Analysis of Felix Opportunitate Mortis

Alfred Austin 1835 (Leeds) – 1913 (Ashford)



Exile or Caesar? Death hath solved thy doubt,
And made thee certain of thy changeless fate;
And thou no more hast wearily to wait,
Straining to catch the people's tarrying shout
That from unrestful rest would drag thee out,
And push thee to those pinnacles of State
Round which throng courtly loves, uncourted hate,
Servility's applause, and envy's flout.
Twice happy boy! though cut off in thy flower,
The timeliest doom of all thy race is thine:
Saved from the sad alternative, to pine
For heights unreached, or icily to tower,
Like Alpine crests that only specious shine,
And glitter on the lonely peak of Power.


Scheme ABBAABBACDDCDC
Poetic Form
Metre 111011111 011101111 0111110011 101101011 11111111 01111111 11110111 101011 11011110110 011111111 1101010011 1111100110 111110101 01010101110
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 610
Words 108
Sentences 5
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 35
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 490
Words per stanza (avg) 106
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 21, 2023

33 sec read
95

Alfred Austin

Alfred Austin DL was an English poet who was appointed Poet Laureate in 1896 upon the death of Alfred, Lord Tennyson. more…

All Alfred Austin poems | Alfred Austin Books

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