Analysis of Life And Death

Christina Georgina Rossetti 1830 (London) – 1894 (London)



Life is not sweet. One day it will be sweet
To shut our eyes and die:
Nor feel the wild flowers blow, nor birds dart by
With flitting butterfly,
Nor grass grow long above our heads and feet,
Nor hear the happy lark that soars sky high,
Nor sigh that spring is fleet and summer fleet,
Nor mark the waxing wheat,
Nor know who sits in our accustomed seat.

Life is not good. One day it will be good
To die, then live again;
To sleep meanwhile: so not to feel the wane
Of shrunk leaves dropping in the wood,
Nor hear the foamy lashing of the main,
Nor mark the blackened bean-fields, nor where stood
Rich ranks of golden grain
Only dead refuse stubble clothe the plain:
Asleep from risk, asleep from pain.


Scheme ABBBABAAA CXDCDCDDD
Poetic Form
Metre 1111111111 1110101 11011011111 11010 11110110101 1101011111 1111110101 110101 11110100101 1111111111 111101 111111101 11110001 1101010101 1101011111 111101 1010110101 01110111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 692
Words 136
Sentences 5
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 9, 9
Lines Amount 18
Letters per line (avg) 30
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 274
Words per stanza (avg) 67
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 03, 2023

40 sec read
149

Christina Georgina Rossetti

Christina Georgina Rossetti was an English poet who wrote various romantic, devotional, and children's poems. "Goblin Market" and "Remember" remain famous. She wrote the words of two Christmas carols well known in the UK: "In the Bleak Midwinter", later set by Gustav Holst and by Harold Darke, and "Love Came Down at Christmas", set by Harold Darke and by other composers. more…

All Christina Georgina Rossetti poems | Christina Georgina Rossetti Books

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