Analysis

The opening italics tell us that this was written by a man who was about to be executed.

The opening stanza tells of how terrible he feels, as his ‘prime of youth’ is metaphorically compared to ‘a frost of cares’ so the idea of a frost hardening around him, making him cold and taking the life from him and all his cares shows how sad he feels.

He eats a metaphorical ‘dish of pain’ which means he is feeling sorry for himself and everything is painful for him and his ‘crop of corn’ (metaphorical for all the good things he has done) is turned into a field of weeds and useless things. All the goodness seems to have gone and all that is left is lifeless and worthless.

He saw no sun during the day and he knows his ‘life is done’ even though he is still alive at the moment. Mentally he is preparing for his execution and he feels that all has come to an end.

In the second stanza he says his tale was heard but not told, as if the truth was not clear to others.

There are a series of oxymorons (opposites to what we would expect). For instance his ‘fruit is fallen’ meaning metaphorically all his life and goodness are gone, yet his ‘leaves are green’ which means he is still alive, showing he is being killed too early, before old age has set in. this is backed up by the line ‘my youth is spent, and yet I am not old’.

All the images show that he is not ready for death and that he still has plenty of life left in him.

The stanza ends with a repeat of the line that ended the first stanza, showing how much he feels that he is still alive and yet his life is done.

The final stanza emphasises how his destiny was to die this way. He looked for death and found it in his womb shows that, despite not being a woman, the life he can give comes from deep inside himself.

His actions that have caused his execution may give life to others. Life was in a shade to him as he walked the earth knowing ‘it was my tomb’ and that his death is what will make him. The metaphor of ‘my glass is full, and now my glass is run’ shows that he had all his life left, like someone with a full glass, but now it has come to an end, just as someone’s glass empties in the end, all too soon.

The final line repeats the chorus idea that his life is over, but he still lives. The poem shows how he is ready for his death, yet feels that his life is far from over.