James Shirley Death The Levelley Analysis

Death the Leveller is the poem which was written by James Shirley. James Shirley was born in September 1596 and die in October 1666. He was an English poet and dramatist who wrote a lot of famous poems. One of the famous poems which he wrote is Death the Leveller. In this poem, the speaker indicates the power of death by representing death to be the leveller who destines all of the human beings by the equal way. Death the Leveller was written in three stanzas that express about a force of death. In each stanza, there is the rhyme scheme that is set by code. In the first stanza, the code of rhyme scheme is A-B-A-B-C-C-D-D. In the second stanza, the code of rhyme scheme is E-F-E-F-G-G-H-H, and in the last stanza, the code of rhyme scheme is I-J-I-J-K-K-L-L.

Moreover, when they win, they will plant laurels which are the symbol of victory and bravery in the place where they get the victory. As a result, it expresses that they will declare the glories and the nerves of their victory to other people. However, in the eleventh line, it argues that at last, they will lose their strength, and their nerves will be weak. Although somebody is strongest, early or late, they have to yield and stoop to fate, and finally, they must creep to death. In the sixteenth line, the phrase “pale captives” that modifies the word “they” expresses the physical condition of the strong men when death comes to them. As a result, nothing can protect them from death whether strength or

In the seventeenth line, the garlands that wither on brow represent to the beauty of human’s face that is extinct because of death. All of human like to seek for beauty, so this line expresses that at last of being, death will absorb your beauty slowly although you are the most beautiful person. You can carry on only the naked body that is withered, and finally, your beautiful body will exhaust in the tomb of death. Next, the phrase “Death’s purple altar” refers to the place in ninth line that is the field, and the word “purple” represents to the colour of blood because it would like to show the place that is full of victor-victim’s blood. In addition, the word “victor-victim” expresses that all of human can be both victor and victim. Although you win the battle or other, you will be the victim of death. Therefore, the body of human will be led to the tomb by death. The two last lines of the last stanza indicate that when death comes to human, only the good deeds of human can survive from the power of death, and the word “blossom” which is the flower indicates that the good action will grow up as a beautiful flower in departing of the human. Moreover, it shows that a good action will be remembered but the human who is taken by death will be