Analysis of The Death of Abraham Lincoln
William Cullen Bryant 1794 (Cummington) – 1878 (New York City)
Oh, slow to smit and swift to spare,
Gentle and merciful and just!
Who, in the fear of God, didst bear
The sword of power, a nation's trust!
In sorrow by thy bier we stand,
Amid the awe that hushes all,
And speak the anguish of a land
That shook with horror at thy fall.
Thy task is done; the bond of free;
We bear thee to an honored grave,
Whose proudest monument shall be
The broken fetters of the slave.
Pure was thy life; its bloody close
Hath placed thee with the sons of light,
Among the noble host of those
Who perished in the cause of Right.
Scheme | ABAB CDCD EFEF XGXG |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain |
Metre | 11110111 10010001 10011111 011100101 01011111 0101111 01010101 11110111 11110111 11111101 11010011 01010101 11111101 11110111 01010111 11000111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 557 |
Words | 111 |
Sentences | 6 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 16 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 106 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 27 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 14, 2023
- 33 sec read
- 114 Views
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"The Death of Abraham Lincoln" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/40339/the-death-of-abraham-lincoln>.
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