Analysis of My Epitaph
Clarence Michael James Stanislaus Dennis 1876 (Auburn) – 1938 (Melbourne)
Oh, praise me now if you would please
My soul with soothing flatteries.
Praise with my living clay agrees.
'Tis sweet, I vow.
Give me kind words while I can feel
The modest blushes gently steal,
What time my virtues you reveal.
Oh, praise me now!
For, when the vital spark has fled,
No matter what kind words are said,
I'll simply go on being dead
And take no heed.
Or if, perchance, beneath the clay,
I hear some kindly critic say,
'He was a boshter'in his day!'
'Twere hard indeed.
'Twere bitter hard to be confined,
Gagged by grim Death, while fellows kind
Call my good qualities to mind,
And softly sigh.
I vow I'd writhe within my bier,
And strive to croak at least, 'Hear, hear!'
For I have ever prized that dear
Right to reply.
And, when at last I meet my doom
And moulder in the chilly tomb,
Gaunt Death might play within the gloom
Who knows what pranks.
My very skeleton would squirm
To hear, on my behalf, some worm
Or some unlettered grave-yard germ
Returning thanks.
Then, if you're keen on praising me,
I'd rather be alive to see
And hear and feel the flattery,
And know 'tis true.
And when I rise to make reply
I fain would droop a modest eye
And by my halting, speech imply
It is my due.
I do not want a monument.
Why should good money so be spent?
Nay, put it out at ten per cent.,
And when you save
Enough to purchase goodly fare,
Then spread me out a banquet rare.
No gift's appreciated there,
Within the grave.
Oh, praise me now while I am here;
In my attentive living ear
Pour adulation; never fear
I mind the row.
I love you harp upon
Those dulcet strings. Play on, play on!
Do not delay until I'm gone.
But praise me now!
Scheme | AAABCCCB DDDEFFFE GGGHIIJH KKKLMMML NNNOHHHO XPPQRRRQ IIJXSSXB |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11111111 111101 11110101 1111 11111111 01010101 11110101 1111 11010111 11011111 11011101 0111 11010101 11110101 110111 1101 11011101 11111101 11110011 0101 11110111 01111111 11110111 1101 01111111 01000101 11110101 1111 11010011 11110111 111111 0101 11111101 11010111 01010100 0111 01111101 11110101 01110101 1111 11110100 11110111 11111111 0111 01110101 11110101 1101001 0101 11111111 01010101 1010101 1101 111101 11011111 11010111 1111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,601 |
Words | 320 |
Sentences | 26 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 56 |
Letters per line (avg) | 22 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 179 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 45 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:37 min read
- 92 Views
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"My Epitaph" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/6466/my-epitaph>.
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