isis' statue.
What had been seen and heard by him when there
He never would disclose, but from that hour
His happiness in life had fled forever,
And his deep sorrow soon conducted him
To an untimely grave. "Woe to that man,"
He warning said to every questioner,
"Woe to that man who wins the truth by guilt,
For truth so gained will ne'er reward its owner."
Scheme | XAXXBXBXCXDEFXCXG AFHXGIXXE EFEAGJXIXKXEAAB XELXELGX XBXXXXEXX XIXMHXEXEXJINNX IKXXXXCCMDCXC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 010110101110 111101101 011010101 11110011101 011100111010 11010101 01111011 0101010101 11110101010 01111111101 11101111111 0101010100 10110100 0101001111 0101111010 0111011111 11110111110 1111011111 0101101010 101110101 0101010100 111011101110 1111010111 1101010111 1111010101 1111110111 011011101 010111110 0111111111 111110101 1101010100 110111101 1010101 1101011101 1101110101 010101110011 0101011101 1111000101 11101100111 1111111111 11111101110 0111110101 1101110100 1011011111 1011001111 11001010100 1101010111 0111011101 1001010101 011101010 1011110110 0101010111 01011101110 10110000010 01110101001 0101010100 10001010101 011101011 110011111 10101110101 1001010111 01101111 0101111111 01010111001 1111000110 1101000111 1011011111 1101000111 1111110101 1011011101 01110111011 011 01010101010 1101011101 1101111111 1111110101 1101010111 0101001101 1111011111 11010111110 11000111010 0111010101 1101011111 11011100100 1111110111 11111101110 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 3,676 |
Words | 681 |
Sentences | 46 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 17, 9, 15, 8, 9, 15, 13 |
Lines Amount | 86 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 412 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 95 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 02, 2023
- 3:22 min read
- 128 Views
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"The Veiled Statue At Sais" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 1 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/14430/the-veiled-statue-at-sais>.
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