Analysis of Death And The Unfortunate.
Jean de La Fontaine 1621 (Château-Thierry) – 1695 (Paris)
A poor unfortunate, from day to day,
Call'd Death to take him from this world away.
'O Death' he said, 'to me how fair thy form!
Come quick, and end for me life's cruel storm.'
Death heard, and with a ghastly grin,
Knock'd at his door, and enter'd in
'Take out this object from my sight!'
The poor man loudly cried.
'Its dreadful looks I can't abide;
O stay him, stay him' let him come no nigher;
O Death! O Death! I pray thee to retire!'
A gentleman of note
In Rome, Maecenas,somewhere wrote: -
"Make me the poorest wretch that begs,
Sore, hungry, crippled, clothed in rags,
In hopeless impotence of arms and legs;
Provided, after all, you give
The one sweet liberty to live:
I'll ask of Death no greater favour
Than just to stay away for ever."
Scheme | AABBCCXDDEE FFGXGXXEE |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (30%) Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 0101001111 1111111101 1111111111 1101111101 11010101 11110100 11110111 011101 11011101 1111111111 1111111101 010011 0111 11010111 11010101 0101001101 01010111 01110011 11111101 111101110 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 730 |
Words | 146 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 11, 9 |
Lines Amount | 20 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 279 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 70 |
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Submitted on August 03, 2020
Modified on April 20, 2023
- 44 sec read
- 56 Views
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"Death And The Unfortunate." Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/55776/death-and-the-unfortunate.>.
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