Analysis of A Thought For A Lonely Death-Bed

Elizabeth Barrett Browning 1806 (Kelloe) – 1861 (Florence)



IF God compel thee to this destiny,
To die alone, with none beside thy bed
To ruffle round with sobs thy last word said
And mark with tears the pulses ebb from thee,--
Pray then alone, ' O Christ, come tenderly !
By thy forsaken Sonship in the red
Drear wine-press,--by the wilderness out-spread,--
And the lone garden where thine agony
Fell bloody from thy brow,--by all of those
Permitted desolations, comfort mine !
No earthly friend being near me, interpose
No deathly angel 'twixt my face aud thine,
But stoop Thyself to gather my life's rose,
And smile away my mortal to Divine ! '


Scheme ABBAABBACDCDCD
Poetic Form
Metre 1101111100 1101110111 1101111111 0111010111 1101111100 110101001 1111010011 0011011100 1101111111 0101101 1101101101 1101011111 111110111 0101110101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 582
Words 109
Sentences 4
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 32
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 453
Words per stanza (avg) 106
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 25, 2023

32 sec read
80

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Elizabeth Barrett Browning was one of the most prominent English poets of the Victorian era. more…

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