Analysis of A Poet’s Two Voices



I lay in bed and think of this:
A poet has two voices.
The one he writes with gravitas,
the other of his muse.
The one expressed in syntax text,
with surface structures clear,
subject and predicate defined.
The parts of speech are known,
phrases and clauses understood,
tenses and aspects drawn,
indicative mood expressed.
With temperament in lines expressed,
a state of mind construed—
The poet with his witty quill,
need not be ever rude.
His task is simply to express
what surfaces the mind—

Not so the poet’s other voice,
the voice governed by muse.
The former voice is masculine,
with animation made.
It is the voice of Animus —
A cocky voice of tongue!
This other voice, this second voice,
this softer, second voice,
is clearly Anima,
reflecting secrets of the soul,
compassionately expressed.
This second voice is feminine,
the voice of prophecy.
With first voice made in syntax lines,
this second voice is deeper,
emerging from semantic well,
of deeper structures born.  

Hers is the voice that gives meaning
to surface utterances.
A sotto voce of the muse.
Hers is that quiet, inner voice,
diplomatically covert—
Not so that masculine overt voice,
blasting a symphony,
with trumpets and with clarinets,
to make attention sharp.
In contrast is this second voice,
a meditating voice,
emptying the mind with softer chords,
harmoniously expressed.

Her Psalter is a curative balm,
It heals the hurt, it heals all pain,
inviting souls to prayer.
Together these two voices blend,
the masculine and the feminine,
to give a priestly chorus.
Inspiring schools of ancient prophets
to render their cantorial verdict:
Whether these two voices in suit,
 can truly, truly blend —
The masculine and feminine,
with Mishnah of new learning,
to give life a new meaning.


Scheme AXBCXXDXXXEEFXFXD GCHXBXGGIXEHJXXXX KXCGXGJAXGGXE IXXLHBXXXLHKK
Poetic Form Etheree  (32%)
Metre 11010111 0101110 01111100 010111 0101011 110101 0101001 011111 1001001 1011 0100101 11000101 011101 01011101 111101 11110101 110001 11010101 011011 01011100 10101 11011100 010111 11011101 110101 1101 01010101 0100001 11011100 011100 1111011 1101110 01010101 110101 01011110 1101000 011101 01110101 010010 111100011 100100 110011 110101 01011101 01001 100011101 0100001 010101001 11011111 010111 01011101 010000100 1101010 010111010 1101110 10111001 110101 01000100 111110 1110110
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,780
Words 350
Sentences 19
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 17, 17, 13, 13
Lines Amount 60
Letters per line (avg) 23
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 350
Words per stanza (avg) 74

About this poem

At age eighty six, I find my muse, as a Delphi oracle, urging me to listen to her, as she pleads to give council to those who have eyes to see and ears to hear. I am listening to that ancient, quiet inner voice. Will you listen along with me? She is asking us all to listen.

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Written on November 18, 2021

Submitted by karlcfolkes on November 18, 2021

Modified on April 24, 2023

1:45 min read
480

Karl Constantine FOLKES

Retired educator of Jamaican ancestry with a lifelong interest in composing poetry dealing particularly with the metaphysics of self-reflection; completed a dissertation in Children’s Literature in 1991 at New York University entitled: An Analysis of Wilhelm Grimm’s “Dear Mili” Employing Von Franzian Methodological Processes of Analytical Psychology. The subject of the dissertation concerned the process of Individuation. more…

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