Analysis of Indra



DOWN to the sand-covered earth.
Straw from the harvested fields soiled our feet;
Dust from the high-roads,
Smoke from the cities,
Foul-smelling breaths,
Fumes from cellars and kitchens,
All we endured.
Then to the open sea we fled,
Filling our lungs with air,
Shaking our wings,
And laving our feet.

Indra, Lord of the Heavens,
Hear us!
Hear our sighing!
Unclean is the earth;
Evil is life;
Neither good nor bad
Can men be deemed.
As they can, they live,
One day at a time.
Sons of dust, through dust they journey;
Born out of dust, to dust they return.
Given they were, for trudging,
Feet, not wings for flying.
Dusty they grow--
Lies the fault then with them,
Or with Thee?


Scheme ABXXXCXXXXB CXDAXXXXXEXDDXXE
Poetic Form
Metre 1101101 11010011101 11011 11010 1101 1110010 1101 11010111 1010111 10101 01101 111010 11 11010 01101 1011 10111 1111 11111 11101 11111110 111111101 1010110 111110 1011 101111 111
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 684
Words 124
Sentences 11
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 11, 16
Lines Amount 27
Letters per line (avg) 19
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 259
Words per stanza (avg) 61
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

37 sec read
73

August Strindberg

Johan August Strindberg was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter. more…

All August Strindberg poems | August Strindberg Books

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