Analysis of The Formed Eye
The fog is in the fir trees,
Now dragging its slimy belly
On the bank.
Even the dirt keeps breathing
A small death.
Taken from the ocean,
The river turns upon itself.
In the dark time, an eye
Begins to form.
Let us go then, you and I,
The Cambridge Ladies who live in
Furnished souls,
Who never dreamed of incarnate
Gaps in time and space,
But of a world of knights
And wizards and Love.
Let us go then to imaginary gardens
With real toads in them.
But the flowering lily pads
Are moody, lapping their glossy sides
As if trying to hide
The slightest flaw, but
Failing completely.
And the warm eye in the sky
Is gone
And there is no light.
I knew not that you
Had covered my eyes, as
You led me down a path
Of twists and turns; a
Descent follows, endless and
Destructible.
One must have a mind of winter,
Biting clear and cold,
Who sees, who steps, who calls in a
Blessed rage for order.
When sisters separate, they haunt
Each other: you know in
Singing,
Not to sing.
Scheme | XAXBXXXCX CDXEXXXXXXXXEACXXXXXFXA GXFGXDBB |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (38%) Tetractys (30%) |
Metre | 0110011 11011010 101 1001110 011 101010 01010101 001111 0111 1111101 01010110 101 11011010 10101 110111 01001 11111010010 11101 10100101 110101101 111011 01011 10010 0011001 11 01111 11111 110111 111101 11010 0110100 1 11101110 10101 11111100 11110 1101011 110110 10 111 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 929 |
Words | 187 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 9, 23, 8 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 19 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 250 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 62 |
About this poem
Published in Through the Eyes of Women: an International Collage, Chemeketa Press 1992
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Written on November 10, 1986
Submitted by Ariel on September 19, 2021
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 56 sec read
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"The Formed Eye" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 16 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/109932/the-formed-eye>.
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