Analysis of The Godlike
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1749 (Frankfurt) – 1832 (Weimar)
NOBLE be man,
Helpful and good!
For that alone
Distinguisheth him
From all the beings
Unto us known.
Hail to the beings,
Unknown and glorious,
Whom we forebode!
From his example
Learn we to know them!
For unfeeling
Nature is ever:
On bad and on good
The sun alike shineth;
And on the wicked,
As on the best,
The moon and stars gleam.
Tempest and torrent,
Thunder and hail,
Roar on their path,
Seizing the while,
As they haste onward,
One after another.
Even so, fortune
Gropes 'mid the throng--
Innocent boyhood's
Curly head seizing,--
Seizing the hoary
Head of the sinner.
After laws mighty,
Brazen, eternal,
Must all we mortals
Finish the circuit
Of our existence.
Man, and man only
Can do the impossible;
He 'tis distinguisheth,
Chooseth and judgeth;
He to the moment
Endurance can lend.
He and he only
The good can reward,
The bad can he punish,
Can heal and can save;
All that wanders and strays
Can usefully blend.
And we pay homage
To the immortals
As though they were men,
And did in the great,
What the best, in the small,
Does or might do.
Be the man that is noble,
Both helpful and good.
Unweariedly forming
The right and the useful,
A type of those beings
Our mind hath foreshadow'd!
Scheme | XABXCB CXDEX FGAHXXX IXHXXG XXCFJG JEKXX JEHHIL JXXXXLXKXXXX EAFECD |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1011 1001 1101 11 11010 1011 11010 010100 1101 11010 11111 1010 10110 11011 01011 01010 1101 01011 10010 1001 1111 1001 11110 110010 10110 1101 1001 10110 10010 11010 10110 10010 11110 10010 110010 10110 1100100 111 101 11010 10011 10110 01101 011110 11011 111001 11001 01110 10010 11101 01001 101001 1111 1011110 11001 110 010010 011110 1011010 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,145 |
Words | 220 |
Sentences | 14 |
Stanzas | 9 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 5, 7, 6, 6, 5, 6, 12, 6 |
Lines Amount | 59 |
Letters per line (avg) | 16 |
Words per line (avg) | 4 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 103 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 24 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:06 min read
- 140 Views
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"The Godlike" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 2 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/21831/the-godlike>.
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