Analysis of Rite of Passage
Karl Constantine FOLKES 1935 (Portland)
At the wake
A lover weeps.
Tears on her cheeks.
No time to fake.
People in mourning…
He died while a-courting.
Much anger provoking.
Here, no one him scorning.
The church bells are tolling.
The service is now over.
The casket with cover,
At gravesite a-rolling.
‘Twas a time we were born,
Finding in life romance,
Giving someone a chance.
Alas— a time now to mourn.
| Scheme | AXXA BBBA BCCB DEED |
|---|---|
| Poetic Form | Quatrain (75%) |
| Metre | 101 0101 1101 1111 10010 111010 110010 11111 011110 0101110 010110 11010 101101 100101 10101 0101111 |
| Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
| Characters | 374 |
| Words | 82 |
| Sentences | 11 |
| Stanzas | 4 |
| Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4 |
| Lines Amount | 16 |
| Letters per line (avg) | 18 |
| Words per line (avg) | 4 |
| Letters per stanza (avg) | 70 |
| Words per stanza (avg) | 17 |
About this poem
THE RITUAL OF MOURNING: The book of Ecclesiastes informs us that there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens. The lyric poet, Quintus Horatius Flaccus (65 BC - 8 BC), more famously known as Horace, is credited with coining the expression, “carpe diem “ (“seize the day”), recorded in Odes Book 1. The idiom, “”Eat, drink and be merry,” is associated with the Greek philosopher, Epicurus (341 BC - 270 BC). What all these cited instances have in common, is a commentary on the vagaries of life, which is ever so fleeting. This poem, “Rite of Passage,” is written as a quatrain, with a ABBA rhyme scheme. more »
Written on November 22, 2021
Submitted by karlcfolkes on November 22, 2021
Modified by karlcfolkes on September 19, 2022
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