Analysis of Birth And Death.



I who have known thee, Birth, must know Death too:
As old, old men their children's children fold
In their gaunt arms, and though their blood be cold
Feel their own youth burn in them as they view
The features that were theirs — each sign so true
To their own breath and blood, 'tis as retold
Their very youth was, when they are so old,
By those who nothing of their childhood knew.
So even Death but a new birth may be,
And in some other star beyond to-day,
When we have put the use of Earth away,
E'en like those old men's children's children we
May see ourselves rise from our own decay,
The very offspring of our verity.


Scheme ABBAAABACDDCDC
Poetic Form
Metre 1111111111 1111110101 0111011111 1111101111 0101011111 111101111 1101111111 111101111 1101101111 0011010111 1111011101 11111110101 110011110101 0101110100
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 621
Words 123
Sentences 3
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 35
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 483
Words per stanza (avg) 121
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 09, 2023

38 sec read
100

Robert Crawford

Robert Crawford FRSE FBA is a Scottish poet, scholar and critic. He is currently Professor of English at the University of St Andrews.  more…

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