Analysis of The First Walpurgis-Night
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1749 (Frankfurt) – 1832 (Weimar)
SWEET smiles the May!
The forest gay
From frost and ice is freed;
No snow is found,
Glad songs resound
Across the verdant mead.
Upon the height
The snow lies light,
Yet thither now we go,
There to extol our Father's name,
Whom we for ages know.
Amid the smoke shall gleam the flame;
Thus pure the heart will grow.
Amid the smoke shall gleam the flame;
Extol we now our Father's name,
Whom we for ages know!
Up, up, then, let us go!
ONE OF THE PEOPLE.
Would ye, then, so rashly act?
Would ye instant death attract?
Know ye not the cruel threats
Of the victors we obey?
Round about are placed their nets
In the sinful heathen's way.
Ah! upon the lofty wall
Wife and children slaughter they;
And we all
Hasten to a certain fall.
CHORUS OF WOMEN.
Ay, upon the camp's high wall
All our children loved they slay.
Ah, what cruel victors they!
And we all
Hasten to a certain fall.
Who fears to-day
His rites to pay,
Deserves his chains to wear.
The forest's free!
This wood take we,
And straight a pile prepare!
Yet in the wood
To stay 'tis good
By day, till all is still,
With watchers all around us plac'd
Protecting you from ill.
With courage fresh, then let us haste
Our duties to fulfil.
CHORUS OF WATCHERS.
Ye valiant watchers, now divide
Your numbers through the forest wide,
And see that all is still,
While they their rites fulfil.
Let us in a cunning wise,
Yon dull Christian priests surprise
With the devil of their talk
We'll those very priests confound.
Come with prong, and come with fork.
Raise a wild and rattling sound
Through the livelong night, and prowl
All the rocky passes round.
Screechowl, owl,
Join in chorus with our howl!
CHORUS OF WATCHERS.
Come with prong, and come with fork,
Like the devil of their talk,
And with wildly rattling sound,
Prowl the desert rocks around!
Screechowl, owl,
Join in chorus with our howl!
Thus far 'tis right.
That we by night
Our Father's praises sing;
Yet when 'tis day,
To Thee we may
A heart unsullied bring.
'Tis true that now,
And often, Thou
Fav'rest the foe in fight.
As from the smoke is freed the blaze,
So let our faith burn bright!
And if they crush our golden ways,
Who e'er can crush Thy light?
A CHRISTIAN WATCHER.
Comrades, quick! your aid afford!
All the brood of hell's abroad;
See how their enchanted forms
Through and through with flames are glowing!
Dragon-women, men-wolf swarms,
On in quick succession going!
Let us, let us haste to fly!
Wilder yet the sounds are growing,
And the archfiend roars on high;
From the ground
Hellish vapours rise around.
CHORUS OF CHRISTIAN WATCHERS.
Terrible enchanted forms,
Dragon-women, men-wolf swarms!
Wilder yet the sounds are growing!
See, the archfiend comes, all-glowing!
From the ground
Hellish vapours rise around!
CHORUS OF DRUIDS.
As from the smoke is freed the blaze,
So let our faith burn bright!
And if they crush our golden ways,
Who e'er can crush Thy light?
Scheme | a a b c c b d d ef EF e Ff E e g hhi ai aj aJJ x j a aJJ a a k l l k m m no no g P qq n g rrs cT cu cUU P TsccUU d d v a a v w w dX DX D x xxy vY vz VzCC p yYVvCC x X DX D |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1101 0101 110111 1111 111 010101 0101 0111 11111 110110101 111101 01011101 110111 01011101 011110101 111101 111111 11010 111111 1110101 1110101 1010101 1011111 001011 1010101 1010101 011 1010101 10110 1010111 11010111 1110101 011 1010101 1111 1111 011111 0101 1111 010101 1001 1111 111111 11010111 010111 11011111 101011 10110 11010101 11010101 011111 11111 1100101 1110101 1010111 1110101 1110111 1010101 101101 1010101 11 10101101 10110 1110111 1010111 0110101 1010101 11 10101101 1111 1111 1010101 1111 1111 010101 1111 0101 10101 11011101 1110111 011110101 1101111 01010 111101 1011101 1110101 10111110 1010111 10101010 1111111 10101110 001111 101 101101 1011010 1000101 1010111 10101110 1011110 101 101101 10110 11011101 1110111 011110101 1101111 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 2,845 |
Words | 532 |
Sentences | 57 |
Stanzas | 66 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 1, 2, 1, 1, 1, 3, 2, 2, 3, 1, 1, 1, 3, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 1, 1, 2, 1, 1, 3, 2, 2, 3, 1, 6, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 1, 1, 3, 2, 2, 4, 1, 6, 1, 1, 2, 1 |
Lines Amount | 106 |
Letters per line (avg) | 21 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 34 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 8 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 30, 2023
- 2:43 min read
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"The First Walpurgis-Night" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/21818/the-first-walpurgis-night>.
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