Analysis of When I Am Dead
Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1855 (Janesville) – 1919
When I am dead, if some chastened one
Seeing the 'item, ' or hearing it said
That my play is over and my part done
And I lie asleep in my narrow bed -
If I could know that some soul would say,
Speaking aloud or silently,
'In the heat and the burden of the day
She gave a refreshing draught to me';
Or, 'When I was lying nigh unto death
She nursed me to life and to strength again,
And when I laboured and struggled for breath
She smoothed and quieted down my pain';
Or, 'When I was groping in grief and doubt,
Lost, and turned from the light o'er the day,
Her hand reached me and helped me out
And led me up to the better way';
Or, 'When I was hated and shunned by all,
Bowing under my sin and shame,
She, once in passing me by, let fall
Words of pity and hope, that came
Into my heart like a blessed calm
Over the waves of the stormy sea,
Words of comfort like oil and balm,
She spake, and the desert blossomed for me';
Better, by far, than a marble tomb -
Than a monument towering over my head
(What shall I care, in my quiet room,
For headboard or footboard when I am dead?):
Better than glory, or honours, or fame
(Though I am striving for those to-day) ,
To know that some heart would cherish my name
And think of me kindly, with blessings, alway.
Scheme | ABABCDCD EXEXFCFC GHGHIDID JBJBHCHX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111111101 1001011011 1111100111 0110101101 111111111 10011100 0010010101 110010111 1111101101 1111101101 011101011 110100111 1111100101 1011011001 01110111 011110101 1111100111 10101101 110101111 11100111 01111011 100110101 11101101 1100101011 101110101 101001001011 111101101 11111111 101101111 111101111 1111111011 0111101101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,261 |
Words | 253 |
Sentences | 3 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 30 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 237 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 63 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 23, 2023
- 1:15 min read
- 83 Views
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"When I Am Dead" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/10995/when-i-am-dead>.
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