An Epitaph

Andrew Marvell 1621 (Winestead) – 1678 (London)



Enough; and leave the rest to Fame!
'Tis to commend her, but to name.
Courtship which, living, she declined,
When dead, to offer were unkind:
Nor can the truest wit, or friend,
Without detracting, her commend.

To say--she lived a virgin chaste
In this age loose and all unlaced;
Nor was, when vice is so allowed,
Of virtue or ashamed or proud;
That her soul was on Heaven so bent,
No minute but it came and went;
That, ready her last debt to pay,
She summ'd her life up every day;
Modest as morn, as mid-day bright,
Gentle as evening, cool as night:
--'Tis true; but all too weakly said.
'Twas more significant, she's dead.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

36 sec read
132

Quick analysis:

Scheme AABBCC XBDDEEFFGGHH
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 631
Words 117
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 6, 12

Andrew Marvell

Andrew Marvell was an English metaphysical poet, satirist and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1659 and 1678. During the Commonwealth period he was a colleague and friend of John Milton. more…

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