Analysis of Immortality

Matthew Arnold 1822 (Laleham) – 1888 (Liverpool)



Foil'd by our fellow-men, depress'd, outworn,
We leave the brutal world to take its way,
And, Patience! in another life, we say
The world shall be thrust down, and we up-borne.

And will not, then, the immortal armies scorn
The world's poor, routed leavings? or will they,
Who fail'd under the heat of this life's day,
Support the fervours of the heavenly morn?

No, no! the energy of life may be
Kept on after the grave, but not begun;
And he who flagg'd not in the earthly strife,

From strength to strength advancing--only he,
His soul well-knit, and all his battles won,
Mounts, and that hardly, to eternal life.


Scheme ABBA ABBA CAD CAD
Poetic Form
Metre 1110101011 1101011111 0100010111 0111110111 01110010101 0111010111 1110011111 0101101001 1101001111 1110011101 0111100101 1111010101 1111011101 1011010101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 608
Words 111
Sentences 7
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 3, 3
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 33
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 117
Words per stanza (avg) 27
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 03, 2023

35 sec read
188

Matthew Arnold

Matthew Arnold was a British poet and cultural critic who worked as an inspector of schools. more…

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