A Dirge

John Webster 1580 (London) – 1632 (London)



CALL for the robin-redbreast and the wren,
Since o'er shady groves they hover,
And with leaves and flowers do cover
The friendless bodies of unburied men.
Call unto his funeral dole
The ant, the field-mouse, and the mole,
To rear him hillocks that shall keep him warm,
And (when gay tombs are robb'd) sustain no harm;
But keep the wolf far thence, that 's foe to men,
For with his nails he'll dig them up again.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 14, 2023

24 sec read
428

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABBACCDEAA
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 419
Words 78
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 10

John Webster

John Webster was an English Jacobean dramatist best known for his tragedies The White Devil and The Duchess of Malfi, which are often regarded as masterpieces of the early 17th-century English stage. His life and career overlapped William Shakespeare's. more…

All John Webster poems | John Webster Books

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