Analysis of How to Die
Siegfried Sassoon 1886 (Matfield) – 1967 (Heytesbury)
Dark clouds are smouldering into red
While down the craters morning burns.
The dying soldier shifts his head
To watch the glory that returns;
He lifts his fingers toward the skies
Where holy brightness breaks in flame;
Radiance reflected in his eyes,
And on his lips a whispered name.
You’d think, to hear some people talk,
That lads go West with sobs and curses,
And sullen faces white as chalk,
Hankering for wreaths and tombs and hearses.
But they’ve been taught the way to do it
Like Christian soldiers; not with haste
And shuddering groans; but passing through it
With due regard for decent taste.
Scheme | ABABCDCD XXXBEFEF |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111011 11010101 01010111 11010101 111100101 11010101 100010011 01110101 11111101 111111010 01010111 100110101 111101111 11010111 0100111011 11011101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 614 |
Words | 107 |
Sentences | 5 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 16 |
Letters per line (avg) | 30 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 242 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 53 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 26, 2023
- 32 sec read
- 665 Views
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"How to Die" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/34890/how-to-die>.
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