Analysis of Hyacinth

Brady Bowen 1973 (Louisiana)



Upon the blackwater lies a blanket
purple flash as far as the eye can see
bright star-robes of the Atchafalaya
there is no lady half as wild as she.

I’ve found sinking houses in her dark deep
falling from the tall pylons to their rest
around them cypress giants deeply sleep
we are the young they whisper of in jest.

livewater lizards lazily patrol
conductors of the bullfrog bugle-band
should one of them arrest you they will roll
with your lifeblood they gladly soak the land

the heron is the swordsman of Lake Dauterive
he fences underwater for his fare
grace that causes dancers to sorely grieve
blue-winged liftoff is his dance into the air

the crawfish rule underwater regions  
their Congress the dialogue of spiders
wearing their knight’s armor they are legion
their burrows do make them expert hiders

my favorite creature is the woody drake
his raiment clearly marks him as a fop
his legend surely names him as a rake
he struts about as his bright colors pop

I love the Lady Atchafalaya
she has my heart clenched in her muddy claws
in the land of spicy jambalaya
she has no regard for normal man-laws.

how long will we enjoy her existence?
 how will we then replace her when she’s gone?
the oil men rape her with no resistance
Cajun pride they can purchase with a song  


Scheme XABA CDCD EFEF XGXG XXXA HXHX BIBI JXJX
Poetic Form Quatrain  (63%)
Metre 01011010 1011110111 111101 1111011111 1110100011 101011111 0111010101 1101110101 11010001 010101101 1111011111 111110101 01010111100 110100111 1110101101 1111110101 01110010 110010110 1011101110 110111101 11001010101 111011101 1101011101 1101111101 110101 1111100101 0011101 1110111011 1111010010 111110111 0111011010 1011110101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 1,310
Words 257
Sentences 6
Stanzas 8
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 32
Letters per line (avg) 32
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 129
Words per stanza (avg) 29
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Written on March 23, 2022

Submitted by BradyB999 on March 24, 2022

Modified by BradyB999 on March 24, 2022

1:17 min read
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