Analysis of On Death
Khalil Gibran 1883 (Bsharri) – 1931 (New York City)
Then Almitra spoke, saying, 'We would ask now of Death.'
And he said:
You would know the secret of death.
But how shall you find it unless you seek it in the heart of life?
The owl whose night-bound eyes are blind unto the day cannot unveil the mystery of light.
If you would indeed behold the spirit of death, open your heart wide unto the body of life.
For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one.
In the depth of your hopes and desires lies your silent knowledge of the beyond;
And like seeds dreaming beneath the snow your heart dreams of spring.
Trust the dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity.
Your fear of death is but the trembling of the shepherd when he stands before the king whose hand is to be laid upon him in honour.
Is the shepherd not joyful beneath his trembling, that he shall wear the mark of the king?
Yet is he not more mindful of his trembling?
For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun?
And what is to cease breathing, but to free the breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered?
Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing.
And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb.
And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.
Scheme | ABACDCEFGHIGGEJGKL |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11110111111 011 11101011 1111110111100111 0111111110011001010011 111010101011101111001011 11011110101000111 00111100101110101001 01110010111111 1011011100110100 11111101001010111010111111101101 1010110011100111101101 111111011100 111111111100010110101 011111011101111011111001011010 10111101011011011 0111101011110111 01011111111101 |
Characters | 1,339 |
Words | 263 |
Sentences | 17 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 18 |
Lines Amount | 18 |
Letters per line (avg) | 58 |
Words per line (avg) | 14 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 1,041 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 260 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 18, 2023
- 1:18 min read
- 187 Views
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