Analysis of Be Not Sad Because All Men

James Joyce 1882 (Rathgar) – 1941 (Zürich)



Be not sad because all men
Prefer a lying clamour before you:
Sweetheart, be at peace again,
Can they dishonour you?

They are sadder than all tears;
Their lives ascend as a continual sigh.
Proudly answer to their tears:
As they deny, deny.


Scheme ABAB CDCD
Poetic Form Traditional rhyme
Quatrain 
Metre 1110111 010101011 111101 1111 1110111 11011001001 1010111 110101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 235
Words 44
Sentences 3
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 4, 4
Lines Amount 8
Letters per line (avg) 24
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 94
Words per stanza (avg) 22
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Submitted on August 03, 2020

Modified on April 08, 2023

13 sec read
37

James Joyce

ames Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century.  more…

All James Joyce poems | James Joyce Books

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