Analysis of Death

Percy Bysshe Shelley 1792 (Horsham) – 1822 (Lerici)



I.
They die--the dead return not--Misery
Sits near an open grave and calls them over,
A Youth with hoary hair and haggard eye--
They are the names of kindred, friend and lover,
Which he so feebly calls—they all are gone--
Fond wretch, all dead! those vacant names alone,
This most familiar scene, my pain--
These tombs—alone remain.

II.
Misery, my sweetest friend—oh, weep no more!
Thou wilt not be consoled—I wonder not!
For I have seen thee from thy dwelling’s door
Watch the calm sunset with them, and this spot
Was even as bright and calm, but transitory,
And now thy hopes are gone, thy hair is hoary;
This most familiar scene, my pain--
These tombs—alone remain.


Scheme abcacxxDD aefefbbDD
Poetic Form
Metre 1 1101011100 11110101110 0111010101 11011101010 1111011111 1111110101 11010111 110101 1 10011011111 1111011101 1111111101 101111011 11011011100 01111111110 11010111 110101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 671
Words 119
Sentences 8
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 9, 9
Lines Amount 18
Letters per line (avg) 29
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 257
Words per stanza (avg) 59
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 13, 2023

35 sec read
244

Percy Bysshe Shelley

Percy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets and is regarded by critics as among the finest lyric poets in the English language. more…

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