Analysis of Solemn Hour

Rainer Maria Rilke 1875 (Prague) – 1926 (Montreux)



Whoever now weeps somewhere in the world,
weeps without reason in the world,
weeps over me.

Whoever now laughs somewhere in the night,
laughs without reason in the night,
laughs at me.

Whoever now wanders somewhere in the world,
wanders without reason out in the world,
wanders toward me.

Whoever now dies somewhere in the world,
dies without reason in the world,
looks at me.


Scheme AAB CCB AAB AAB
Poetic Form
Metre 010111001 10110001 1101 010111001 10110001 111 0101101001 1001101001 10011 010111001 10110001 111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 373
Words 67
Sentences 5
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 3, 3, 3, 3
Lines Amount 12
Letters per line (avg) 25
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 75
Words per stanza (avg) 16
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 23, 2023

20 sec read
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Rainer Maria Rilke

René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke — better known as Rainer Maria Rilke — was a Bohemian-Austrian poet and novelist, "widely recognized as one of the most lyrically intense German-language poets", writing in both verse and highly lyrical prose. more…

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