Activity Ben Brady AMD 6

For my activity I decided to analyze a German poem. I looked at the 6th poem from Stefan George's collection, Das Buch der hängenden Gärten.

My friend and I were having a conversation after he came to see me in a Stravinsky opera. Stravinsky was a Russian, and the opera was in English. My friend noticed that the libretto was in iambic pentameter and remarked that it would be very difficult for him to set this himself, as he believes Russians can't write in iambic pentameter.

I mention this anecdote because the poem I am reading seemed to be a variation of iambic pentameter.

Jedem Werke bin ich fürder tot.
Dich mir nahzurufen mit den Sinnen,
neue Reden mit dir auszuspinnen,
Dienst und Lohn, Gewährung und Verbot,
von allen Dingen ist nur dieses Not,
und Weinen, daß die Bilder immer fliehen,
die in schöner finsternis gediehen,
wann der kalte, klare Morgen droht.

This German poet seemed to be able to write in a very close meter, with the main exception being verb infinitives endings "en" are considered unaccented enough to be equivalent to a rest in the meter. There is also the "und" in the third to last measure, but this can be felt as a pickup to "Weinen" which is the downbeat of the line. Shakespeare's iambic pentametric works often included such oickups as well. Bravo, George. I thought this meter was reserved for English verse.