Analysis of Extreme Unction
Ernest Christopher Dowson 1867 – 1900
Upon the eyes, the lips, the feet,
On all the passages of sense,
The atoning oil is spread with sweet
Renewal of lost innocence.
The feet, that lately ran so fast
To meet desire, are soothly sealed;
The eyes, that were so often cast
On vanity, are touched and healed.
From troublous sights and sounds set free;
In such a twilight hour of breath,
Shall one retrace his life, or see,
Through shadows, the true face of death?
Vials of mercy! Sacring oils!
I know not where nor when I come,
Nor through what wanderings and toils,
To crave of you Viaticum.
Yet, when the walls of flesh grow weak,
In such an hour, it well may be,
Through mist and darkness, light will break,
And each anointed sense will see.
Scheme | AXAX BCBC DEDE FGFG XDXD |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (80%) Etheree (30%) Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 01010101 11010011 0111111 01011100 01110111 11010111 01101101 11001101 1110111 01011011 11011111 1101111 1011011 11111111 11110001 11111 11011111 011101111 11010111 01010111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 692 |
Words | 133 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 20 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 109 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 26 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 39 sec read
- 154 Views
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"Extreme Unction" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/12788/extreme-unction>.
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