Analysis of Nadowessian Death-Lament
Friedrich Schiller 1759 (Marbach am Neckar) – 1805 (Weimar)
See, he sitteth on his mat
Sitteth there upright,
With the grace with which he sat
While he saw the light.
Where is now the sturdy gripe,--
Where the breath sedate,
That so lately whiffed the pipe
Toward the Spirit great?
Where the bright and falcon eye,
That the reindeer's tread
On the waving grass could spy,
Thick with dewdrops spread?
Where the limbs that used to dart
Swifter through the snow
Than the twenty-membered hart,
Than the mountain roe?
Where the arm that sturdily
Bent the deadly bow?
See, its life hath fleeted by,--
See, it hangeth low!
Happy he!--He now has gone
Where no snow is found:
Where with maize the fields are sown,
Self-sprung from the ground;
Where with birds each bush is filled,
Where with game the wood;
Where the fish, with joy unstilled,
Wanton in the flood.
With the spirits blest he feeds,--
Leaves us here in gloom;
We can only praise his deeds,
And his corpse entomb.
Farewell-gifts, then, hither bring,
Sound the death-note sad!
Bury with him everything
That can make him glad!
'Neath his head the hatchet hide
That he boldly swung;
And the bear's fat haunch beside,
For the road is long;
And the knife, well sharpened,
That, with slashes three,
Scalp and skin from foeman's head
Tore off skilfully.
And to paint his body, place
Dyes within his hand;
Let him shine with ruddy grace
In the Spirit-land!
Scheme | ABAB CDCD EFEF GHGH IXEH XJXJ XXAX KLKL MNMN OXOX XXFI PQPQ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (67%) |
Metre | 111111 1101 1011111 11101 1110101 10101 1110101 010101 1010101 1011 1010111 1111 1011111 10101 1010101 10101 10111 10101 111111 1111 1011111 11111 1110111 11101 1111111 11101 101111 10001 1010111 11101 1110111 01101 111101 10111 101110 11111 1110101 11101 0011101 10111 001110 11101 101111 111 0111101 10111 1111101 00101 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,325 |
Words | 244 |
Sentences | 14 |
Stanzas | 12 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 48 |
Letters per line (avg) | 22 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 87 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 20 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 06, 2023
- 1:14 min read
- 217 Views
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"Nadowessian Death-Lament" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 10 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/14343/nadowessian-death-lament>.
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