Analysis of Stanzas Subjoined To The Yearly Bill Of Mortality Of The Parish Of All-Saints, Northampton. Anno Domini 1788
William Cowper 1731 (Berkhamsted) – 1800 (Dereham)
Could I, from Heaven inspired, as sure presage
To whom the rising year shall prove his last,
As I can number in my punctual page,
And item down the victims of the past;
How each would trembling wait the mournful sheet
On which the press might stamp him next to die;
And, reading here his sentence, how replete
With anxious meaning, heavenward turn his eye!
Time then would seem more precious than the joys
In which he sports away the treasure now;
And prayer more seasonable than the noise
Of drunkards, or the music-drawing bow.
Then doubtless many a trifler, on the brink
Of this world's hazardous and headlong shore,
Forced to a pause, would feel it good to think,
Told that his setting sun must rise no more.
Ah self-deceived! Could I prophetic say
Who next is fated, and who next to fall,
The rest might then seem privileged to play;
But, naming none, the voice now speaks to all.
Observe the dappled foresters, how light
They bound and airy o'er the sunny glade;
One falls -- the rest, wide scattered with affright,
Vanish at one into the darkest shade.
Had we their wisdom, should we, often warned,
Still need repeated warnings, and at last,
A thousand awful admonitions scorned,
Die self-accused of life run all to waste?
Sad waste! for which no after-thrift atones!
The grave admits no cure for guilt or sin;
Dewdrops may deck the turf that hides the bones,
But tears of godly grief ne'er flow within.
Learn then, ye living! by the mouths be taught
Of all those sepulchres, instructors true,
That, soon or late, death also is your lot,
And the next opening grave may yawn for you.
Scheme | XAXA BCBC DEDE FGFG HIHI XJAJ KAKX DLXL XMXM |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (89%) |
Metre | 111100101110 1101011111 11110011001 0101010101 11110010101 1101111111 0101110101 110101111 1111110101 0111010101 0111000101 1101010101 1101001101 111100011 1101111111 1111011111 1101110101 1111001111 011111011 1101011111 010110011 11010100101 110111011 1011010101 1111011101 1101010011 010100101 1101111111 111111011 0101111111 111011101 1111011101 1111010111 11110101 1111110111 00110011111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,563 |
Words | 287 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 9 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 36 |
Letters per line (avg) | 35 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 138 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 32 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:27 min read
- 85 Views
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"Stanzas Subjoined To The Yearly Bill Of Mortality Of The Parish Of All-Saints, Northampton. Anno Domini 1788" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/40110/stanzas-subjoined-to-the-yearly-bill-of-mortality-of-the-parish-of-all-saints%2C-northampton.-anno-domini-1788>.
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