First Death in Nova Scotia

The first four stanzas contain 10 lines each, making them a décima. The fifth stanza has four lines, a quatrain. The final stanza features six lines, making it a sestet. The form mimics the content. The first four decimas are narrow and somewhat long, replicating Arthur’s coffin, which the speaker compares to “a little frost cake” (28). The stanzas look like tiny treats that the reader can pick up and eat.

The quatrain focuses on the royal figures. The speaker includes four members of the monarchy—“Edward, Prince of Wales, / with Princess Alexandra, / and King George with Queen Mary” (Lines 4-6), acknowledging the four royals by giving each one a separate line. In the quatrain, the speaker notes that the royals are “warm in red and ermine” (Line 44); the cozy stanza reinforces their warmth. The concluding sestet reinforces Arthur’s incompatibility with the royals. He can’t return to them due to his closed eyes and the wintery weather, which enlarges his stanza by two lines—two too many for the previous royal stanza.

Bishop’s poem is an example of free verse, which lacks a predetermined meter or a