Analysis of Gipsy Song

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



IN the drizzling mist, with the snow high-pil'd,
In the Winter night, in the forest wild,
I heard the wolves with their ravenous howl,
I heard the screaming note of the owl:

Wille wau wau wau!

Wille wo wo wo!

I shot, one day, a cat in a ditch--
The dear black cat of Anna the witch;
Upon me, at night, seven were-wolves came down,
Seven women they were, from out of the town.

Wille wau wau wau!

Wille wo wo wo!

I knew them all; ay, I knew them straight;
First, Anna, then Ursula, Eve, and Kate,
And Barbara, Lizzy, and Bet as well;
And forming a ring, they began to yell:

Wille wau wau wau!

Wille wo wo wo!

Then call'd I their names with angry threat:
"What wouldst thou, Anna? What wouldst thou, Bet?"
At hearing my voice, themselves they shook,
And howling and yelling, to flight they took.

Wille wau wau wau!

Wille wo wo wo!


Scheme aabb C C ddee C C ffgg C C hhii C C
Poetic Form
Metre 00100110111 0010100101 1101111001 110101101 1111 1111 111101001 011111001 01111100111 10101011101 1111 1111 111111111 1101100101 0100100111 0100110111 1111 1111 111111101 111101111 110110111 0100101111 1111 1111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 996
Words 171
Sentences 17
Stanzas 12
Stanza Lengths 4, 1, 1, 4, 1, 1, 4, 1, 1, 4, 1, 1
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 26
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 51
Words per stanza (avg) 13
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

51 sec read
121

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

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

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