Analysis of Book Of Suleika - The Sublime Type

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



THE sun, whom Grecians Helms call,

His heavenly path with pride doth tread,
And, to subdue the world's wide all,

Looks round, beneath him, high o'er head.

He sees the fairest goddess pine,

Heaven's child, the daughter of the clouds,--
For her alone he seems to shine;

In trembling grief his form he shrouds,

Careless for all the realms of bliss,--

Her streaming tears more swiftly flow:
For every pearl he gives a kiss,

And changeth into joy her woe.

She gazeth upward fixedly,

And deeply feels his glance of might,
While, stamped with his own effigy,

Each pearl would range itself aright.

Thus wreath'd with bows, with hues thus grac'd,

With gladness beams her face so fair,
While he, to meet her, maketh haste,

And yet, alas! can reach her ne'er.

So, by the harsh decree of Fate,

Thou modest from me, dearest one;
And were I Helms e'en, the Great,

What would avail his chariot-throne?


Scheme A BA B C DC D E FE F A XX B G HG H I XI X
Poetic Form
Metre 011111 110011111 01010111 110111101 11010101 101010101 10011111 010011111 10110111 01011101 110011101 0101101 11101 01011111 11111100 1111011 11111111 1110111 1111011 01011101 11010111 11011101 00111101 110111001
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 871
Words 161
Sentences 7
Stanzas 18
Stanza Lengths 1, 2, 1, 1, 2, 1, 1, 2, 1, 1, 2, 1, 1, 2, 1, 1, 2, 1
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 28
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 38
Words per stanza (avg) 9
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

50 sec read
147

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

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

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