Analysis of The Sonnets To Orpheus: Book 2: XXIII
Rainer Maria Rilke 1875 (Prague) – 1926 (Montreux)
Call to me to the one among your moments
that stands against you, ineluctably:
intimate as a dog's imploring glance
but, again, forever, turned away
when you think you've captured it at last.
What seems so far from you is most your own.
We are already free, and were dismissed
where we thought we soon would be at home.
Anxious, we keep longing for a foothold-
we, at times too young for what is old
and too old for what has never been;
doing justice only where we praise,
because we are the branch, the iron blade,
and sweet danger, ripening from within.
Translated by Stephen Mitchell
Scheme | XAXX XXXX BBC XXC A |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 11110101110 110111 1001010101 101010101 111110111 1111111111 1101010001 111111111 101110101 111111111 011111101 101010111 0111010101 0110100101 01011010 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 580 |
Words | 109 |
Sentences | 5 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 3, 3, 1 |
Lines Amount | 15 |
Letters per line (avg) | 31 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 92 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 21 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 33 sec read
- 107 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"The Sonnets To Orpheus: Book 2: XXIII" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 2 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/29733/the-sonnets-to-orpheus%3A-book-2%3A-xxiii>.
Discuss this Rainer Maria Rilke poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In