Analysis of Written In A Young Lady's Album

Friedrich Schiller 1759 (Marbach am Neckar) – 1805 (Weimar)



Sweet friend, the world, like some fair infant blessed,
 Radiant with sportive grace, around thee plays;
Yet 'tis not as depicted in thy breast--
 Not as within thy soul's fair glass, its rays
Are mirrored. The respectful fealty
That my heart's nobleness hath won for thee,
 The miracles thou workest everywhere,
The charms thy being to this life first lent,--
To it, mere charms to reckon thou'rt content,
 To us, they seem humanity so fair.
The witchery sweet of ne'er-polluted youth,
The talisman of innocence and truth--
 Him I would see, who these to scorn can dare!
Thou revellest joyously in telling o'er
 The blooming flowers that round thy path are strown,--
The glad, whom thou hast made so evermore,--
 The souls that thou hast conquered for thine own.
In thy deceit so blissful be thou glad!
Ne'er let a waking disenchantment sad
 Hurl thee despairing from thy dream's proud flight!
Like the fair flowerets that thy beds perfume,
Observe them, but ne'er touch them as they bloom,--
 Plant them, but only for the distant sight.
Created only to enchant the eye,
In faded beauty at thy feet they'll lie,
 The nearer thee, the nearer their long night!


Scheme ABABCCDEEDFFDGHIHJJKLLKMMK
Poetic Form
Metre 1101111101 1001110111 1111010011 1101111111 1100010100 11111111 01001110 0111011111 1111110110 1111010011 011110101 0100110001 1111111111 11101010 01010111111 011111110 0111110111 0101110111 1101000101 1101011111 101111101 0111111111 1111010101 0101010101 0101011111 0101010111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 1,142
Words 204
Sentences 9
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 26
Lines Amount 26
Letters per line (avg) 35
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 897
Words per stanza (avg) 198
Font size:
 

Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:03 min read
33

Friedrich Schiller

Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller was a German poet philosopher historian and playwright During the last seventeen years of his life Schiller struck up a productive if complicated friendship with already famous and influential Johann Wolfgang Goethe with whom he frequently discussed issues concerning aesthetics and encouraged Goethe to finish works he left merely as sketches this relationship and these discussions led to a period now referred to as Weimar Classicism They also worked together on Die Xenien The Xenies a collection of short but harshly satirical poems in which both Schiller and Goethe verbally attacked those persons they perceived to be enemies of their aesthetic agenda. more…

All Friedrich Schiller poems | Friedrich Schiller Books

2 fans

Discuss this Friedrich Schiller poem analysis with the community:

0 Comments

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "Written In A Young Lady's Album" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 30 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/14458/written-in-a-young-lady%27s-album>.

    Become a member!

    Join our community of poets and poetry lovers to share your work and offer feedback and encouragement to writers all over the world!

    April 2024

    Poetry Contest

    Join our monthly contest for an opportunity to win cash prizes and attain global acclaim for your talent.
    0
    days
    12
    hours
    53
    minutes

    Special Program

    Earn Rewards!

    Unlock exciting rewards such as a free mug and free contest pass by commenting on fellow members' poems today!

    Browse Poetry.com

    Quiz

    Are you a poetry master?

    »
    Who wrote the poem "A Dream Within A Dream"?
    A Elizabeth Barrett Browning
    B Edgar Allan Poe
    C Percy Bysshe Shelley
    D William Blake