Analysis of Life is too short
Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1855 (Janesville) – 1919
Life is too short for any vain regretting;
Let dead delight bury its dead, I say,
And let us go upon our way forgetting
The joys and sorrows of each yesterday
Between the swift sun's rising and its setting
We have no time for useless tears or fretting:
Life is too short.
Life is too short for any bitter feeling;
Time is the best avenger if we wait;
The years speed by, and on their wings bear healing;
We have no room for anything like hate.
This solemn truth the low mounds seem revealing
That thick and fast about our feet are stealing:
Life is too short.
Life is too short for aught but high endeavor—
Too short for spite, but long enough for love.
And love lives on forever and forever;
It links the worlds that circle on above:
'Tis God's first law, the universe's lever.
In His vast realm the radiant souls sigh never
'Life is too short.'
Scheme | ababaaCadadaaCefefeeC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11111101010 1101101111 011101101010 010101110 01011100110 11111101110 1111 11111101010 1101010111 01110111110 111111011 11010111010 110101101110 1111 11111111010 1111110111 01110100010 1101110101 11110110 011101001110 1111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 836 |
Words | 163 |
Sentences | 7 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 21 |
Lines Amount | 21 |
Letters per line (avg) | 31 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 661 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 160 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 14, 2023
- 49 sec read
- 163 Views
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"Life is too short" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 10 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/10683/life-is-too-short>.
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