22 pages • 44 minutes read
Thomas NasheA Litany in Time of Plague
Thomas NasheFiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1600A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Literary Devices
Form and Meter
Nashe maintains a consistent rhythm of iambic trimeter throughout “A Litany in Time of Plague.” Each line in the poem consists of three pairs of unstressed and stressed syllables with an aabbccd rhyme scheme, and every stanza contains three sets of rhyming couplets and the repeated, concluding line “Lord, have mercy on us!” Aside from the enjambment found in lines 15 and 29, every line is end-stopped. Most of these stops are accomplished using a semicolon or period, with many of the poem’s points being expressed entirely in one line. For instance, while the opening lines “Adieu, farewell, earth’s bliss” (Line 1) and “This world uncertain is” (Line 2) complement and build on each other, both are still independent clauses that start and fully complete their thought.
Furthermore, nearly every rhyme is masculine, and Nashe uses relatively short and simple language throughout. With the exception of the multisyllabic words “wantonness” (Line 29), “bitterness” (Line 30), “executioner” (Line 31), “destiny” (Line 37), and “heritage” (Line 38), which all occur while the speaker is disregarding wit and art, every word in the poem is either one or two syllables. With its strict rhythm, masculine rhyme scheme, consistent end-stops, simplistic language, and unadorned verse, “A Litany in Time of Plague” replicates the stern and regimented tone of a sermon more so than Nashe’s typical satirical pamphlets.
Refrain
Each stanza in “A Litany in Time of Plague” concludes with the exclamation “I am sick, I must die. / Lord, have mercy on us!” This refrain reinforces the speaker’s desperate situation and imminent death and also serves as the titular litany, as each refrain repeats the simple petition for God’s mercy. As each verse gradually establishes that death comes for everyone, regardless of station and ability, the refrain demonstrates the speaker’s growing understanding and acceptance of their own death. At the poem’s beginning, the “must” in the speaker’s declaration “I am sick, I must die” implies a certain inevitability; death is unavoidable and “must” happen to the sickened speaker.
However, by the poem’s end, after the speaker has argued that death is a “destiny” (Line 37) that people should “haste” (Line 36) towards, the refrain takes on a slightly different meaning. Since death is now to be longed for as the final step to eternal bliss, the speaker’s insistence that they “must” die could imply a certain level of desire and intent to do so. Death is no longer just a dreaded certainty but a longed-after conclusion to a life played out on earth’s “stage” (Line 39).
Personification
Throughout the poem, Nashe uses personification to describe certain concepts. He refers to “Physic himself” (Line 10) when describing the futility of medicine against death and repeatedly characterizes death as a distinct person. The speaker asserts that Death “proves” all of life’s joys to be nothing more than frivolous “toys” (Line 4) and affirms that no one can “fly” or flee from his “darts” (Line 5). Later, the speaker also describes Death as “Hell’s executioner” (Line 31) who has “no ears for to hear” (Line 32) or heed mortals’ wits and attempts to bargain. Since dying and mortality is the focus of the poem, Nashe personifies death and uses that personification to make Death a central character and menacing presence within the poem.
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