Analysis of The Expiration
John Donne 1572 (London) – 1631 (London)
So, so, break off this last lamenting kiss,
Which sucks two souls, and vapors both away,
Turn thou ghost that way, and let me turn this,
And let our selves benight our happiest day,
We ask none leave to love; nor will we owe
Any, so cheap a death, as saying, Go;
Go; and if that word have not quite kil'd thee,
Ease me with death, by bidding me go too.
Oh, if it have, let my word work on me,
And a just office on a murderer do.
Except it be too late, to kill me so,
Being double dead, going, and bidding, go.
Scheme | ABABCCDEDECC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111110101 1111010101 1111101111 0110101101001 1111111111 1011011101 1011111111 1111110111 1111111111 00110101001 0111111111 10101100101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 506 |
Words | 107 |
Sentences | 4 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 12 |
Lines Amount | 12 |
Letters per line (avg) | 31 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 377 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 105 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 13, 2023
- 32 sec read
- 93 Views
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"The Expiration" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/22596/the-expiration>.
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