Analysis of Mira's Will

Mary Leapor 1722 (Northamptonshire) – 1746 (Brackley)



IMPRIMIS -- My departed Shade I trust
To Heav'n -- My Body to the silent Dust;
My Name to publick Censure I submit,
To be dispos'd of as the World thinks fit;
My Vice and Folly let Oblivion close,
The World already is o'erstock'd with those;
My Wit I give, as Misers give their Store,
To those who think they had enough before.
Bestow my Patience to compose the Lives
Of slighted Virgins and neglected Wives;
To modish Lovers I resign my Truth,
My cool Reflexion to unthinking Youth;
And some Good-nature give ('tis my Desire)
To surly Husbands, as their Needs require;
And first discharge my Funeral -- and then
To the small Poets I bequeath my Pen.

Let a small Sprig (true Emblem of my Rhyme)
Of blasted Laurel on my Hearse recline;
Let some grave Wight, that struggles for Renown,
By chanting Dirges through a Market-Town,
With gentle Step precede the solemn Train;
A broken Flute upon his Arm shall lean.
Six comick Poets may the Corse surround,
And All Free-holders, if they can be found:
Then follow next the melancholy Throng,
As shrewd Instructors, who themselves are wrong.
The Virtuoso, rich in Sun-dry'd Weeds,
The Politician, whom no Mortal heeds,
The silent Lawyer, chamber'd all the Day,
And the stern Soldier that receives no Pay.
But stay -- the Mourners shou'd be first our Care,
Let the freed Prentice lead the Miser's Heir;
Let the young Relict wipe her mournful Eye,
And widow'd Husbands o'er their Garlick cry.

All this let my Executors fulfil,
And rest assur'd that this is Mira's Will,
Who was, when she these Legacies design'd,
In Body healthy, and compos'd in Mind.


Scheme AABBXXCCXXDDEEFF XXGGXXHHIIJJKKLLMM NNOO
Poetic Form
Metre 0101010111 1111010101 111110101 1101110111 11010101001 010101111 1111110111 1111110101 0111010101 1101000101 111010111 11110101 01110111010 1101011110 0101110001 1011010111 1011110111 1101011101 1111110101 110110101 1101010101 0101011111 111010101 0111011111 110101001 1101010111 0001010111 001011101 0101010101 0011010111 11010111101 101101011 101110101 01010101101 111101001 010111111 1111110001 0101000101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 1,562
Words 282
Sentences 8
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 16, 18, 4
Lines Amount 38
Letters per line (avg) 33
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 412
Words per stanza (avg) 93
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:29 min read
89

Mary Leapor

Mary Leapor was an English poet, born in Marston St. Lawrence, Northamptonshire, the only child of Anne Sharman and Philip Leapor, a gardener. She is notable for being one of the most critically well-received of the numerous labouring-class writers of the period. more…

All Mary Leapor poems | Mary Leapor Books

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