Analysis of The Shrouding of the Duchess of Malfi
John Webster 1580 (London) – 1632 (London)
Hark, now everything is still,
The screech-owl and the whistler shrill,
Call upon our dame aloud,
And bid her quickly don her shroud!
Much you had of land and rent;
Your length in clay's now competent:
A long war disturbed your mind;
Here your perfect peace is signed.
Of what is't fools make such vain keeping?
Sin their conception, their birth weeping,
Their life a general mist of error,
Their death a hideous storm of terror.
Strew your hair with powders sweet,
Don clean linen, bathe your feet,
And (the foul fiend more to check)
A crucifix let bless your neck:
'Tis now full tide 'tween night and day;
End your groan, and come away.
Scheme | AABBCDEEFFGGHHIIJJ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111011 01100101 10110101 01010101 1111101 11011100 0110111 1101111 1111111110 110101110 1101001110 1101001110 1111101 1110111 0011111 0101111 11111101 1110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 646 |
Words | 117 |
Sentences | 6 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 18 |
Lines Amount | 18 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 496 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 115 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 18, 2023
- 35 sec read
- 108 Views
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