Analysis of On The Death Of W. C.
Paul Laurence Dunbar 1872 (Dayton) – 1906
Thou arrant robber, Death!
Couldst thou not find
Some lesser one than he
To rob of breath,--
Some poorer mind
Thy prey to be?
His mind was like the sky,--
As pure and free;
His heart was broad and open
As the sea.
His soul shone purely through his face,
And Love made him her dwelling place.
Not less the scholar than the friend,
Not less a friend than man;
The manly life did shorter end
Because so broad it ran.
Weep not for him, unhappy Muse!
His merits found a grander use
Some other-where. God wisely sees
The place that needs his qualities.
Weep not for him, for when Death lowers
O'er youth's ambrosia-scented bowers
He only plucks the choicest flowers.
Scheme | ABCABC XCXCDD EFEF XXGGHHH |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 110101 1111 110111 1111 1101 1111 111101 1101 1111010 101 11110111 01110101 11010101 110111 01011101 011111 11110101 11010101 11011101 01111100 111111110 1010101010 110101010 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 646 |
Words | 126 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 4, 7 |
Lines Amount | 23 |
Letters per line (avg) | 22 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 128 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 31 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 38 sec read
- 41 Views
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"On The Death Of W. C." Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 1 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/28819/on-the-death-of-w.-c.>.
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