Analysis of To Say Before Going to Sleep
Rainer Maria Rilke 1875 (Prague) – 1926 (Montreux)
I would like to sing someone to sleep,
have someone to sit by and be with.
I would like to cradle you and softly sing,
be your companion while you sleep or wake.
I would like to be the only person
in the house who knew: the night outside was cold.
And would like to listen to you
and outside to the world and to the woods.
The clocks are striking, calling to each other,
and one can see right to the edge of time.
Outside the house a strange man is afoot
and a strange dog barks, wakened from his sleep.
Beyond that there is silence.
My eyes rest upon your face wide-open;
and they hold you gently, letting you go
when something in the dark begins to move.
Scheme | AXXXBXXX XXXAX BXX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11111111 11111011 11111010101 1101011111 1111101010 00111011111 01111011 0111010101 01110101110 0111110111 1101011101 001111111 0111110 1110111110 0111101011 1100010111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 649 |
Words | 132 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 5, 3 |
Lines Amount | 16 |
Letters per line (avg) | 32 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 170 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 43 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 26, 2023
- 39 sec read
- 273 Views
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"To Say Before Going to Sleep" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/29745/to-say-before-going-to-sleep>.
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