Analysis of Conflict Of Wit And Beauty

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1749 (Frankfurt) – 1832 (Weimar)



Sir Wit, who is so much esteem'd,
And who is worthy of all honour,
Saw Beauty his superior deem'd
By folks who loved to gaze upon her;
At this he was most sorely vex'd.

Then came Sir Breath (long known as fit
To represent the cause of wit),
Beginning, rudely, I admit,
To treat the lady with a text.

To this she hearken'd not at all,
But hasten'd to his principal:
'None are so wise, they say, as you,--
Is not the world enough for two?

If you are obstinate, good-bye!
If wise, to love me you will try,
For be assured the world can ne'er
Give birth to a more handsome pair.'


Scheme ABABC DDDC XXEE XBBB
Poetic Form
Metre 11111101 01110111 110101001 111111010 11111101 11111111 1010111 01010101 11010101 1111111 11011100 11111111 11010111 11110011 11111111 11010111 11101101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 582
Words 117
Sentences 6
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 5, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 17
Letters per line (avg) 25
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 107
Words per stanza (avg) 28
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

36 sec read
118

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer and politician. more…

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