A Prayer for Grace in Death
What though strong love of life doth flatter meWith hope of yet more years on earth to stay,Death none the less draws nearer day by day,Who to sad souls alone comes lingeringly.Yet why desire long life and jollity,If in our griefs alone to God we pray?Glad fortune, length of days, and pleasure slayThe soul that trusts to their felicity.Then if at any hour through grace divineThe fiery shafts of love and faith that cheerAnd fortify the soul, my heart assail,Since nought achieve these mortal powers of mine,Straight may I wing my way to heaven; for hereWith lengthening days good thoughts and wishes fail.
Ofttimes my great desire doth flatter meWith hope on earth yet many years to stay:Still Death, the more I love it, day by dayTakes from the life I love so tenderly.What better time for that dread change could be,If in our griefs alone to God we pray?Oh, lead me, Lord, oh, lead me far awayFrom every thought that lures my soul from Thee!Yea, if at any hour, through grace of Thine,The fervent zeal of love and faith that cheerAnd fortify the soul, my heart assail.Since nought achieve these mortal powers of mine,Plant, like a saint in heaven, that virtue here;For, lacking Thee, all good must faint and fail.
Words in this poem
- lingeringly adv.
- With delay; slowly; tediously.
- ofttimes adv.
- Frequently; often. [Oft + time. Cf. -wards.]
- tenderly adv.
- In a tender manner; with tenderness; mildly; gently; softly; in a manner not to injure or give pain; with pity or affection; kindly.
- fervent a.
- Hot; glowing; boiling; burning; as, a fervent summer. [F. fervent, L. fervens, -entis. p.pr. of fervere o the boiling hot, to boil, glow.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Prayer for Grace in Death is in the public domain. This text is taken from Sonnets, Project Gutenberg ebook #10314, the John Addington Symonds translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Michelangelo Buonarroti, A Prayer for Grace in Death, in Sonnets (1878), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #10314, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/michelangelo-sonnets/a-prayer-for-grace-in-death.html, id L15216.
Form and metre
A Prayer for Grace in Death is 28 lines in 2 stanzas of 14 lines each. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 32% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 -AA--AA-BCDBCD me · stayA · dayA · lingeringly · jollity · prayA · slayA · felicity · divineB · cheerC · assailD · mineB · hereC · failD
- 2 ABB-ABBACDECDE meA · stayB · dayB · tenderly · beA · prayB · awayB · theeA · thineC · cheerD · assailE · mineC · hereD · failE
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| What though strong love of life doth flatter me | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| With hope of yet more years on earth to stay, | 10 | ·········· |
| Death none the less draws nearer day by day, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Who to sad souls alone comes lingeringly. | 11 | ····˘/·/˘˘˘ |
| Yet why desire long life and jollity, | 11 | ··˘/˘···/˘˘ |
| If in our griefs alone to God we pray? | 10 | ··/·˘/···· |
| Glad fortune, length of days, and pleasure slay | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| The soul that trusts to their felicity. | 10 | ······˘/˘˘ |
| Then if at any hour through grace divine | 10 | ···/˘/··˘/ |
| The fiery shafts of love and faith that cheer | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| And fortify the soul, my heart assail, | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| Since nought achieve these mortal powers of mine, | 10 | ··˘/·/˘/·· |
| Straight may I wing my way to heaven; for here | 10 | ·······/·· |
| With lengthening days good thoughts and wishes fail. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Ofttimes my great desire doth flatter me | 10 | /˘··˘/·/˘· |
| With hope on earth yet many years to stay: | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Still Death, the more I love it, day by day | 10 | ·········· |
| Takes from the life I love so tenderly. | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| What better time for that dread change could be, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| If in our griefs alone to God we pray? | 10 | ··/·˘/···· |
| Oh, lead me, Lord, oh, lead me far away | 10 | ········˘/ |
| From every thought that lures my soul from Thee! | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Yea, if at any hour, through grace of Thine, | 10 | ···/˘/···· |
| The fervent zeal of love and faith that cheer | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| And fortify the soul, my heart assail. | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| Since nought achieve these mortal powers of mine, | 10 | ··˘/·/˘/·· |
| Plant, like a saint in heaven, that virtue here; | 10 | ·····/·/˘· |
| For, lacking Thee, all good must faint and fail. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
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.