Analysis of Death

Thomas Hood 1799 (London) – 1845 (London)



It is not death, that sometime in a sigh
This eloquent breath shall take its speechless flight;
That sometime these bright stars, that now reply
In sunlight to the sun, shall set in night;
That this warm conscious flesh shall perish quite,
And all life's ruddy springs forget to flow;
That thoughts shall cease, and the immortal sprite
Be lapped in alien clay and laid below;
It is not death to know this,--but to know
That pious thoughts, which visit at new graves
In tender pilgrimage, will cease to go
So duly and so oft,--and when grass waves
Over the past-away, there may be then
No resurrection in the minds of men.


Scheme ABABBCBCCDCDEE
Poetic Form Spenserian sonnet 
Metre 111111001 11001111101 111111101 011011101 1111011101 0111010111 1111000101 11010010101 1111111111 1101110111 0101001111 1100110111 1001011111 101000111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 629
Words 116
Sentences 2
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 35
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 489
Words per stanza (avg) 112
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 14, 2023

35 sec read
125

Thomas Hood

Thomas Hood was a British humorist and poet. His son, Tom Hood, became a well known playwright and editor. more…

All Thomas Hood poems | Thomas Hood Books

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