Analysis of Vanity of Vanities
Robert Fuller Murray 1863 – 1894
Be ye happy, if ye may,
In the years that pass away.
Ye shall pass and be forgot,
And your place shall know you not.
Other generations rise,
With the same hope in their eyes
That in yours is kindled now,
And the same light on their brow.
They shall see the selfsame sun
That your eyes now gaze upon,
They shall breathe the same sweet air,
And shall reck not who ye were.
Yet they too shall fade at last
In the twilight of the past,
They and you alike shall be
Lost from the world's memory.
Then, while yet ye breathe and live,
Drink the cup that life can give.
Be ye happy, if ye may,
In the years that pass away,
Ere the golden bowl be broken,
Ere ye pass and leave no token,
Ere the silver cord be loosed,
Ere ye turn again to dust.
`And shall this be all,' ye cry,
`But to eat and drink and die?
If no more than this there be,
Vanity of vanity!'
Yea, all things are vanity,
And what else but vain are ye?
Ye who boast yourselves the kings
Over all created things.
Kings! whence came your right to reign?
Ye shall be dethroned again.
Yet for this, your one brief hour,
Wield your mockery of power.
Dupes of Fate, that treads you down
Wear awhile your tinsel crown
Be ye happy, if ye may,
In the years that pass away.
Scheme | AAbb ccdd exxf gghh xxAA eexx iihh hhjj xxff kkAA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain (60%) Etheree (30%) |
Metre | 1110111 0011101 1110101 0111111 100101 1011011 1011101 0011111 111011 1111101 1110111 0111110 1111111 001101 1010111 1101100 1111101 1011111 1110111 0011101 10101110 11101110 1010111 1110111 0111111 1110101 1111111 1001100 1111100 0111111 1110101 1010101 1111111 1110101 11111110 11100110 1111111 1011101 1110111 0011101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,187 |
Words | 247 |
Sentences | 17 |
Stanzas | 10 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 93 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 24 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 28, 2023
- 1:13 min read
- 41 Views
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"Vanity of Vanities" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 3 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/31077/vanity-of-vanities>.
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