Analysis of The Faithless Boy
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1749 (Frankfurt) – 1832 (Weimar)
THERE was a wooer blithe and gay,
A son of France was he,-
Who in his arms for many a day,
As though his bride were she,
A poor young maiden had caress'd,
And fondly kiss'd, and fondly press'd,
And then at length deserted.
When this was told the nut-brown maid,
Her senses straightway fled;
She laugh'd and wept, and vow'd and pray'd,
And presently was dead.
The hour her soul its farewell took,
The boy was sad, with terror shook,
Then sprang upon his charger.
He drove his spurs into his side,
And scour'd the country round;
But wheresoever he might ride,
No rest for him was found.
For seven long days and nights he rode,
It storm'd, the waters overflow'd,
It bluster'd, lighten'd, thunder'd.
On rode he through the tempest's din,
Till he a building spied;
In search of shelter crept he in,
When he his steed had tied.
And as he groped his doubtful way,
The ground began to rock and sway,-
He fell a hundred fathoms.
When he recover'd from the blow,
He saw three lights pass by;
He sought in their pursuit to go,
The lights appear'd to fly.
They led his footsteps all astray,
Up, down, through many a narrow way
Through ruin'd desert cellars.
When lo! he stood within a hall,
With hollow eyes. and grinning all;
They bade him taste the fare.
A hundred guests sat there.
He saw his sweetheart 'midst the throng,
Wrapp'd up in grave-clothes white and long;
She turn'd, and--
Scheme | A BA BCC X D ED EFF X G HG HII X J GJ GAA X K LK LAA X M MN NOO X |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1101101 011111 101111001 111101 01110101 01010101 0111010 11110111 01011 11010101 010011 01001111 01111101 1101110 11110111 0100101 11111 111111 110110111 1101001 111010 1111011 110101 01110110 111111 01111101 01011101 1101010 11010101 111111 11010111 010111 1111101 111100101 1101010 11110101 11010101 111101 010111 1111101 11011101 110 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,342 |
Words | 256 |
Sentences | 14 |
Stanzas | 24 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 2, 3, 1, 1, 2, 3, 1, 1, 2, 3, 1, 1, 2, 3, 1, 1, 2, 3, 1, 1, 2, 3, 1 |
Lines Amount | 42 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 44 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 11 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:22 min read
- 126 Views
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