The Pilgrim
Youth's gay springtime scarcely knowingWent I forth the world to roam--And the dance of youth, the glowing,Left I in my father's home,Of my birthright, glad-believing,Of my world-gear took I none,Careless as an infant, cleavingTo my pilgrim staff alone.For I placed my mighty hope inDim and holy words of faith,"Wander forth--the way is open,Ever on the upward path--Till thou gain the golden portal,Till its gates unclose to thee.There the earthly and the mortal,Deathless and divine shall be!"Night on morning stole, on stealeth,Never, never stand I still,And the future yet concealeth,What I seek, and what I will!Mount on mount arose before me,Torrents hemmed me every side,But I built a bridge that bore meO'er the roaring tempest-tide.Towards the east I reached a river,On its shores I did not rest;Faith from danger can deliver,And I trusted to its breast.Drifted in the whirling motion,Seas themselves around me roll--Wide and wider spreads the ocean,Far and farther flies the goal.While I live is never givenBridge or wave the goal to near--Earth will never meet the heaven,Never can the there be here!
Words in this poem
- springtime n.
- The season of spring; springtide.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- deathless a.
- Not subject to death, destruction, or extinction; immortal; undying; imperishable; as, deathless beings; deathless fame.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- stole n.
- A long, loose garment reaching to the feet. [AS. stole, L. stola, Gr. stall. See Stall.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Pilgrim 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 Pilgrim, in The Poems of Schiller: Third Period (1805), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6796, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/schiller-third-period/the-pilgrim.html, id L21820.
Form and metre
The Pilgrim is 36 lines in a single stanza. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%).
See other poems in trochaic tetrameter.
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 ABABCDCDD-D-EFEFGEGE-H-HIJIJKLKL-M-M knowingA · roamB · glowingA · homeB · believingC · noneD · cleavingC · aloneD · inD · faith · openD · path · portalE · theeF · mortalE · beF · stealethG · stillE · concealethG · willE · me · sideH · me · tideH · riverI · restJ · deliverI · breastJ · motionK · rollL · oceanK · goalL · given · nearM · heaven · hereM
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Youth's gay springtime scarcely knowing | 8 | ··/·/˘/˘ |
| Went I forth the world to roam-- | 7 | ······· |
| And the dance of youth, the glowing, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Left I in my father's home, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Of my birthright, glad-believing, | 8 | ··/··˘/˘ |
| Of my world-gear took I none, | 7 | ······· |
| Careless as an infant, cleaving | 8 | /˘··/˘/˘ |
| To my pilgrim staff alone. | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| For I placed my mighty hope in | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Dim and holy words of faith, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| "Wander forth--the way is open, | 8 | /˘····/˘ |
| Ever on the upward path-- | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Till thou gain the golden portal, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Till its gates unclose to thee. | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| There the earthly and the mortal, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Deathless and divine shall be!" | 7 | /˘·˘/·· |
| Night on morning stole, on stealeth, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Never, never stand I still, | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| And the future yet concealeth, | 8 | ··/˘·˘/˘ |
| What I seek, and what I will! | 7 | ······· |
| Mount on mount arose before me, | 8 | ···˘/··· |
| Torrents hemmed me every side, | 8 | /˘··/˘˘· |
| But I built a bridge that bore me | 8 | ········ |
| O'er the roaring tempest-tide. | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Towards the east I reached a river, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| On its shores I did not rest; | 7 | ······· |
| Faith from danger can deliver, | 8 | ··/˘·˘/˘ |
| And I trusted to its breast. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Drifted in the whirling motion, | 8 | /˘··/˘/˘ |
| Seas themselves around me roll-- | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| Wide and wider spreads the ocean, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Far and farther flies the goal. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| While I live is never given | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Bridge or wave the goal to near-- | 7 | ······· |
| Earth will never meet the heaven, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Never can the there be here! | 7 | /˘····· |
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.