Analysis of The Sine Qua Non of Absence and Presence
Karl Constantine FOLKES 1935 (Portland)
The absence of a father is sine qua non,
His children enquiring with wondering eyes,
From the rising sun marking day has begun,
To the twilight light shining in evening skies.
Asking their mom, “When will daddy come;
When will we see him; sometime soon?
Will he return before the day is done;
Will he return before late afternoon?
Where has he gone, mom, when to return?
Is there some business holding him back?
Please tell us mom, our dear hearts burn.
Together, most surely, we make a pack.”
The presence of a father’s a treasure most rare,
Brightening young eyes, sparkling with joy.
There’s nothing to it that you can compare;
The frolicking cheer of a young girl or boy.
Hopping and skipping when father is here.
Prancing and dancing to give him a hug;
Happy as a lark that he’s so near.
Happy as ever to give him a tug.
His presence so matters; the joy it fills.
Erasing the deep pain that absence brings;
Brightening all hearts; giving all thrills;
Replacing all sadness with joyful things.
Scheme | XABA XCBC DEDE FGFG XHXH IJIJ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain |
Metre | 01010101111 110111001 10101101101 1011100101 101111101 1111111 1101010111 110101101 111111101 111101011 111110111 0101101101 010101001011 100111011 1101111101 01001101111 1001011011 1001011101 101011111 1011011101 1101100111 0100111101 100111011 0101101101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,041 |
Words | 215 |
Sentences | 14 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 130 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 30 |
About this poem
Absence reminds us of the magnificence and fullness of presence. And presence asks us to be mindful that its fullness can also forebode the emptiness of absence. This poem, ‘The Sine Qua Non of Absence and Presence,’ was inspired partly by Alicia Elsbeth Stallings’ 2002 published poem, ‘Sine Qua Non,’ and especially because of the emotionally charged impact of the frequent absences and rare but precious moments of a father’s presence on the lives of the four young children of the mercurial ex-NBA athlete, Michael Paul Beasley, who currently serves overseas as a power forward with the Shanghai Sharks basketball team in China’s east coast by the Yangtze River Delta. His communication with his children during these times, is therefore primarily by long-distance correspondence. Stallings’ ‘Sine Qua Non’ composition is composed as a two-stanza poem divided into one set of eight lines and another set of seven lines. On the contrary, this poem employs a rhyming scheme, with the first stanza of eight lines having line one rhyming with line four; with lines two and three rhyming; with line five coupled with line eight; and with lines six and seven pairing to complete the poem’s first stanza. The second stanza of the Stallings poem contains six lines, but retains a near similar metrical pattern as the first stanza, with a rhymed coupling of lines one and four, lines two and three, and lines five and six. In this six-stanza, four-line rhymed poem, ‘The Sine Qua Non of Absence and Presence,’ a consistent repetitive rhymed meter scheme is employed throughout the poem, with the following rhyme coupling pattern of lines one and three; and lines two and four. Most importantly is to note that this poem is not written as a parody of the Stallings poem, but to depict how both the absence and the presence of a father in young children’s lives are emotionally charged experiences that are, at the same time, equally emotionally heartwarming, especially when they are recompensed by tender loving kindness in the physical presence of a caring father that is manifested and maintained even in his absence. more »
Written on September 17, 2022
Submitted by karlcfolkes on September 17, 2022
Modified by karlcfolkes on October 30, 2022
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