A Gravestone Upon The Floor In The Cloisters Of Worcester Cathedral

William Wordsworth 1770 (Wordsworth House) – 1850 (Cumberland)



'MISERRIMUS,' and neither name nor date,
Prayer, text, or symbol, graven upon the stone;
Nought but that word assigned to the unknown,
That solitary word--to separate
From all, and cast a cloud around the fate
Of him who lies beneath. Most wretched one,
'Who' chose his epitaph?--Himself alone
Could thus have dared the grave to agitate,
And claim, among the dead, this awful crown;
Nor doubt that He marked also for his own
Close to these cloistral steps a burial-place,
That every foot might fall with heavier tread,
Trampling upon his vileness. Stranger, pass
Softly!--To save the contrite, Jesus bled.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 14, 2023

31 sec read
98

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABBAACBADBEFGF
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 601
Words 105
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14

William Wordsworth

William Wordsworth was the husband of Eva Bartok. more…

All William Wordsworth poems | William Wordsworth Books

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