Analysis of Blaney's Last Directions
Ben Jonson 1572 (Westminster) – 1637 (Westminster)
It is usual
for people in this country
(out of pretended respect
but rather from an impertinent curiosity)
to desire to see
persons
after they are
dead.
It is my earnest request that no person
on any pretence whatever
may be permitted to see my
corpse
but those who
unavoidably must.
I desire to be buried
in the north side of the churchyard
of Tregynon
somewhere about the centre
my coffin to be made in the most
plain and simple manner
without the usual fantastical decorations
and the more
perishable the material
the better.
I desire that no undertaker
or professed performer of funerals
may be employed:
but that I may be conveyed
to the churchyard
in some country hears
which may be hired for the occasion
and my corpse
to be carried
from hearse to the grave
immediately
without going into the church
by six of the chief Tregynon tenants
to whom I give two guineas each
for their trouble.
It is my earnes request and desire
to have no upper bearers
or any persons whatever
invited to my funeral
which I desire may be at so
early an hour as will best prevent
a concourse of people
from collecting together:
the better sort
I presume will not intrude
as there is no
invitation.
I have been present at the funerals
of three of my uncles at Morville.
I was pleased with the privacy and decency
with which all things were conducted:
no strangers attended
all was done
by the servants of the family.
It is my earnest desire to follow these examples
however unpopular
and that
no coach
no escutcheon
and no pomp of any kind may appear.
I trust that my executor will be well justified
against the clamor and obloquy
of mercenary people
when he acts in performance of the last request
of a dying friend
who solemnly adjures him in the name of God
punctually to observe these directions.
codicil
I likewise give to all my servants
five guineas each
in lieu of all mourning
which it is my desire
no person may use on my account.
Scheme | ABXBBCXX DEXFXX GHDEXECXAE EIXXHXDFGXBXJKA EXEALXAEXXLD IABMMDBIEXXDX XNAXXXC AJKNEX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11100 1100110 1101001 1101101000100 101011 10 1011 1 11110011110 110110 11010111 1 111 01001 10101110 0011101 11 101010 110111001 101010 0101001010 001 100000100 010 101011100 1010101100 1101 1111101 101 01101 1111010010 011 1110 11101 01000 01100101 11101110 11111101 1110 1111010010 1111010 1101010 01011100 110101111 1011011101 01110 1010010 0101 1011101 1111 010 1111010100 11111011 111101000100 11110010 110010 111 101010100 111100101101010 10100 01 11 11 0111101101 1111010011110 0101001 110010 111001010101 10101 11001100111 11011010 1 11111110 1101 011110 1111010 110111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,868 |
Words | 359 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 6, 10, 15, 12, 13, 7, 6 |
Lines Amount | 77 |
Letters per line (avg) | 20 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 195 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 44 |
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Submitted on August 03, 2020
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:47 min read
- 3 Views
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"Blaney's Last Directions" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 11 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/54831/blaney%27s-last-directions>.
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