Analysis of Love, Death, And Reputation
Reputation, Love, and Death,
(The Last all Bones, the First all Breath,
The Midd'st compos'd of Restless Fire)
From each other wou'd Retire;
Thro' the World resolv'd to stray;
Every One a several Way;
Exercising, as they went,
Each such Power, as Fate had lent;
Which, if it united were,
Wretched Mortals cou'd not bear:
But as parting Friends do show,
To what Place they mean to go,
Correspondence to engage,
Nominate their utmost Stage;
Death declar'd he wou'd be found
Near the fatal Trumpet's sound;
Or where Pestilences reign,
And Quacks the greater Plagues maintain;
Shaking still his sandy Glass,
And mowing Human Flesh, like Grass.
Love, as next his Leave he took,
Cast on both so sweet a Look,
As their Tempers near disarm'd,
One relax'd, and t'other warm'd;
Shades for his Retreat he chose,
Rural Plains, and soft Repose;
Where no Dowry e'er was paid,
Where no Jointure e'er was made;
No Ill Tongue the Nymph perplex'd,
Where no Forms the Shepherd vex'd;
Where Himself shou'd be the Care,
Of the Fond and of the Fair:
Where that was, they soon should know,
Au Revoir! then turn'd to Go.
Reputation made a Pause,
Suiting her severer Laws;
Second Thoughts, and Third she us'd,
Weighing Consequences mus'd;
When, at length to both she cry'd:
You Two safely may Divide,
To th' Antipodes may fall,
And re-ascend th' encompast Ball;
Certain still to meet agen
In the Breasts of tortur'd Men;
Who by One (too far) betray'd,
Call in t'other to their Aid:
Whilst I Tender, Coy, and Nice,
Rais'd and ruin'd in a Trice,
Either fix with those I grace,
Or abandoning the Place,
No Return my Nature bears,
From green Youth, or hoary Hairs;
If thro' Guilt, or Chance, I sever,
I once Parting, Part for ever.
Scheme | AABBCCDDBEFFGGHHIIJJKKXXLLMMNNEEFF OOPPDXQQIXMMRRSSTTBB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 010101 01110111 010111010 1110101 1010111 10010101 100111 11101111 1110100 1010111 1110111 1111111 010101 100111 1011111 101011 1111 01010101 1011101 01010111 1111111 1111101 1110101 10101101 1110111 1010101 11101011 1111011 1110101 1110101 1011101 1010101 1111111 1011111 010101 100101 1010111 101001 1111111 1110101 111111 01011111 101111 0011101 1111101 10110111 1110101 1010001 1011111 1010001 1011101 1111101 11111110 11101110 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,697 |
Words | 302 |
Sentences | 5 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 34, 20 |
Lines Amount | 54 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 649 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 150 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:38 min read
- 23 Views
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"Love, Death, And Reputation" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 20 Sep. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/3267/love%2C-death%2C-and-reputation>.
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