Analysis of Funeral Of Youth, The: Threnody
Rupert Brooke 1887 (Rugby) – 1915 (Aegean Sea)
The day that YOUTH had died,
There came to his grave-side,
In decent mourning, from the country's ends,
Those scatter'd friends
Who had lived the boon companions of his prime,
And laughed with him and sung with him and wasted,
In feast and wine and many-crown'd carouse,
The days and nights and dawnings of the time
When YOUTH kept open house,
Nor left untasted
Aught of his high emprise and ventures dear,
No quest of his unshar'd --
All these, with loitering feet and sad head bar'd,
Followed their old friend's bier.
FOLLY went first,
With muffled bells and coxcomb still revers'd;
And after trod the bearers, hat in hand --
LAUGHTER, most hoarse, and Captain PRIDE with tanned
And martial face all grim, and fussy JOY,
Who had to catch a train, and LUST, poor, snivelling boy;
These bore the dear departed.
Behind them, broken-hearted,
Came GRIEF, so noisy a widow, that all said,
"Had he but wed
Her elder sister SORROW, in her stead!"
And by her, trying to soothe her all the time,
The fatherless children, COLOUR, TUNE, and RHYME
(The sweet lad RHYME), ran all-uncomprehending.
Then, at the way's sad ending,
Round the raw grave they stay'd. Old WISDOM read,
In mumbling tone, the Service for the Dead.
There stood ROMANCE,
The furrowing tears had mark'd her rouged cheek;
Poor old CONCEIT, his wonder unassuaged;
Dead INNOCENCY's daughter, IGNORANCE;
And shabby, ill-dress'd GENEROSITY;
And ARGUMENT, too full of woe to speak;
PASSION, grown portly, something middle-aged;
And FRIENDSHIP -- not a minute older, she;
IMPATIENCE, ever taking out his watch;
FAITH, who was deaf, and had to lean, to catch
Old WISDOM's endless drone.
BEAUTY was there,
Pale in her black; dry-eyed; she stood alone.
Poor maz'd IMAGINATION; FANCY wild;
ARDOUR, the sunlight on his greying hair;
CONTENTMENT, who had known YOUTH as a child
And never seen him since. And SPRING came too,
Dancing over the tombs, and brought him flowers --
She did not stay for long.
And TRUTH, and GRACE, and all the merry crew,
The laughing WINDS and RIVERS, and lithe HOURS;
And HOPE, the dewy-eyed; and sorrowing SONG; --
Yes, with much woe and mourning general,
At dead YOUTH's funeral,
Even these were met once more together, all,
Who erst the fair and living YOUTH did know;
All, except only LOVE. LOVE had died long ago.
Scheme | AABBCDECFAGAHIJJKKLLDDMMMCCNNMMONAPQNRQSTUVUWVWXYNXYNZZ1 2 N |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 011111 111111 0101010101 1101 11101010111 01110111010 0101010101 010101101 111101 111 1111010101 11111 11110010111 101111 1011 110101101 0101010101 1011010111 0101110101 11110101111 1101010 0111010 11110010111 1111 0101010001 01010110101 0100101101 0111111 1101110 1011111101 01001010101 1101 01111011 11011101 1110100 010110100 0100111111 1011010101 0101010101 0101010111 1111011111 11101 1011 1001111101 110010101 10111101 0101111101 0101110111 10100101110 111111 0101010101 01010100110 010101011 1111010100 111100 10101110101 1101010111 101101111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 2,247 |
Words | 398 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 58 |
Lines Amount | 58 |
Letters per line (avg) | 30 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 1,767 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 398 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 14, 2023
- 2:03 min read
- 106 Views
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"Funeral Of Youth, The: Threnody" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 23 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/33681/funeral-of-youth%2C-the%3A--threnody>.
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