Analysis of To Everlasting Oblivion

John Marston 1576 (Coventry) – 1634 (Hampshire)



THOU mighty gulf, insatiate cormorant,
Deride me not, though I seem petulant
To fall into thy chops. Let others pray
Forever their fair poems flourish may.
But as for me, hungry Oblivion,
Devour me quick. Accept my orison,
My earnest prayers which do importune thee,
With gloomy shade of thy still empery
To veil both me and my rude poesy.
Far worthier lines in silence of thy state
Do sleep securely, free from love or hate,
From which this, living, ne'er can be exempt,
But whilst it breathes will hate and fury tempt.
Then close his eyes with thy all-dimming hand
Which not right glorious actions can withstand.
Peace, hateful tongues! I now in silence pace
Unless some hound do wake me from my place.
I with this sharp yet well-meant poesy
Will sleep secure, right free from injury
Of canker'd hate or rankest villany.


Scheme AABBCCDBEFFGGHHEEEDC
Poetic Form Tetractys  (20%)
Etheree  (20%)
Metre 11011100 0111111100 1101111101 0101110101 1111100100 010110111 11011111 11011111 11110111 11001010111 1101011111 1111011101 1111110101 1111111101 11110010101 1101110101 0111111111 11111111 1101111100 111111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 830
Words 147
Sentences 10
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 20
Lines Amount 20
Letters per line (avg) 33
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 651
Words per stanza (avg) 145
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

44 sec read
32

John Marston

John Marston was an English poet, playwright and satirist during the late Elizabethan and Jacobean periods. His career as a writer lasted a decade, and his work is remembered for its energetic and often obscure style, its contributions to the development of a distinctively Jacobean style in poetry, and its idiosyncratic vocabulary. more…

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    Which of these famous poems is written in villanelle form?
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    B Funeral Blues
    C The Owl And The Pussycat
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