Analysis of Exposed on the cliffs of the heart
Rainer Maria Rilke 1875 (Prague) – 1926 (Montreux)
Exposed on the cliffs of the heart. Look, how tiny down there,
look: the last village of words and, higher,
(but how tiny) still one last
farmhouse of feeling. Can you see it?
Exposed on the cliffs of the heart. Stoneground
under your hands. Even here, though,
something can bloom; on a silent cliff-edge
an unknowing plant blooms, singing, into the air.
But the one who knows? Ah, he began to know
and is quiet now, exposed on the cliffs of the heart.
While, with their full awareness,
many sure-footed mountain animals pass
or linger. And the great sheltered birds flies, slowly
circling, around the peak's pure denial. - But
without a shelter, here on the cliffs of the heart...
Scheme | ABCDCEFAEGHIJKG |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 01101101111011 1011011010 1110111 11101111 011011011 10111011 1011101011 101011100101 10111110111 0110101101101 1111010 10110101001 110001101110 100010110101 010101101101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 675 |
Words | 122 |
Sentences | 12 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 15 |
Lines Amount | 15 |
Letters per line (avg) | 35 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 526 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 120 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 26, 2023
- 36 sec read
- 284 Views
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"Exposed on the cliffs of the heart" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 10 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/29663/exposed-on-the-cliffs-of-the-heart>.
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