Analysis of Forever
John Boyle O'Reilly 1844 (Dowth) – 1890 (Boston)
THOSE we love truly never die,
Though year by year the sad memorial wreath,
A ring and flowers, types of life and death,
Are laid upon their graves.
For death the pure life saves,
And life all pure is love; and love can reach
From heaven to earth, and nobler lessons teach
Than those by mortals read.
Well blest is he who has a dear one dead:
A friend he has whose face will never change—
A dear communion that will not grow strange;
The anchor of a love is death.
The blessed sweetness of a loving breath
Will reach our cheek all fresh through weary years.
For her who died long since, ah! waste not tears,
She's thine unto the end.
Thank God for one dead friend,
With face still radiant with the light of truth,
Whose love comes laden with the scent of youth,
Through twenty years of death.
Scheme | XXAB BCCD DEEA AXXF FGGA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (25%) Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 11110101 11110101001 0101011101 110111 110111 0111110111 11011010101 111101 1111110111 0111111101 0101011111 01010111 011010101 11101111101 1011111111 111001 111111 11110010111 1111010111 110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 797 |
Words | 153 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 20 |
Letters per line (avg) | 31 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 124 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 30 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 46 sec read
- 91 Views
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"Forever" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/22001/forever>.
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