Analysis of On Death
Anne Killigrew 1660 (London) – 1685 (London)
Tell me thou safest End of all our Woe,
Why wreched Mortals do avoid thee so:
Thou gentle drier o'th' afflicteds Tears,
Thou noble ender of the Cowards Fears;
Thou sweet Repose to Lovers sad dispaire,
Thou Calm t'Ambitions rough Tempestuous Care.
If in regard of Bliss thou wert a Curse,
And then the Joys of Paradise art worse;
Yet after Man from his first Station fell,
And God from Eden Adam did expel,
Thou wert no more an Evil, but Relief;
The Balm and Cure to ev'ry Humane Grief:
Through thee (what Man had forfeited before)
He now enjoys, and ne'r can loose it more.
No subtile Serpents in the Grave betray,
Worms on the Body there, not Soul do prey;
No Vice there Tempts, no Terrors there afright,
No Coz'ning Sin affords a false delight:
No vain Contentions do that Peace annoy,
No feirce Alarms break the lasting Joy.
Ah since from thee so many Blessings flow,
Such real Good as Life can never know;
Come when thou wilt, in thy afrighting'st Dress,
Thy Shape shall never make thy Welcome less.
Thou mayst to Joy, but ne'er to Fear give Birth,
Thou Best, as well as Certain'st thing on Earth.
Fly thee? May Travellers then fly their Rest,
And hungry Infants fly the profer'd Brest.
No, those that faint and tremble at thy Name,
Fly from their Good on a mistaken Fame.
Thus Childish fear did Israel of old
From Plenty and the Promis'd Land with-hold;
They fancy'd Giants, and refus'd to go,
When Canaan did with Milk and Honey flow.
Scheme | AAXXBBCCDDEEBB BBFFGG AAHHIIFFJJFFAA |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11110111101 111010111 1101011111 1101010101 110111011 11101011001 1001111101 010111011 1101111101 0111010101 1111110101 010111011 1111110001 11010111111 111000101 1101011111 111111011 1111010101 1101011101 110110101 1111110101 111111101 11110111 1111011101 1111111111 11111101111 1111001111 010101011 1111010111 1111100101 1101110011 1100010111 111000111 1101110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,424 |
Words | 265 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 14, 6, 14 |
Lines Amount | 34 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 373 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 88 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:23 min read
- 79 Views
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"On Death" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 24 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/3213/on-death>.
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