Analysis of When I am dead, my dearest

Christina Georgina Rossetti 1830 (London) – 1894 (London)



When I am dead, my dearest,
Sing no sad songs for me;
Plant thou no roses at my head,
Nor shady cypress tree:
Be the green grass above me
With showers and dewdrops wet;
And if thou wilt, remember,
And if thou wilt, forget.

I shall not see the shadows,
I shall not feel the rain;
I shall not hear the nightingale
Sing on, as if in pain:
And dreaming through the twilight
That doth not rise nor set,
Haply I may remember,
And haply may forget.


Scheme XAXAABCB XDXDXBCB
Poetic Form
Metre 1111110 111111 11110111 110101 1011011 110011 0111010 011101 111101 111101 11110100 111101 010101 111111 111010 01101
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 434
Words 89
Sentences 3
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 8, 8
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 21
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 169
Words per stanza (avg) 44
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 20, 2023

26 sec read
161

Christina Georgina Rossetti

Christina Georgina Rossetti was an English poet who wrote various romantic, devotional, and children's poems. "Goblin Market" and "Remember" remain famous. She wrote the words of two Christmas carols well known in the UK: "In the Bleak Midwinter", later set by Gustav Holst and by Harold Darke, and "Love Came Down at Christmas", set by Harold Darke and by other composers. more…

All Christina Georgina Rossetti poems | Christina Georgina Rossetti Books

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