Analysis of Prospice

Robert Browning 1812 (Camberwell) – 1889 (Venice)



Fear death?---to feel the fog in my throat,
The mist in my face,
When the snows begin, and the blasts denote
I am nearing the place,
The power of the night, the press of the storm,
The post of the foe;
Where he stands, the Arch Fear in a visible form;
Yet the strong man must go:
For the journey is done and the summit attained,
And the barriers fall,
Though a battle's to fight ere the guerdon be gained,
The reward of it all.
I was ever a fighter, so---one fight more,
The best and the last!
I would hate that Death bandaged my eyes, and forbore,
And made me creep past.
No! let me taste the whole of it, fare like my peers,
The heroes of old,
Bear the brunt, in a minute pay glad life's arrears
Of pain, darkness and cold.
For sudden the worst turns the best to the brave.
The black minute's at end,
And the elements' rage, the fiend voices that rave,
Shall dwindle, shall blend,
Shall change, shall become first a peace out of pain.
Then a light, then thy breat,
O thou soul of my soul! I shall clasp thee again,
And with God be the rest!


Scheme ABABCDCDEFEFGHGHIJIJKLKLMANO
Poetic Form
Metre 111101011 01011 1010100101 111001 01010101101 01101 111011001001 101111 101011001001 001001 10101110111 001111 11100101111 01001 11111101101 01111 111101111111 01011 101001011101 111001 11001101101 011011 001001011011 11011 11101101111 101111 111111111101 011101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,023
Words 208
Sentences 11
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 28
Lines Amount 28
Letters per line (avg) 28
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 787
Words per stanza (avg) 205
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 07, 2023

1:03 min read
165

Robert Browning

Robert Browning was the father of poet Robert Browning. more…

All Robert Browning poems | Robert Browning Books

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