Analysis of AN ELEGY Upon S. W. R.
Henry King 1592 (Worminghall, Buckinghamshire) – 1669 (Chichester)
I will not weep, for 'twere as great a sin
To shed a tear for thee, as to have bin
An Actor in thy death. Thy life and age
Was but a various Scene on fortunes Stage,
With whom thou tugg'st & strov'st ev'n out of breath
In thy long toil: nere master'd till thy death;
And then despight of trains and cruell wit,
Thou did'st at once subdue malice and it.
I dare not then so blast thy memory
As say I do lament or pity thee.
Were I to choose a subject to bestow
My pity on, he should be one as low
In spirit as desert. That durst not dy
But rather were content by slavery
To purchase life: or I would pity those
Thy most industrious and friendly foes:
Who when they thought to make thee scandals story
Lent thee a swifter flight to Heav'n and glory.
That thought by cutting off some wither'd dayes,
(Which thou could'st spare them) to eclipse thy praise;
Yet gave it brighter foil, made thy ag'd fame
Appear more white and fair, then foul their shame:
And did promote an Execution
Which (but for them) Nature and Age had done.
Such worthless things as these were onely born
To live on Pities almes (too mean for scorn.)
Thou dy'dst an envious wonder, whose high fate
The world must still admire, scarce imitate.
Scheme | AABBCCDDEEFFDEGGEEGHIIJJKKLL |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111111101 1101111111 1100111101 11010011101 1111111111 0111110111 01111011 11111011001 1111111100 1111011101 0111001101 1101111111 0101101111 1100101100 1101111101 1101000101 11111111010 11010111010 1111011101 11111110111 1111011111 0111011111 01011010 1111100111 110111011 111111111 11110010111 011101110 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,216 |
Words | 235 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 28 |
Lines Amount | 28 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 935 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 232 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 14, 2023
- 1:13 min read
- 57 Views
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"AN ELEGY Upon S. W. R." Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/17629/an-elegy-upon-s.-w.-r.>.
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