Analysis of When I'm Killed
Robert Graves 1895 (Wimbledon) – 1985 (Deià)
When I’m killed, don’t think of me
Buried there in Cambrin Wood,
Nor as in Zion think of me
With the Intolerable Good.
And there’s one thing that I know well,
I’m damned if I’ll be damned to Hell!
So when I’m killed, don’t wait for me,
Walking the dim corridor;
In Heaven or Hell, don’t wait for me,
Or you must wait for evermore.
You’ll find me buried, living-dead
In these verses that you’ve read.
So when I’m killed, don’t mourn for me,
Shot, poor lad, so bold and young,
Killed and gone — don’t mourn for me.
On your lips my life is hung:
O friends and lovers, you can save
Your playfellow from the grave.
Scheme | ABABCC AXAXDD AEAEFF |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111111 101011 11010111 10010001 01111111 11111111 11111111 1001100 010111111 1111110 11110101 0110111 11111111 1111101 1011111 1111111 11010111 11101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 628 |
Words | 120 |
Sentences | 7 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 18 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 152 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 39 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 30, 2023
- 36 sec read
- 217 Views
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"When I'm Killed" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/31220/when-i%27m-killed>.
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