Jeremiads
All, both in prose and in verse, in Germany fast is decaying;Far behind us, alas, lieth the golden age now!For by philosophers spoiled is our language--our logic by poets,And no more common sense governs our passage through life.From the aesthetic, to which she belongs, now virtue is driven,And into politics forced, where she's a troublesome guest.Where are we hastening now? If natural, dull we are voted,And if we put on constraint, then the world calls us absurd.Oh, thou joyous artlessness 'mongst the poor maidens of Leipzig,Witty simplicity come,--come, then, to glad us again!Comedy, oh repeat thy weekly visits so precious,Sigismund, lover so sweet,--Mascarill, valet jocose!Tragedy, full of salt and pungency epigrammatic,--And thou, minuet-step of our old buskin preserved!Philosophic romance, thou mannikin waiting with patience,When, 'gainst the pruner's attack, Nature defendeth herself!Ancient prose, oh return,--so nobly and boldly expressingAll that thou thinkest and hast thought,--and what the reader thinks tooAll, both in prose and in verse, in Germany fast is decaying;Far behind us, alas, lieth the golden age now!
Words in this poem
- artlessness n.
- The quality of being artless, or void of art or guile; simplicity; sincerity.
- witty a.
- Possessed of wit; knowing; wise; skillful; judicious; clever; cunning. [AS. witig, wittig. See Wit, n.]
- valet n.
- A male waiting servant; a servant who attends on gentleman's person; a body servant. [F. valet, OF. vallet, varlet, vaslet. See Varlet, and Vassal.]
- pungency n.
- The quality or state of being pungent or piercing; keenness; sharpness; piquancy; as, the pungency of ammonia.
- epigrammatic
- Writing epigrams; dealing in epigrams; as, an epigrammatical poet. [L. epigrammaticus: cf. F. épigrammatique.]
- buskin n.
- A strong, protecting covering for the foot, coming some distance up the leg. [Prob. from OF. brossequin, or D. broosken. See Brodekin.]
- philosophic a.
- Of or pertaining to philosophy; versed in, or imbued with, the principles of philosophy; hence, characterizing a philosopher; rational; wise; temperate; calm; cool. [L. philosophicus: cf. F. philosophique.]
- nobly adv.
- Of noble extraction; as, nobly born or descended.
- boldly adv.
- In a bold manner. [AS. bealdlice.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Jeremiads is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of Schiller — Third period, Project Gutenberg ebook #6796; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Friedrich Schiller, Jeremiads, in The Poems of Schiller: Third Period (1805), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6796, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/schiller-third-period/jeremiads.html, id L21910.
Form and metre
Jeremiads is 20 lines in a single stanza. The metre is anapaestic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 71%).
See other poems in anapaestic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 AB----CC----------AB decayingA · nowB · poets · life · driven · guest · votedC · absurdC · leipzig · again · precious · jocose · epigrammatic · preserved · patience · herself · expressing · too · decayingA · nowB
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against anapaestic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| All, both in prose and in verse, in Germany fast is decaying; | 15 | ········/˘··˘/˘ |
| Far behind us, alas, lieth the golden age now! | 12 | ····˘/··/˘·· |
| For by philosophers spoiled is our language--our logic by poets, | 16 | ··˘/˘··//˘//˘·/˘ |
| And no more common sense governs our passage through life. | 14 | ···/˘·/˘/˘/˘·· |
| From the aesthetic, to which she belongs, now virtue is driven, | 15 | ··˘/˘···˘/·/˘·/ |
| And into politics forced, where she's a troublesome guest. | 14 | ···/˘·····/˘˘· |
| Where are we hastening now? If natural, dull we are voted, | 15 | ···/˘··/˘˘···/˘ |
| And if we put on constraint, then the world calls us absurd. | 14 | ·····˘/·····˘/ |
| Oh, thou joyous artlessness 'mongst the poor maidens of Leipzig, | 15 | ··/˘/˘˘···/˘·/˘ |
| Witty simplicity come,--come, then, to glad us again! | 14 | /˘˘/˘˘······˘/ |
| Comedy, oh repeat thy weekly visits so precious, | 14 | /˘˘·˘/·/˘/˘·/˘ |
| Sigismund, lover so sweet,--Mascarill, valet jocose! | 14 | ···/˘·····˘/˘/ |
| Tragedy, full of salt and pungency epigrammatic,-- | 15 | /˘˘····/˘˘·˘˘/˘ |
| And thou, minuet-step of our old buskin preserved! | 14 | ···˘/··/˘·/˘˘/ |
| Philosophic romance, thou mannikin waiting with patience, | 15 | ·˘/˘/˘····/˘·/˘ |
| When, 'gainst the pruner's attack, Nature defendeth herself! | 14 | ···/˘˘//˘˘/˘˘/ |
| Ancient prose, oh return,--so nobly and boldly expressing | 15 | /˘··˘/·/˘·/˘˘/˘ |
| All that thou thinkest and hast thought,--and what the reader thinks too | 15 | ···/˘······/˘·· |
| All, both in prose and in verse, in Germany fast is decaying; | 15 | ········/˘··˘/˘ |
| Far behind us, alas, lieth the golden age now! | 12 | ····˘/··/˘·· |
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