This narrator of this poem is apparently living through time of plague, most likely the Black Plague, and is looking back over life and telling the audience’s lessons that he or she has learned. These lessons are explained tactfully through personification and the repetition of rhythmic patterns allows the reader to actually retain the lessons that are being taught.
Throughout each stanza, at least one inanimate object is personified in order to create a larger impact and meaning on the lesson that the narrator is attempting to tell the reader. In the first stanza, “death” is personified: “Fond are life’s lustful joys/ Death proves them all but toys”. The narrator’s lesson is of course that the lusts and sinful desires occur throughout a lifetime but after one dies then they do not matter. However, since death is personified, it adds an eerie realization that after death all of those sinful joys are unimportant. Another instance of impactful personification is in the fourth stanza where “strength, swords, and earth” are all actively playing roles in the cycle of life.
The grammatical pattern of ABAB is evident in every stanza. As easy as it is to notice the pattern and the repetition of “I am sick, I must die/ Lord, have mercy on us”, the narrator does this consciously in order to allow the reader to internalize these seemingly humorous, yet very important life lessons. Just as a nursery rhyme may seem like just child’s play, one such as “Ring Around the Rosies” could have more than just a melodious tune, it could have a very serious meaning behind it.
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