Analysis of Before the Birth of One of Her Children
Anne Bradstreet 1612 (Northampton) – 1672 (Andover)
All things within this fading world hath end,
Adversity doth still our joys attend;
No ties so strong, no friends so dear and sweet,
But with death's parting blow are sure to meet.
The sentence past is most irrevocable,
A common thing, yet oh, inevitable.
How soon, my Dear, death may my steps attend,
How soon't may be thy lot to lose thy friend,
We both are ignorant, yet love bids me
These farewell lines to recommend to thee,
That when the knot's untied that made us one,
I may seem thine, who in effect am none.
And if I see not half my days that's due,
What nature would, God grant to yours and you;
The many faults that well you know I have
Let be interred in my oblivious grave;
If any worth or virtue were in me,
Let that live freshly in thy memory
And when thou feel'st no grief, as I no harmes,
Yet love thy dead, who long lay in thine arms,
And when thy loss shall be repaid with gains
Look to my little babes, my dear remains.
And if thou love thyself, or loved'st me,
These O protect from stepdame's injury.
And if chance to thine eyes shall bring this verse,
With some sad sighs honor my absent hearse;
And kiss this paper for thy dear love's sake,
Who with salt tears this last farewell did take.
Scheme | AABBCCAADDEEFFGHDDIIJJDDKKLL |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1101110111 01001110101 1111111101 1111011111 01011101000 01011101000 1111111101 11111111111 1111001111 11110111 1101011111 1111100111 0111111111 1101111101 0101111111 1110101001 1101110001 1111001100 01111111111 1111111011 0111110111 1111011101 011111111 110111100 0111111111 1111101101 0111011111 111111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,194 |
Words | 236 |
Sentences | 7 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 28 |
Lines Amount | 28 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 935 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 234 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:13 min read
- 164 Views
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"Before the Birth of One of Her Children" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/3077/before-the-birth-of-one-of-her-children>.
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