O Death Rock Me Asleep
by Anne Boleyn, or possibly George Boleyn, Viscount Rochford
Original title"O Death! rocke me asleep"
Written1536
CountryEngland
LanguageEarly Modern English
Subject(s)death
Metertetrameter or trimeter

"O Death Rock Me Asleep" is a Tudor-era poem, traditionally attributed to Anne Boleyn. It was written shortly before her execution in 1536.

Anne Boleyn in the Tower of London (Édouard Cibot, 1835)

Authorship

The poem is generally attributed to Anne Boleyn,[1] and is assumed to have been composed whilst she was imprisoned in the Tower of London. However, the evidence for Boleyn's authorship is not entirely conclusive. It has been postulated that the poem was actually written by Boleyn's brother Lord Rochford.[2]

Analysis

The poem was written in the last days of Anne's life and is a reflection on her suffering. In it, she observes that her end cannot be avoided, and that it will at least give her peace and an escape from her present sufferings.

Structure

The poem has a fairly loose structure, with most lines either being tetrameter or trimeter. At the end of each major stanza, there is a refrain, varying slightly, about the nearing of death and how it is inevitable.

Text

References

  1. ↑ Nist, Elizabeth (1984) 'Tattle's Well's Faire: English Women Authors of the Sixteenth Century' in College English Vol. 46, No. 7 (Nov., 1984), (Greensboro: NCTE) pg705
  2. ↑ "Elfinspell: George Boleyn, Vicount Rochford, 'O Death, rock me to sleep,' modernized by Susan Rhoads, MD, from Padelford, Early Elizabethan Lyrics, tragic poetry, Renaissance, online text(Boleynstyle)". Retrieved 16 April 2016.
  3. ↑ "Anne Boleyn". Retrieved 16 April 2016.
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