Analysis of The Dash by Linda Ellis
Robert Browning 1812 (Camberwell) – 1889 (Venice)
I read of a man who stood to speak
at the funeral of a friend.
He referred to the dates on the tombstone
from the beginning.....to the end.
He noted that first came the date of birth
and spoke the following date with tears,
but he said what mattered most of all
was the "dash" between those years.
For that dash represents all the time
that they spent alive on earth.
And now only those who loved them
know what that little line is worth.
For it matters not, how much we own,
the cars....the house....the cash,
What matters is how we live and love
and how we spend our "dash."
So think about this long and hard.
Are there things you'd like to change?
For you never know how much time is left
that can still be rearranged.
If we could just slow down enough
to consider what's true and real
and always try to understand
the way other people feel.
And be less quick to anger
and show appreciation more
and love the people in our lives
like we never loved before.
If we treat each other with respect
and more often wear a smile,
remembering that this special "dash"
might only last a little while.
So, when your eulogy is being read,
with your life's actions to rehash.....
would you be proud of the things they say
about how you spent YOUR dash?
Scheme | XABA CXXX XCXC BDXD XXXX XEXE XFXF XGDG XDXD |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (78%) |
Metre | 111011111 10100101 101101101 10101 1101110111 010100111 111110111 1010111 11101101 1110111 01101111 11110111 111011111 0111 110111101 0111101 11011101 1111111 1110111111 111101 11111101 10101101 011101 0110101 0111110 0100101 010100101 1110101 111110101 0110101 010011101 11010101 1111001101 11110101 111110111 0111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,238 |
Words | 243 |
Sentences | 17 |
Stanzas | 9 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 36 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 109 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 26 |
Font size:
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"The Dash by Linda Ellis" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/53100/the-dash--by-linda-ellis>.
Discuss this Robert Browning 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