Analysis of Memory

mark wogan 1960 (Barnsley)



I remember the church, its massing chimes,
the sharp biting air, hibernal cool sun.
New fallen snow lay pristine and untracked
level through to the tree torn horizon.
The heart of midwinter caught in its prime

Yet what stole the scene and locked it to mind  
was a man stood nearby leant on a cane.
Wrapped in heavy dark cloth against the day
he seemed lost in the lines etched deep on his face.
Still as the stones hard rowed to his side.

So intimate did this moment appear
I thought to lower my eyes, turn away.
Leave him to his quiet reminiscence  
of what I could not know though guessed its weight
spoke of a voice he again longed to hear.

Unable, I watched him begin to engrave,
strokes gently carved in the frost at his feet.
The marks scratched, at first, were hard to make out
but as letters resolved with task complete
Grace was risen and beside him again.

There by the light of our Lady of Sorrows
In the fading day of the longest night
a memory was born as many more were recalled


Scheme XABAX BCBXB XXXBX XBBBC XBB
Poetic Form
Metre 1010011101 01101111 110111001 1011011010 0111101011 1110101111 10111110101 1010110101 11100111111 110111111 1100111001 1111011101 111110010 1111111111 1101101111 01011101101 1101001111 0111101111 1110011101 1110001101 110111010110 0010110101 0100111101001
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 1,007
Words 209
Sentences 10
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 5, 5, 5, 5, 3
Lines Amount 23
Letters per line (avg) 34
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 157
Words per stanza (avg) 38
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Submitted by mark_2 on June 13, 2022

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:02 min read
1

mark wogan

Fulltime day trader - lifelong poet! more…

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