The Words of Error
Three errors there are, that forever are foundOn the lips of the good, on the lips of the best;But empty their meaning and hollow their sound--And slight is the comfort they bring to the breast.The fruits of existence escape from the claspOf the seeker who strives but those shadows to grasp--
So long as man dreams of some age in this lifeWhen the right and the good will all evil subdue;For the right and the good lead us ever to strife,And wherever they lead us the fiend will pursue.And (till from the earth borne, and stifled at length)The earth that he touches still gifts him with strength!
So long as man fancies that fortune will live,Like a bride with her lover, united with worth;For her favors, alas! to the mean she will give--And virtue possesses no title to earth!That foreigner wanders to regions afar,Where the lands of her birthright immortally are!
So long as man dreams that, to mortals a gift,The truth in her fulness of splendor will shine;The veil of the goddess no earth-born may lift,And all we can learn is--to guess and divine!Dost thou seek, in a dogma, to prison her form?The spirit flies forth on the wings of the storm!
O, noble soul! fly from delusions like these,More heavenly belief be it thine to adore;Where the ear never hearkens, the eye never sees,Meet the rivers of beauty and truth evermore!Not without thee the streams--there the dull seek them;--No!Look within thee--behold both the fount and the flow!
Words in this poem
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- wherever adv.
- At or in whatever place; wheresoever.
- afar adv.
- At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
- immortally adv.
- In an immortal manner.
- adore v. t.
- To worship with profound reverence; to pay divine honors to; to honor as deity or as divine. [OE. aouren, anouren, adoren, OF. aorer, adorer, F. adorer, fr. L. adorare; ad + orare to speak, pray, os, oris, mouth. In OE. confused with honor, the French pr]
- evermore adv.
- During eternity; always; forever; for an indefinite period; at all times; -- often used substantively with for.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Words of Error 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 Words of Error, in The Poems of Schiller: Third Period (1805), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6796, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/schiller-third-period/the-words-of-error.html, id L26163.
Form and metre
The Words of Error is 30 lines in 5 stanzas of 6 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCC. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic tetrameter.
See other poems in iambic 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 ABABCC foundA · bestB · soundA · breastB · claspC · graspC
- 2 ABABCC lifeA · subdueB · strifeA · pursueB · lengthC · strengthC
- 3 ABABCC liveA · worthB · giveA · earthB · afarC · areC
- 4 ABABCC giftA · shineB · liftA · divineB · formC · stormC
- 5 ABABCC theseA · adoreB · seesA · evermoreB · noC · flowC
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Three errors there are, that forever are found | 11 | ·/˘···˘/˘·· |
| On the lips of the good, on the lips of the best; | 12 | ············ |
| But empty their meaning and hollow their sound-- | 11 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘·· |
| And slight is the comfort they bring to the breast. | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| The fruits of existence escape from the clasp | 11 | ···˘/˘˘/··· |
| Of the seeker who strives but those shadows to grasp-- | 12 | ··/˘····/··· |
| So long as man dreams of some age in this life | 11 | ··········· |
| When the right and the good will all evil subdue; | 11 | ········/˘/ |
| For the right and the good lead us ever to strife, | 11 | ········/·· |
| And wherever they lead us the fiend will pursue. | 12 | ·˘/˘······˘/ |
| And (till from the earth borne, and stifled at length) | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| The earth that he touches still gifts him with strength! | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| So long as man fancies that fortune will live, | 11 | ····/˘·/˘·· |
| Like a bride with her lover, united with worth; | 12 | ·····/˘˘/˘·· |
| For her favors, alas! to the mean she will give-- | 12 | ··/˘˘/······ |
| And virtue possesses no title to earth! | 11 | ·/˘˘/˘·/˘·· |
| That foreigner wanders to regions afar, | 11 | ·/˘˘/˘·/˘˘/ |
| Where the lands of her birthright immortally are! | 12 | ·····/·˘/˘˘· |
| So long as man dreams that, to mortals a gift, | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| The truth in her fulness of splendor will shine; | 11 | ····/˘·/˘·· |
| The veil of the goddess no earth-born may lift, | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| And all we can learn is--to guess and divine! | 11 | ·········˘/ |
| Dost thou seek, in a dogma, to prison her form? | 12 | ·····/˘·/˘·· |
| The spirit flies forth on the wings of the storm! | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| O, noble soul! fly from delusions like these, | 11 | ·/˘···˘/˘·· |
| More heavenly belief be it thine to adore; | 11 | ·/˘˘/····˘/ |
| Where the ear never hearkens, the eye never sees, | 11 | ···//˘··/˘· |
| Meet the rivers of beauty and truth evermore! | 12 | ··/˘·/˘··/˘· |
| Not without thee the streams--there the dull seek them;--No! | 12 | ············ |
| Look within thee--behold both the fount and the flow! | 12 | ····˘/······ |
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.