On only one occasion the author chose to use the same rhyme twice in the poem. In Death’s opening speech talk and walk are rhymed which also occurs in Death’s second to last stanza. Poets rarely use the same rhyme and the exact same rhyming words in a single poem and when they do it is usually intentional and is there to emphasize a point. Since this rhyme is used to refer to Youth, who is about to die, in the first instance and is used to refer to the reader in the second, one could only assume that it is meant to emphasize the reader’s own mortality, making this a memento mori poem.
ANONYMOUS
A Dialogue' between Death and Youth
Death.
A Come on, good fellow, make an end
B For you and I must talk. (14)
C You may no longer sojourn here,
B But hence you must walk. (13)
Youth.
A What woeful words, alas,
B Be these that I do hear!(12)
C Alas, and shall I now forthwith
B Forsake my life so dear? (14)
Death.
D Come on, come on, and linger not;
E Ye trifle but the time.(14)
F Ye make too much of that, ywis,
E Which is but dirt and slime.(14)
Youth.
D O cursed death, what dost thou mean,
E So cruel for to be,(13)
F To him that never thought thee harm
E Nor once offended thee!(14)
G O death, behold: I am but young
H And of a pleasant age.(14)
I Take thou some old and crooked wight,
H And spare me in thy rage.(14)
J Behold, my limbs be lively now,
K My mind and courage strong,(14)
L And by the verdict of all men
K Like to continue long;(14)
M My beauty like the rose so red,
N My hair like glist’ring gold;(14)
O And canst thou now pity then,
N Transform me into mould?(14)
P O gentle death, be not extreme;
Q Thy mercy here I crave.(14)
R It is not for thine honour now
Q To fetch me to my grave.(14)
S But rather let me live a while,
T Till youth consumed be.(13)
U When crooked age doth me oppress,
T Then welcome death to me.(14)
Death.
G O foolish man, what dost thou mean
H To strive against the stream?(14)
I Nothing there is that can thee now
H Out of my hands redeem.(14)
J Thy time is past, thy days are gone,
K Thy race is fully run.(14)
L Thou must of force now make an end,
K As thou hadst once begun.(15)
M O fool, why dost thou beg and boast
N Of these thy youthful days?-(14)
O Which passeth fast and fadeth swift
N As flowers fresh decays.(14)
P Both youth and age to me be one-
Q I care not whom I strike:(14)
R The child, the man, the father old,
Q Do I reward alike.(14)
S The proudest of them all, ywis,
T Can not escape my dart:(14)
U The lady fair, the lazar foul
T Shall both possess a part.(14)
V Thou art not now the first, I say,
W That I have eared up;(13)
X Ne yet shalt be the last, pardie,
W That drinketh of my cup.(14)
Y For he that doth us now behold-
B Perusing this our talk- (14)
Z He knoweth not yet how soon, God wot,
B With thee and me to walk!(15)
AA Dispatch, therefore, and make an end,
BB For needs you must obey;(14)
CC And as thou camest into this world,
BB So shalt thou now away.(15)
Youth.
V And must I pass of this world
W Indeed, and shall I so?(13)
X May no man me restrain a while,
W But needs now must I go?(14)
Y Why, then, farewell my life and lands,
Z Adieu my pleasures all!(14)
AA Lo dreadful death doth us depart,
Z And me away doth call.(14)
BB My cheerful days be worn away,
CC My pleasant time is past;(14)
DD My youthful years are spent and gone,
CC My life it may not last.(14)
EE And I (for lack of life and breath)
FF Whose like hath not been seen,(14)
GG Shall straight consumed be to dust,
FF As I had never been.(13)
HH But though I yield as now to thee,
II When nothing can me save,(14)
JJ Yet I am sure that I shall live
II When thou thy death shalt have.(14)