Analysis of Stanzas Subjoined To The Yearly Bill Of Mortality Of The Parish Of All-Saints, Northampton. Anno Domini 1790
William Cowper 1731 (Berkhamsted) – 1800 (Dereham)
He who sits from day to day
Where the prisoned lark is hung,
Heedless of his loudest lay,
Hardly knows that he has sung.
Where the watchman in his round
Nightly lifts his voice on high,
None accustomed to the sound,
Wakes the sooner for his cry.
So your verse man I, and clerk,
Yearly in my song proclaim
Death at hand -- yourselves his mark--
And the foe's unerring aim.
Duly at my time I come,
Publishing to all aloud,--
Soon the grave must be your home,
And your only suit a shroud.
But the monitory strain,
Oft repeated in your ears,
Seems to sound too much in vain,
Wins no notice, wakes no fears.
Can a truth, by all confessed
Of such magnitude and weight,
Grow, by being oft impressed,
Trivial as a parrot's prate?
Pleasure's call attention wins,
Hear it often as we may;
New as ever seem our sins,
Though committed every day.
Death and judgement, heaven and hell--
These alone, so often heard,
No more move us than the bell
When some stranger is interred.
Oh then, ere the turf or tomb
Cover us from every eye,
Spirit of instruction! come,
Make us learn that we must die.
Scheme | ABAB CDCD XEXE FGXG HIHI JXJA KAKA LMLM XDFD |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain |
Metre | 1111111 1010111 111101 1011111 1010011 1011111 1010101 1010111 1111101 1001101 1110111 00111 1011111 1001101 1011111 0110101 1011 1010011 1111101 1110111 1011101 111001 1110101 1001011 110101 1110111 11101101 10101001 10101001 1011101 1111101 111011 1110111 10111001 1010101 1111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,056 |
Words | 206 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 9 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 36 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 92 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 23 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:02 min read
- 105 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Stanzas Subjoined To The Yearly Bill Of Mortality Of The Parish Of All-Saints, Northampton. Anno Domini 1790" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/40112/stanzas-subjoined-to-the-yearly-bill-of-mortality-of-the-parish-of-all-saints%2C-northampton.-anno-domini-1790>.
Discuss this William Cowper poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In