When I'm Killed
When I'm killed, don't think of meBuried there in Cambrin Wood,Nor as in Zion think of meWith the Intolerable Good.And there's one thing that I know well,I'm damned if I'll be damned to Hell!
So when I'm killed, don't wait for me,Walking the dim corridor;In Heaven or Hell, don't wait for me,Or you must wait for evermore.You'll find me buried, living-deadIn these verses that you've read.
So when I'm killed, don't mourn for me,Shot, poor lad, so bold and young,Killed and gone--don't mourn for me.On your lips my life is hung:O friends and lovers, you can saveYour playfellow from the grave.
Words in this poem
- zion n.
- A hill in Jerusalem, which, after the capture of that city by the Israelites, became the royal residence of David and his successors. [Heb. tsiy, originally, a hill.]
- damned a.
- Sentenced to punishment in a future state; condemned; consigned to perdition.
- corridor n.
- A gallery or passageway leading to several apartments of a house. [F., fr. Itt. corridpore, or Sp. corredor; prop., a runner, hence, a running or long line, a gallery, fr. L. currere to run. See Course.]
- evermore adv.
- During eternity; always; forever; for an indefinite period; at all times; -- often used substantively with for.
- playfellow n.
- A companion in amusements or sports; a playmate.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
When I'm Killed is in the public domain. This text is taken from Fairies and Fusiliers, Project Gutenberg ebook #10122; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Robert Graves, When I'm Killed, in Fairies and Fusiliers (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #10122, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/graves-fairies/when-i-m-killed.html, id L02425.
Form and metre
When I'm Killed is 18 lines in 3 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCC, complete in 2 of its 3 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.6 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 22% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABABCC meA · woodB · meA · goodB · wellC · hellC
- 2 A-A-BB meA · corridor · meA · evermore · deadB · readB
- 3 ABABCC meA · youngB · meA · hungB · saveC · graveC
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| When I'm killed, don't think of me | 8 | ···˘···· |
| Buried there in Cambrin Wood, | 7 | /˘····· |
| Nor as in Zion think of me | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| With the Intolerable Good. | 8 | ··˘/˘˘˘· |
| And there's one thing that I know well, | 8 | ········ |
| I'm damned if I'll be damned to Hell! | 8 | ········ |
| So when I'm killed, don't wait for me, | 8 | ········ |
| Walking the dim corridor; | 7 | /˘··/˘˘ |
| In Heaven or Hell, don't wait for me, | 8 | ·/······ |
| Or you must wait for evermore. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| You'll find me buried, living-dead | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| In these verses that you've read. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| So when I'm killed, don't mourn for me, | 8 | ········ |
| Shot, poor lad, so bold and young, | 7 | ······· |
| Killed and gone--don't mourn for me. | 8 | ·˘······ |
| On your lips my life is hung: | 7 | ······· |
| O friends and lovers, you can save | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Your playfellow from the grave. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.