Analysis of Stanzas Subjoined To The Yearly Bill Of Mortality Of The Parish Of All-Saints, Northampton. Anno Domini 1789
William Cowper 1731 (Berkhamsted) – 1800 (Dereham)
'Oh most delightful hour by man
Experienced here below,
The hour that terminates his span,
His folly and his woe!
'Worlds should not bribe me back to tread
Again life's dreary waste,
To see again my day o'erspread
With all the gloomy past.
'My home henceforth is in the skies,
Earth, seas, and sun, adieu!
All heaven unfolded to my eyes,
I have no sight for you.'
So spake Aspasio, firm possessed
Of faith's supporting rod,
Then breathed his soul into its rest,
The bosom of his God.
He was a man among the few
Sincere on virtue's side;
And all his strength from Scripture drew,
To hourly use applied.
That rule he prized, by that he feared,
He hated, hoped, and loved;
Nor ever frowned, or sad appeared,
But when his heart had roved.
For he was frail as thou or I,
And evil felt within:
But when he felt it, heaved a sigh,
And loathed the thought of sin.
Such lived Aspasio; and at last
Called up from earth to heaven,
The gulf of death triumphant passed,
By gales of blessing driven.
His joys be mine, each reader cries,
When my last hour arrives;
They shall be yours, my verse replies,
Such only be your lives.
Scheme | ABAB CXCD EFEF GHGH FIFI JXJC KLKL DMDM EXEX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (78%) |
Metre | 110101011 0100101 01011011 110011 11111111 011101 1101111 110101 11111001 110101 110010111 111111 111101 110101 11110111 010111 11010101 01111 01111101 110101 11111111 110101 11011101 111111 11111111 010101 11111101 010111 111011 1111110 01110101 1111010 11111101 1111001 11111101 110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,087 |
Words | 211 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 9 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 36 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 95 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 23 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:04 min read
- 119 Views
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"Stanzas Subjoined To The Yearly Bill Of Mortality Of The Parish Of All-Saints, Northampton. Anno Domini 1789" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/40111/stanzas-subjoined-to-the-yearly-bill-of-mortality-of-the-parish-of-all-saints%2C-northampton.-anno-domini-1789>.
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