Analysis of Pain shows up at the door like an old lover
Pain shows up at the door like an old lover
and how many different ways there are to greet it-
with anger: pelting words like shards of glass, trying to bar its entrance.
with restlessness: searching every corner of the room in order to find something to blame for its coming.
with fear and shame, those meek twins,
they cause you to run and hide so as not to confront its presence.
one may stand before the arrival of pain,
ready with their own share of sadness-
for fire can’t scorch what’s already been burnt.
but I aim to greet pain like a philosopher,
seated in my armchair with a cigar.
and I will sit with the pain and have a chat with it,
over a cup of coffee lightly sweetened.
though it’s an old acquaintance, I am humbled by how many new things it has to teach me.
when we are done I will escort the pain back out the door,
courteous as ever.
I will have no need
to lock the door
when it has gone,
for once it has shown its true face,
it will no longer be
so unwelcome.
Scheme | A BCXXCXXXAXBXDEAXEXXDX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11110111110 0110100111111 11010111111011110 110010100101010101110111110 1101111 1111101111101110 11101001011 101111110 11011001011 111111100100 100111001 0111101010111 10011101010 1111010111011101111111 11111101011101 100110 11111 1101 1111 11111111 111101 1010 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 994 |
Words | 212 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 21 |
Lines Amount | 22 |
Letters per line (avg) | 35 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 381 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 97 |
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"Pain shows up at the door like an old lover" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 3 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/129339/pain-shows-up-at-the-door-like-an-old-lover>.
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