Analysis of To My Friend - Ode I
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1749 (Frankfurt) – 1832 (Weimar)
TRANSPLANT the beauteous tree!
Gardener, it gives me pain;
A happier resting-place
Its trunk deserved.
Yet the strength of its nature
To Earth's exhausting avarice,
To Air's destructive inroads,
An antidote opposed.
See how it in springtime
Coins its pale green leaves!
Their orange-fragrance
Poisons each flyblow straight.
The caterpillar's tooth
Is blunted by them;
With silv'ry hues they gleam
In the bright sunshine,
Its twigs the maiden
Fain would twine in
Her bridal-garland;
Youths its fruit are seeking.
See, the autumn cometh!
The caterpillar
Sighs to the crafty spider,--
Sighs that the tree will not fade.
Hov'ring thither
From out her yew-tree dwelling,
The gaudy foe advances
Against the kindly tree,
And cannot hurt it,
But the more artful one
Defiles with nauseous venom
Its silver leaves;
And sees with triumph
How the maiden shudders,
The youth, how mourns he,
On passing by.
Transplant the beauteous tree!
Gardener, it gives me pain;
Tree, thank the gardener
Who moves thee hence!
Scheme | ABxx cxxx xdxx xxxx exxf xccx afxa xexd xxax ABcx |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (25%) Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 01011 1001111 0100101 1101 1011110 11010100 110101 11001 11101 11111 11010 10111 01001 11011 11111 0011 11010 1110 01010 111110 101010 0100 1101010 1101111 11 1101110 0101010 010101 01011 101101 111010 1101 01110 101010 01111 1101 01011 1001111 110100 1111 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 967 |
Words | 164 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 10 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 20 |
Words per line (avg) | 4 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 80 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 16 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 50 sec read
- 102 Views
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"To My Friend - Ode I" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/21904/to-my-friend---ode-i>.
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