Laurel · Friedrich Schiller · The Poems of Schiller: Third Period

The Commencement of the New Century

iambic pentameter · ABAB · 36 lines · from The Poems of Schiller: Third Period

Where will a place of refuge, noble friend,For peace and freedom ever open lie!The century in tempests had its end,The new one now begins with murder's cry.

Each land-connecting bond is torn away,Each ancient custom hastens to decline;Not e'en the ocean can war's tumult stay.Not e'en the Nile-god, not the hoary Rhine.

Two mighty nations strive, with hostile power,For undivided mastery of the world;And, by them, each land's freedom to devour,The trident brandished is--the lightning hurled.

Each country must to them its gold afford,And, Brennus-like, upon the fatal day,The Frank now throws his heavy iron sword,The even scales of justice to o'erweigh.

His merchant-fleets the Briton greedilyExtends, like polyp-limbs, on every side;And the domain of Amphitrite freeAs if his home it were, would fain bestride.

E'en to the south pole's dim, remotest star,His restless course moves onward, unrestrained;Each isle he tracks,--each coast, however far,But paradise alone he ne'er has gained!

Although thine eye may every map explore,Vainly thou'lt seek to find that blissful place,Where freedom's garden smiles for evermore,And where in youth still blooms the human race.

Before thy gaze the world extended lies,The very shipping it can scarce embrace;And yet upon her back, of boundless size,E'en for ten happy men there is not space!

Into thy bosom's holy, silent cells,Thou needs must fly from life's tumultuous throng!Freedom but in the realm of vision dwells,And beauty bears no blossoms but in song.

Words in this poem

hoary a.: White or whitish."The hoary willows."
fain v. t.: To be glad ; to wish or desire.
bestride v. t.: To stand or sit with anything between the legs, or with the legs astride; to stand over That horse that thou so often hast bestrid. [AS. bestridan; pref. be- + stridan to stride.]
isle v. t.: To cause to become an island, or like an island; to surround or encompass; to island.
explore v. t.: To seek for or after; to strive to attain by search; to look wisely and carefully for. [L. explorare to explore; ex out+plorare to cry out aloud,prob. orig., to cause to flow; perh. akin to E. flow: cf. F. explorer.]
blissful a.: Full of, characterized by, or causing, joy and felicity; happy in the highest degree.
evermore adv.: During eternity; always; forever; for an indefinite period; at all times; -- often used substantively with for.
scarce a.: Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
needs adv.: Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

The Commencement of the New Century 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, The Commencement of the New Century, in The Poems of Schiller: Third Period (1805), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6796, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/schiller-third-period/the-commencement-of-the-new-century.html, id L21928.

Form and metre

The Commencement of the New Century is 36 lines in 9 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 8 of its 9 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).

See other poems in iambic 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 ABAB friend^A · lie^B · end^A · cry^B
2 ABAB away^A · decline^B · stay^A · rhine^B
3 ABAB power^A · world^B · devour^A · hurled^B
4 ABAB afford^A · day^B · sword^A · o'erweigh^B
5 -A-A greedily · side^A · free · bestride^A
6 ABAB star^A · unrestrained^B · far^A · gained^B
7 ABAB explore^A · place^B · evermore^A · race^B
8 ABAB lies^A · embrace^B · size^A · space^B
9 ABAB cells^A · throng^B · dwells^A · song^B

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 iambic pentameter. How this is done.

Line	Syl.	Stress
Where will a place of refuge, noble friend,	10	·····/˘/˘·
For peace and freedom ever open lie!	10	···/˘/˘/˘·
The century in tempests had its end,	10	·/˘˘·/˘···
The new one now begins with murder's cry.	10	····˘/·/˘·
Each land-connecting bond is torn away,	10	··˘/˘···˘/
Each ancient custom hastens to decline;	10	·/˘/˘/˘·˘/
Not e'en the ocean can war's tumult stay.	10	···/˘··/˘·
Not e'en the Nile-god, not the hoary Rhine.	10	·······/˘·
Two mighty nations strive, with hostile power,	11	·/˘/˘··/˘/˘
For undivided mastery of the world;	10	··˘/˘/˘···
And, by them, each land's freedom to devour,	11	·····/˘·˘/˘
The trident brandished is--the lightning hurled.	10	·/˘/˘··/˘·
Each country must to them its gold afford,	10	·/˘·····˘/
And, Brennus-like, upon the fatal day,	10	·······/˘·
The Frank now throws his heavy iron sword,	10	·····/˘/˘·
The even scales of justice to o'erweigh.	10	·/˘··/˘···
His merchant-fleets the Briton greedily	10	·/˘··/˘/˘˘
Extends, like polyp-limbs, on every side;	10	˘/·/˘··/˘·
And the domain of Amphitrite free	9	··˘/·····
As if his home it were, would fain bestride.	10	········˘/
E'en to the south pole's dim, remotest star,	10	······˘/˘·
His restless course moves onward, unrestrained;	10	·/˘··/˘·˘/
Each isle he tracks,--each coast, however far,	10	·······/˘·
But paradise alone he ne'er has gained!	10	·/˘·˘/····
Although thine eye may every map explore,	10	·····/˘·˘/
Vainly thou'lt seek to find that blissful place,	10	/˘·····/˘·
Where freedom's garden smiles for evermore,	10	·/˘/˘··/˘·
And where in youth still blooms the human race.	10	·······/˘·
Before thy gaze the world extended lies,	10	······˘/˘·
The very shipping it can scarce embrace;	10	·/˘/˘···˘/
And yet upon her back, of boundless size,	10	·······/˘·
E'en for ten happy men there is not space!	10	···/˘·····
Into thy bosom's holy, silent cells,	10	···/˘/˘/˘·
Thou needs must fly from life's tumultuous throng!	10	·······/˘·
Freedom but in the realm of vision dwells,	10	/˘·····/˘·
And beauty bears no blossoms but in song.	10	·/˘··/˘···

The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.

More by Friedrich Schiller

The Poems of Schiller: Third Period