Analysis of My Coffin
Robert William Service 1874 – 1958
Deeming that I was due to die
I framed myself a coffin;
So full of graveyard zeal was I,
I set the folks a-laughing.
I made it snugly to my fit,
My joinering was honest;
And sometimes in it I would sit,
And fancy I was non est.
I stored it on my cabin shelf
Forever to remind me,
When I was tickled with myself,
That Death was close behind me.
Let's be prepared, I used to say,
E're in the Dark we launch us:
And so with boding day by day
I kept me coffin-conscious.
Then came that winter dark as doom,
No firing wood had I;
My shack was icy as a tomb
And I was set to die.
But e'er the losing of my wits
I saw that coffin there,
S smashing the damned thing to bits
I made a gorgeous flare.
I never saw a flame so bright,
So goldenly divine,
As starred the blackness of the night
That boneyard box of mine.
And now I go forth coffin-shy,
With no more carnal fears,
For radiantly sure am I
I'll stack a hundred years.
Scheme | AXAXBXBX CDCDEFEF GAGAHIHI JKJKALAL |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111111 111010 1111111 1101010 11110111 11110 00101111 01011101 11111101 0101011 1111011 1111011 11011111 11001111 0111111 1111010 11110111 110111 11110101 011111 110010111 111101 11001111 110101 11010111 1101 11010101 11111 01111101 111101 11111 110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 896 |
Words | 190 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 22 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 174 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 47 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 58 sec read
- 131 Views
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