Analysis of Downfall
Georg Trakl 1887 (Salzburg) – 1914 (Kraków)
(To Karl Borromaeus Heinrich)
Over the white pond
the savage birds draw away.
At twilight an icier wind blows about our star.
The split forehead of night bends
across our graves.
Under oaks we shudder on a silver barge.
Forever ring the whitewashed walls of the city.
Under a dome of thorns
O my brother we climb—blind hour hands to midnight.
Translated by Eric Plattner & Joseph Suglia
(An Karl Borromaeus Heinrich)
Über den weißen Weiher
Sind die wilden Vögel fortgezogen.
Am Abend weht von unseren Sternen ein eisiger Wind.
Über unsere Gräber
Beugt sich die zerbrochene Stirne der Nacht.
Unter Eichen schaukeln wir auf einem silbernen Kahn.
Immer klingen die weißen Mauern der Stadt.
Unter Dornenbogen
O mein Bruder klimmen wir blinde Zeiger gen Mitternacht.
Scheme | A BXC XXX XXX X A XDX CBD XDB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11110 10011 0101101 11111101101 0110111 01101 10111010101 01010111010 100111 111011110111 01011010101 11110 111110 1110111 1101111111 1111 1111111 110111111 11111111 11 11101111011 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 854 |
Words | 132 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 9 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 3, 3, 3, 1, 1, 3, 3, 3 |
Lines Amount | 21 |
Letters per line (avg) | 29 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 68 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 14 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 39 sec read
- 124 Views
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