Analysis of The Boundaries Of Humanity
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1749 (Frankfurt) – 1832 (Weimar)
WHEN the primeval
All-holy Father
Sows with a tranquil hand
From clouds, as they roll,
Bliss-spreading lightnings
Over the earth,
Then do I kiss the last
Hem of his garment,
While by a childlike awe
Fill'd is my breast.
For with immortals
Ne'er may a mortal
Measure himself.
If he soar upwards
And if he touch
With his forehead the stars,
Nowhere will rest then
His insecure feet,
And with him sport
Tempest and cloud.
Though with firm sinewy
Limbs he may stand
On the enduring
Well-grounded earth,
All he is ever
Able to do,
Is to resemble
The oak or the vine.
Wherein do gods
Differ from mortals?
In that the former
See endless billows
Heaving before them;
Us doth the billow
Lift up and swallow,
So that we perish.
Small is the ring
Enclosing our life,
And whole generations
Link themselves firmly
On to existence's
Chain never-ending.
Scheme | ABCXDEXXXX FAXXXXXXXX GCHEBXAX XFBXXIIX HXXGDH |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 10010 11010 110101 11111 11010 1001 111101 11110 11011 1111 11010 11010 1001 11110 0111 111001 1111 11001 0111 1001 111100 1111 10010 1101 11110 1011 11010 01101 0111 10110 01010 11010 10011 11010 11010 11110 1101 010101 01010 10110 111 11010 |
Closest metre | Iambic dimeter |
Characters | 805 |
Words | 151 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 10, 10, 8, 8, 6 |
Lines Amount | 42 |
Letters per line (avg) | 16 |
Words per line (avg) | 4 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 133 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 30 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 46 sec read
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