Analysis of On The Death Of Mrs. Elizabeth Filmer. An Elegiacall Epitaph



You that shall live awhile, before
Old time tyrs, and is no more:
When that this ambitious stone
Stoopes low as what it tramples on:
Know that in that age, when sinne
Gave the world law, and governd Queene,
A virgin liv'd, that still put on
White thoughts, though out of fashion:
That trac't the stars, 'spite of report,
And durst be good, though chidden for't:
Of such a soule that infant Heav'n
Repented what it thus had giv'n:
For finding equall happy man,
Th' impatient pow'rs snatch it agen.
Thus, chaste as th' ayre whither shee's fled,
She, making her celestiall bed
In her warme alablaster, lay
As cold is in this house of clay:
Nor were the rooms unfit to feast
Or circumscribe this angel-guest;
The radiant gemme was brightly set
In as divine a carkanet;
Of which the clearer was not knowne,
Her minde or her complexion.
Such an everlasting grace,
Such a beatifick face,
Incloysters here this narrow floore,
That possest all hearts before.

Blest and bewayl'd in death and birth!
The smiles and teares of heav'n and earth!
Virgins at each step are afeard,
Filmer is shot by which they steer'd,
Their star extinct, their beauty dead,
That the yong world to honour led;
But see! the rapid spheres stand still,
And tune themselves unto her will.

Thus, although this marble must,
As all things, crumble into dust,
And though you finde this faire-built tombe
Ashes, as what lyes in its wombe:
Yet her saint-like name shall shine
A living glory to this shrine,
And her eternall fame be read,
When all but VERY VERTUE'S DEAD.


Scheme AABCBBCDEXBBXBFFGGXXXEBDHHAA IIEXFFJJ KKLLMMFF
Poetic Form
Metre 11110101 1110111 1110101 11111101 1101111 1011011 01011111 1111110 111011101 01111111 11011101 01011111 1101101 110101111 1111111011 110011 00111 11101111 10010111 1011101 010011101 010101 11010111 0110010 110101 1011 111101 111101 1010101 01011101 1011111 10111111 11011101 1011111 11010111 01011001 111101 11110011 01111111 10111011 1011111 01010111 001111 1111011
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,496
Words 273
Sentences 9
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 28, 8, 8
Lines Amount 44
Letters per line (avg) 27
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 397
Words per stanza (avg) 90
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 26, 2023

1:25 min read
100

Richard Lovelace

Richard Lovelace was an English poet more…

All Richard Lovelace poems | Richard Lovelace Books

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