This is an analysis of The King Is Dead by Paul Laurence Dunbar.

Aye, lay him in his grave, the old dead year!
His life is lived--fulfilled his destiny.…

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Structure

  • Rhyme scheme: aXaaX aaaaa bcbbc cXccX
  • Stanza lengths: 5,5,5,5,
  • Metre: 1110010111 0101010100 1111110101 01010110001 1111010001 1111010111 0111010101 0101110101 1101110101 1101111111 0011011101 1111010101 0101111111 10010100001 1111111101 1101111111 1101110101 1111010001 11101111101 11011101
  • Closest metre: iambic pentameter
  • Guessed form: blank verse
  • Stanzas: 4
  • Lines: 20

Repeated words/phrases

his, of, not, you

Anaphora

one