Analysis of Song [When I am dead, my dearest]

Christina Rossetti 1830 (London) – 1894 (London)



When I am dead, my dearest,
    Sing no sad songs for me;
Plant thou no roses at my head,
    Nor shady cypress tree:
Be the green grass above me
    With showers and dewdrops wet;
And if thou wilt, remember,
    And if thou wilt, forget.

I shall not see the shadows,
   I shall not feel the rain;
I shall not hear the nightingale
   Sing on, as if in pain:
And dreaming through the twilight
    That doth not rise nor set,
Haply I may remember,
    And haply may forget.


Scheme XAXAABCB XDXDXBCB
Poetic Form
Metre 1111110 111111 11110111 110101 1011011 110011 0111010 011101 111101 111101 11110100 111101 010101 111111 111010 01101
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 456
Words 87
Sentences 2
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 8, 8
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 21
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 169
Words per stanza (avg) 44
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Submitted by halel on July 15, 2020

Modified on April 29, 2023

26 sec read
41

Christina Rossetti

Christina Georgina Rossetti (5 December 1830 – 29 December 1894) was an English poet who wrote various romantic, devotional, and children's poems. more…

All Christina Rossetti poems | Christina Rossetti Books

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