The Greatness Of The World
Friedrich Schiller 1759 (Marbach am Neckar) – 1805 (Weimar)
Through the world which the Spirit creative and kind
First formed out of chaos, I fly like the wind,
Until on the strand
Of its billows I land,
My anchor cast forth where the breeze blows no more,
And Creation's last boundary stands on the shore.
I saw infant stars into being arise,
For thousands of years to roll on through the skies;
I saw them in play
Seek their goal far away,--
For a moment my fugitive gaze wandered on,--
I looked round me, and lo!--all those bright stars had flown!
Madly yearning to reach the dark kingdom of night.
I boldly steer on with the speed of the light;
All misty and drear
The dim heavens appear,
While embryo systems and seas at their source
Are whirling around the sun-wanderer's course.
When sudden a pilgrim I see drawing near
Along the lone path,--"Stay! What seekest thou here?"
"My bark, tempest-tossed,
I sail toward the land where the breeze blows no more,
And Creation's last boundary stands on the shore."
"Stay, thou sailest in vain! 'Tis INFINITY yonder!"--
"'Tis INFINITY, too, where thou, pilgrim, wouldst wander!
Eagle-thoughts that aspire,
Let your proud pinions tire!
For 'tis here that sweet phantasy, bold to the last,
Her anchor in hopeless dejection must cast!"
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:06 min read
- 105 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | aabbcC ddeexx ffcghh gxxcC iixijj |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,201 |
Words | 222 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 5, 6 |
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"The Greatness Of The World" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/14393/the-greatness-of-the-world>.
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