Bell And Sepulcher Analysis

Quotation: “O me, this sight of death is as a bell/ That warns my old age to a sepulcher.” (Rom. 5. 3. 214-215)

Translation: Oh my, seeing this death is like the bell (that rings at the church when someone dies) that cations my age about my own burial.

Circumstances: Lady Capulet arrives at the Capulet monument to find Juliet newly dead.

Poetic Device: These lines scan in iambic pentameter. The sight of Juliet's death is a simile compared to the bell that the church will rings to announce Lady Capulet's death. There is assonance on the short “e” sound of death, bell, and sepulcher. There is consonance on the soft “s” sound of this, sight, and sepulcher, and on the “d” sound of death and old. There is more consonance on the “l” sound of bell, old, and sepulcher, and on the “r” sound of warns and sepulcher.

The second time is even more emotional for her because she claims her life is over. She must go through the pain of discovering a dead daughter, when she previously believes the daughter to be dead. Due to Juliet's real death, Lady Capulet learns that Juliet is not dead earlier; therefore, Lady Capulet misses time with Juliet because she believes her to be dead. Lady Capulet also expresses that she does not want to continue living without Juliet. In that time, the church rang a bell as the sign that someone had died. Lady Capulet claims that seeing Juliet dead, again, is the sign for her that her life is over. She clearly loves Juliet and cannot bear to live without