Sonnet: Oh! Death Will Find Me, Long Before I Tire

Rupert Brooke 1887 (Rugby) – 1915 (Aegean Sea)



Oh! Death will find me, long before I tire
Of watching you; and swing me suddenly
Into the shade and loneliness and mire
Of the last land! There, waiting patiently,

One day, I think, I’ll feel a cool wind blowing,
See a slow light across the Stygian tide,
And hear the Dead about me stir, unknowing,
And tremble. And I shall know that you have died,

And watch you, a broad-browed and smiling dream,
Pass, light as ever, through the lightless host,
Quietly ponder, start, and sway, and gleam—
Most individual and bewildering ghost!—

And turn, and toss your brown delightful head
Amusedly, among the ancient Dead.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 20, 2023

33 sec read
87

Quick analysis:

Scheme XAXA BCBC DEDE FF
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 622
Words 110
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 2

Rupert Brooke

Rupert Chawner Brooke was an English poet known for his idealistic war sonnets written during the First World War, especially "The Soldier". more…

All Rupert Brooke poems | Rupert Brooke Books

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    "Sonnet: Oh! Death Will Find Me, Long Before I Tire" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/33727/sonnet:-oh!-death-will-find-me,-long-before-i-tire>.

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