Analysis of On The Death Of Mistress Mary Prideaux



Weep not because this childe hath dyed so yong,
But weepe because yourselves have livde so long:
Age is not fild by growth of time, for then
What old man lives to see th' estate of men?
Who sees the age of grande Methusalem?
Ten years make us as old as hundreds him.
Ripenesse is from ourselves: and then wee dye
When nature hath obteynde maturity.
Summer and winter fruits there bee, and all
Not at one time, but being ripe, must fall.
Death did not erre: your mourners are beguilde;
She dyed more like a mother than a childe.
Weigh the composure of her pretty partes:
Her gravity in childhood; all her artes
Of womanly behaviour; weigh her tongue
So wisely measurde, not too short nor long;
And to her youth adde some few riches more,
She tooke upp now what due was at threescore.
She livde seven years, our age's first degree;
Journeys at first time ended happy bee;
Yet take her stature with the age of man,
They well are fitted: both are but a span.


Scheme AABBCCDEFFEGHHIAJJEEKK
Poetic Form
Metre 1101111111 1101011111 1111111111 111111110111 1101111 1111111101 1110010111 110110100 1001011101 1111110111 111111011 1111010101 1001010101 0100011010 111101 110111111 0101111101 111111111 111011010101 1011110101 1101010111 1111011101
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 941
Words 181
Sentences 9
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 22
Lines Amount 22
Letters per line (avg) 34
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 746
Words per stanza (avg) 179
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

54 sec read
42

William Strode

William Strode (c. 1602 – 1645) was an English poet, Doctor of Divinity and Public Orator of Oxford University, one of the Worthies of Devon of John Prince (d.1723). more…

All William Strode poems | William Strode Books

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