Analysis of The Dying Christian to His Soul
Alexander Pope 1688 (London) – 1744 (Twickenham)
Vital spark of heav’nly flame!
Quit, O quit this mortal frame:
Trembling, hoping, ling’ring, flying,
O the pain, the bliss of dying!
Cease, fond Nature, cease thy strife,
And let me languish into life.
Hark! they whisper; angels say,
Sister Spirit, come away!
What is this absorbs me quite?
Steals my senses, shuts my sight,
Drowns my spirits, draws my breath?
Tell me, my soul, can this be death?
The world recedes; it disappears!
Heav’n opens on my eyes! my ears
With sounds seraphic ring!
Lend, lend your wings! I mount! I fly!
O Grave! where is thy victory?
O Death! where is thy sting?
| Scheme | AABBCC DDEEFF GGBXXB |
|---|---|
| Poetic Form | |
| Metre | 101111 1111101 10010110 10101110 1110111 01110011 1110101 1010101 1110111 1110111 1110111 11111111 0101101 11011111 1111 11111111 11111100 111111 |
| Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
| Characters | 587 |
| Words | 107 |
| Sentences | 19 |
| Stanzas | 3 |
| Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6 |
| Lines Amount | 18 |
| Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
| Words per line (avg) | 6 |
| Letters per stanza (avg) | 148 |
| Words per stanza (avg) | 35 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 25, 2023
- 32 sec read
- 478 Views
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"The Dying Christian to His Soul" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/504/the-dying-christian-to-his-soul>.
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