To a Gentleman and Lady on the Death of the Lady's Brother and Sister, and a Child of the Name of Avis, aged one Year
ON Death's domain intent I fix my eyes,Where human nature in vast ruin lies:With pensive mind I search the drear abode,Where the great conqu'ror has his spoils bestow'd;There where the offspring of six thousand yearsIn endless numbers to my view appears:Whole kingdoms in his gloomy den are thrust,And nations mix with their primeval dust:Insatiate still he gluts the ample tomb;His is the present, his the age to come.See here a brother, here a sister spread,And a sweet daughter mingled with the dead.But, Madam, let your grief be laid aside,And let the fountain of your tears be dry'd,In vain they flow to wet the dusty plain,Your sighs are wafted to the skies in vain,Your pains they witness, but they can no more,While Death reigns tyrant o'er this mortal shore.The glowing stars and silver queen of lightAt last must perish in the gloom of night:Resign thy friends to that Almighty hand,Which gave them life, and bow to his command;Thine Avis give without a murm'ring heart,Though half thy soul be fated to depart.To shining guards consign thine infant careTo waft triumphant through the seas of air:Her soul enlarg'd to heav'nly pleasure springs,She feeds on truth and uncreated things.Methinks I hear her in the realms above,And leaning forward with a filial love,Invite you there to share immortal blissUnknown, untasted in a state like this.With tow'ring hopes, and growing grace arise,And seek beatitude beyond the skies.
Words in this poem
- drear n.
- Sadness; dismalness.
- abode n.
- Act of waiting; delay. [OE. abad, abood, fr. abiden to abide. See Abide. For the change of vowel, cf. abode, imp. of abide.]
- insatiate a.
- Insatiable; as, insatiate thirst. [L. insatiatus.]
- avis n.
- Advice; opinion; deliberation. [F. avis. See Advice.]
- depart v. i.
- To part; to divide; to separate. [OE. departen to divide, part, depart, F. départir to divide, distribute, se départir to separate one's self, depart; pref. dé- (L. de) + partir to part, depart,]
- consign v. i.
- To submit; to surrender or yield one's self.
- waft v. t.
- To give notice to by waving something; to wave the hand to; to beckon. [Prob. originally imp. & p. p. of wave, v. t. See Wave to waver.]
- methinks v.
- It seems to me; I think. See Me. [AS. þyncan to seem, me þynceedh, me þuhte, OE. me thinketh, me thoughte; akin to G. dünken to seem, denken to think, and E. think. See Me, and Think.]
- filial a.
- Of or pertaining to a son or daughter; becoming to a child in relation to his parents; as, filial obedience. [L. filialis, fr. filius son, filia daughter; akin to e. female, feminine. Cf. Fitz.]
- beatitude n.
- Felicity of the highest kind; consummate bliss. [L. beatitudo: cf. F. béatitude. See Beatify.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To a Gentleman and Lady on the Death of the Lady's Brother and Sister, and a Child of the Name of Avis, aged one Year is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems on various subjects, religious and moral, Project Gutenberg ebook #409; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Phillis Wheatley, To a Gentleman and Lady on the Death of the Lady's Brother and Sister, and a Child of the Name of Avis, aged one Year, in Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral (1773), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #409, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/wheatley-poems/to-a-gentleman-and-lady-on-the-death-of-the-lady-s-brother-and-sister-and-a-child-of-the-name-of-avis-aged-one-year.html, id L26090.
Form and metre
To a Gentleman and Lady on the Death of the Lady's Brother and Sister, and a Child of the Name of Avis, aged one Year is 34 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
See other poems in heroic couplets, 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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKKLLMMNNOOPPQQ eyesA · liesA · abodeB · bestow'dB · yearsC · appearsC · thrustD · dustD · tombE · comeE · spreadF · deadF · asideG · dry'dG · plainH · vainH · moreI · shoreI · lightJ · nightJ · handK · commandK · heartL · departL · careM · airM · springsN · thingsN · aboveO · loveO · blissP · thisP · ariseQ · skiesQ
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 |
|---|---|---|
| ON Death's domain intent I fix my eyes, | 10 | ··˘/˘/···· |
| Where human nature in vast ruin lies: | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| With pensive mind I search the drear abode, | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| Where the great conqu'ror has his spoils bestow'd; | 11 | ·········˘/ |
| There where the offspring of six thousand years | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
| In endless numbers to my view appears: | 10 | ·/˘/˘···˘/ |
| Whole kingdoms in his gloomy den are thrust, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| And nations mix with their primeval dust: | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘· |
| Insatiate still he gluts the ample tomb; | 11 | ˘/˘˘····/˘· |
| His is the present, his the age to come. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| See here a brother, here a sister spread, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And a sweet daughter mingled with the dead. | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| But, Madam, let your grief be laid aside, | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| And let the fountain of your tears be dry'd, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| In vain they flow to wet the dusty plain, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Your sighs are wafted to the skies in vain, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Your pains they witness, but they can no more, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| While Death reigns tyrant o'er this mortal shore. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| The glowing stars and silver queen of light | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| At last must perish in the gloom of night: | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Resign thy friends to that Almighty hand, | 10 | ˘/····˘/˘· |
| Which gave them life, and bow to his command; | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Thine Avis give without a murm'ring heart, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Though half thy soul be fated to depart. | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| To shining guards consign thine infant care | 10 | ·/˘·˘/·/˘· |
| To waft triumphant through the seas of air: | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Her soul enlarg'd to heav'nly pleasure springs, | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| She feeds on truth and uncreated things. | 9 | ········· |
| Methinks I hear her in the realms above, | 10 | ˘/········ |
| And leaning forward with a filial love, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Invite you there to share immortal bliss | 10 | ˘/····˘/˘· |
| Unknown, untasted in a state like this. | 10 | ˘/········ |
| With tow'ring hopes, and growing grace arise, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| And seek beatitude beyond the skies. | 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.