Analysis of To Death
Percy Bysshe Shelley 1792 (Horsham) – 1822 (Lerici)
Death! where is thy victory?
To triumph whilst I die,
To triumph whilst thine ebon wing
Enfolds my shuddering soul?
O Death! where is thy sting?
Not when the tides of murder roll,
When nations groan, that kings may bask in bliss,
Death! canst thou boast a victory such as this--
When in his hour of pomp and power
His blow the mightiest murderer gave,
Mid Nature’s cries the sacrifice
Of millions to glut the grave;
When sunk the Tyrant Desolation’s slave;
Or Freedom’s life-blood streamed upon thy shrine;
Stern Tyrant, couldst thou boast a victory such as mine?
To know in dissolution’s void
That mortals’ baubles sunk decay;
That everything, but Love, destroyed
Must perish with its kindred clay,--
Perish Ambition’s crown,
Perish her sceptred sway:
From Death’s pale front fades Pride’s fastidious frown.
In Death’s damp vault the lurid fires decay,
That Envy lights at heaven-born Virtue’s beam--
That all the cares subside,
Which lurk beneath the tide
Of life’s unquiet stream;--
Yes! this is victory!
And on yon rock, whose dark form glooms the sky,
To stretch these pale limbs, when the soul is fled;
To baffle the lean passions of their prey,
To sleep within the palace of the dead!
Oh! not the King, around whose dazzling throne
His countless courtiers mock the words they say,
Triumphs amid the bud of glory blown,
As I in this cold bed, and faint expiring groan!
Tremble, ye proud, whose grandeur mocks the woe
Which props the column of unnatural state!
You the plainings, faint and low,
From Misery’s tortured soul that flow,
Shall usher to your fate.
Tremble, ye conquerors, at whose fell command
The war-fiend riots o’er a peaceful land!
You Desolation’s gory throng
Shall bear from Victory along
To that mysterious strand.
Scheme | ABCDCDEEXFXFFGG HIHIJIJIKLLKABMIMNINN OPOOP QQRRQ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111100 110111 1101111 111001 111111 11011101 1101111101 11110100111 1011011010 1101001001 1101010 1101101 1101011 1101110111 1101110100111 11011 11010101 1101101 11011101 100101 10011 11111101001 01110101001 11011101101 110101 110101 1111 111100 0111111101 1111110111 1100110111 1101010101 11010111001 11010010111 1001011101 110111010101 1011101101 11010101001 101101 1110111 110111 10110011101 0111010101 11101 11110001 1101001 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,736 |
Words | 300 |
Sentences | 18 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 15, 21, 5, 5 |
Lines Amount | 46 |
Letters per line (avg) | 30 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 342 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 74 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:30 min read
- 135 Views
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"To Death" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/29298/to-death>.
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