Analysis of On Hearing Of A Death
Rainer Maria Rilke 1875 (Prague) – 1926 (Montreux)
We lack all knowledge of this parting. Death
does not deal with us. We have no reason
to show death admiration, love or hate;
his mask of feigned tragic lament gives us
a false impression. The world's stage is still
filled with roles which we play. While we worry
that our performances may not please,
death also performs, although to no applause.
But as you left us, there broke upon this stage
a glimpse of reality, shown through the slight
opening through which you dissapeared: green,
evergreen, bathed in sunlight, actual woods.
We keep on playiing, still anxious, our difficult roles
declaiming, accompanied by matching gestures
as required. But your presence so suddenly
removed from our midst and from our play, at times
overcomes us like a sense of that other
reality: yours, that we are so overwhelmed
and play our actual lives instead of the performance,
forgetting altogehter the applause.
Translated by Albert Ernest Flemming
Scheme | XXXX XAXB XXXX XXAX XXXB X |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111011101 1111111110 111010111 1111100111 0101001111 1111111110 1100100111 1100111101 11111110111 011101101 10011111 101011001 1111110101001 1010011010 101011101100 0111010110111 1011011110 101111101 011010010110010 0101001 0101101010 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 928 |
Words | 158 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 1 |
Lines Amount | 21 |
Letters per line (avg) | 36 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 126 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 26 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 26, 2023
- 47 sec read
- 236 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"On Hearing Of A Death" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 10 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/29699/on-hearing-of-a-death>.
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