Analysis of The Epic of Gilgamesh: The fall from the Light




Into the darkness
He slowly did fall
As he told the tale
As he left all

The world of the living
Slipping away
To the House of dust
Where he would stay

The angel of death
Had taken his hand
Gilgamesh save me
Make one final stand

Enkidu my friend
I will battle for you
When you arrive
Forget all you knew

Stray from the land
In spirit you might
First gather for me
The drum which sounds in the night

Into the Nether World he had arrived
Semi divine and with much pride
Now with the dead he made his home
Clothed in bird feathers his immortality now known

Knowing full well
What not to do
Yet banished to hell
He did as he so choose

Defiant in death
As in his life
His spirit was trapped
Deep eternal night

Crying to the gods
In the heavens above
Save Enkidu
For my friend I have much love

Enki and Shamash
Heard his trumpeting pleas
Yes we will help
Gilgamesh oh thee

Shamash with much force cracked open the Earthly lands
Enkidu’s spirit took flight, returning though once banned
Into the eyes of his brother in arms he did stare
As he told his tale of what he had gathered there

Surpassing all other kings
He who saw the deep
Found these possessions
To be ones he wished to keep
But as he soon ventured off
To distant foreign worlds
In anger he lashed out
As his fate unfurled


Scheme XAXA XBCB DEFE XGXG EHFH XXXX IGIX DXXH XJCJ XXXF XEKK XLXLXXXX
Poetic Form
Metre 01010 11011 11101 1111 011010 1001 10111 1111 01011 11011 111 11101 111 111011 1101 01111 1101 01011 11011 0111001 0101011101 10010111 11011111 101101010011 1011 1111 11011 111111 01001 1011 11011 10101 10101 001001 11 1111111 101 111001 1111 111 11111100101 11011010111 0101111001111 111111111101 0101101 11101 11010 1111111 1111101 110101 010111 11101
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 1,300
Words 271
Sentences 1
Stanzas 12
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 8
Lines Amount 52
Letters per line (avg) 20
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 86
Words per stanza (avg) 21

About this poem

Enkidu banished to the netherworld

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Submitted by Keithdalankford on November 17, 2021

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:21 min read
18

Keith Lankford

Former Contractor, advocate for individuals targeted in current counterintelligence community policing operations more…

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