Oh Death Rock Me Asleep

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

Full Text

O Death! rocke me asleep;

Bringe me to quiet reste;
let pass my weary, guiltles ghost
out of my carefull brest.
Toll on, the passinge-bell;
ring out my dolefull knell;
let thy sounde my death tell.
Death dothe drawe ny;
there is no remedie.

My paynes, who can expres?

Anne Boleyn in the Tower by Edouard Cibot (1799 - 1877)

Alas! they are so stronge
my dolor will not suffer strength
my lyfe for to prolonge.
Toll on, the passinge-bell;
ring out my dolefull knell;
let thy sounde my death tell.
for I must dye;
there is no remedie.

Alone, in prison stronge,

I wayte my destenye.
Wo worth this cruel hap, that I
should taste this miserie!
Toll on, the passinge-bell;
ring out my dolefull knell;
let thy sounde my death tell.
Death dothe drawe ny;
there is no remedie.

Farewell! my pleasures past;

welcum! my present payne.
I fele my tormentes so increse
that lyfe cannot remayne.
Toll on, the passinge-bell;
rong is my dolefull knell;
for the sound my dethe doth tell.
Death dothe drawe ny;
there is no remedie.

Sound my end dolefully

for now I dye.

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 her authorship entirely conclusive. It has been postulated that it was in fact written by Anne'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 it being inevitable.

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. ^ http://www.elfinspell.com/Boleynstyle.html