Analysis of The Madman - His Parables and Poems

Khalil Gibran 1883 (Bsharri) – 1931 (New York City)



You ask me how I became a madman. It happened thus: One day, long
before many gods were born, I woke from a deep sleep and found all
my masks were stolen,--the seven masks I have fashioned an worn in
seven lives,--I ran maskless through the crowded streets shouting,
'Thieves, thieves, the cursed thieves.'

Men and women laughed at me and some ran to their houses in fear
of me.

And when I reached the market place, a youth standing on a house-top
cried, 'He is a madman.' I looked up to behold him; the sun kissed
my own naked face for the first time. For the first time the sun
kissed my own naked face and my soul was inflamed with love for
the sun, and I wanted my masks no more. And as if in a trance I
cried, 'Blessed, blessed are the thieves who stole my masks.'

Thus I became a madman.

And I have found both freedom of loneliness and the safety from
being understood, for those who understand us enslave something in
us.

But let me not be too proud of my safety. Even a Thief in a jail
is safe from another thief.


Scheme XXAXX XX XXXXXX X XAX XX
Poetic Form
Metre 1111101011101111 0110101111011011 1101001011110110 1011111010110 11011 1010111011111001 11 0111010101101011 111011111011011 111011011101101 111101011101111 01011011110110011 1111011111 110101 0111110110000101 100111101101100 1 111111111101001001 1110101
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 1,011
Words 206
Sentences 12
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 5, 2, 6, 1, 3, 2
Lines Amount 19
Letters per line (avg) 41
Words per line (avg) 10
Letters per stanza (avg) 131
Words per stanza (avg) 33
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:00 min read
118

Khalil Gibran

Khalil Gibran was a Lebanese artist, poet, and writer. more…

All Khalil Gibran poems | Khalil Gibran Books

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