Analysis of Sic transit gloria mundi
Emily Dickinson 1830 (Amherst) – 1886 (Amherst)
"Sic transit gloria mundi,"
"How doth the busy bee,"
"Dum vivimus vivamus,"
I stay mine enemy!
Oh "veni, vidi, vici!"
Oh caput cap-a-pie!
And oh "memento mori"
When I am far from thee!
Hurrah for Peter Parley!
Hurrah for Daniel Boone!
Three cheers, sir, for the gentleman
Who first observed the moon!
Peter, put up the sunshine;
Patti, arrange the stars;
Tell Luna, tea is waiting,
And call your brother Mars!
Put down the apple, Adam,
And come away with me,
So shalt thou have a pippin
From off my father's tree!
I climb the "Hill of Science,"
I "view the landscape o'er;"
Such transcendental prospect,
I ne'er beheld before!
Unto the Legislature
My country bids me go;
I'll take my india rubbers,
In case the wind should blow!
During my education,
It was announced to me
That gravitation, stumbling,
Fell from an apple tree!
The earth upon an axis
Was once supposed to turn,
By way of a gymnastic
In honor of the sun!
It was the brave Columbus,
A sailing o'er the tide,
Who notified the nations
Of where I would reside!
Mortality is fatal—
Gentility is fine,
Rascality, heroic,
Insolvency, sublime!
Our Fathers being weary,
Laid down on Bunker Hill;
And tho' full many a morning,
Yet they are sleeping still,—
The trumpet, sir, shall wake them,
In dreams I see them rise,
Each with a solemn musket
A marching to the skies!
A coward will remain, Sir,
Until the fight is done;
But an immortal hero
Will take his hat, and run!
Good bye, Sir, I am going;
My country calleth me;
Allow me, Sir, at parting,
To wipe my weeping e'e.
In token of our friendship
Accept this "Bonnie Doon,"
And when the hand that plucked it
Hath passed beyond the moon,
The memory of my ashes
Will consolation be;
Then, farewell, Tuscarora,
And farewell, Sir, to thee!
Scheme | AABA BXAA ACDC EBFB XAXA BGXX GHBH DAFA BXID BJBJ XEIX AKFK XBXB GDHD FAFA XCXC BAGA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (71%) |
Metre | 11010010 110101 111 111100 1111 101101 0101010 111111 0111010 011101 11110100 110101 101101 100101 1101110 011101 1101010 010111 1111010 111101 1101110 110110 101010 11101 100100 110111 11110010 010111 101010 110111 1010100 111101 0101110 110111 1110010 010101 1101010 0101001 110010 111101 0100110 010011 1010 010001 10101010 111101 01110010 111101 0101111 011111 1101010 010101 0101011 010111 1101010 111101 1111110 11011 0111110 1111011 01011010 011101 0101111 110101 01001110 10101 111 01111 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,755 |
Words | 323 |
Sentences | 20 |
Stanzas | 17 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 68 |
Letters per line (avg) | 20 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 78 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 18 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 26, 2023
- 1:36 min read
- 606 Views
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"Sic transit gloria mundi" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 11 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/12091/sic-transit-gloria-mundi>.
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