Analysis of On The Birth-Day Of Queen Katherine

Anne Killigrew 1660 (London) – 1685 (London)



While yet it was the Empire of the Night,
And Stars still check'r'd Darkness with their Light,
From Temples round the cheerful Bells did ring,
But with the Peales a churlish Storm did sing.
I slumbr'd; and the Heavens like things did show,
Like things which I had seen and heard below.
Playing on Harps Angels did singing fly,
But through a cloudy and a troubl'd Sky,

Some fixt a Throne, and Royal Robes display'd,
And then a Massie Cross upon it laid.
I wept: and earnestly implor'd to know,
Why Royal Ensigns were disposed so.
An Angel said, The Emblem thou hast seen,
Denotes the Birth-Day of a Saint and Queen.
Ah, Glorious Minister, I then reply'd,
Goodness and Bliss together do reside
In Heaven and thee, why then on Earth below
These two combin'd so rarely do we know?
He said, Heaven so decrees: and such a Sable Morne
Was that, in which the Son of God was borne.
Then Mortal wipe thine Eyes, and cease to rave,
God darkn'd Heaven, when He the World did save.


Scheme AABBCCDD EECCFFAXCCFXGG
Poetic Form
Metre 11110100101 0111110111 1101010111 1101010111 1100101111 1111110101 1011101101 1101000101 1101010101 0101010111 1101000111 11010011 1101010111 0101110101 1100100111 1001010101 01001111101 1101110111 1110101010101 1101011111 1101110111 1110110111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 956
Words 181
Sentences 9
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 8, 14
Lines Amount 22
Letters per line (avg) 34
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 375
Words per stanza (avg) 90
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

57 sec read
65

Anne Killigrew

Anne Killigrew was an English poet. more…

All Anne Killigrew poems | Anne Killigrew Books

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