Analysis of The Fisherman
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1749 (Frankfurt) – 1832 (Weimar)
THE waters rush'd, the waters rose,
A fisherman sat by,
While on his line in calm repose
He cast his patient eye.
And as he sat, and hearken'd there,
The flood was cleft in twain,
And, lo! a dripping mermaid fair
Sprang from the troubled main.
She sang to him, and spake the while:
"Why lurest thou my brood,
With human wit and human guile
From out their native flood?
Oh, couldst thou know how gladly dart
The fish across the sea,
Thou wouldst descend, e'en as thou art,
And truly happy be!
"Do not the sun and moon with grace
Their forms in ocean lave?
Shines not with twofold charms their face,
When rising from the wave?
The deep, deep heavens, then lure thee not,--
The moist yet radiant blue,--
Not thine own form,--to tempt thy lot
'Midst this eternal dew?"
The waters rush'd, the waters rose,
Wetting his naked feet;
As if his true love's words were those,
His heart with longing beat.
She sang to him, to him spake she,
His doom was fix'd, I ween;
Half drew she him, and half sank he,
And ne'er again was seen.
Scheme | A ba bc dc d e xe xf gf g h ih ij kj k A la lg dg x |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01010101 01011 11110101 111101 0111011 011101 0101011 110101 11110101 11111 11010101 111101 11111101 010101 110111111 010101 11010111 110101 11111111 110101 011101111 0111001 11111111 110101 01010101 101101 11111101 111101 11111111 111111 11110111 010111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 996 |
Words | 198 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 20 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 2, 2, 2, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 1 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 39 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 10 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 05, 2023
- 1:01 min read
- 200 Views
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"The Fisherman" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/21819/the-fisherman>.
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