Analysis of Forbidden
C.S Benjamin 1997 (Douala)
You don’t know what it’s like
To love a girl with your life,
But you can’t take her outside
Because you know it isn’t right.
If you try it, they will fight you.
Fight back they will kill you.
I don’t know why it’s so
But that is how life goes.
She cried, I cried, we cried
Can’t stop till one of us die.
Can't stop till one of us die.
Two hearts tied and glued,
Love shared, trite and true.
Two virgins clean and pure
What happened is left to you.
She, an Angel and I, a demon
Rejoicing in an illegal union.
Her love was strong and patient,
Her tears were precious and potent,
Her heart loyal and faithful
My actions proud and boastful.
Two birds, free but caged
Singing songs of love with rage.
Crying for freedom in the morning,
Enslaving themselves in the evening.
Yearning for geographical freedom
While locked in a psychological dungeon.
A beauty and a love goddess
Whose words are true and modest
Entangled with a lonely coward
Whose words are never forward.
This curse must be broken
And this delusion forsaken.
Who will make the resolution?
How and when? Is the question.
Not her, not I, not us,
we can’t stop or pause.
She cried, I cried, we cried.
Can’t stop till one of us die.
Can't stop till one of us die.
Scheme | xxaxbbxxACC xbxbddeeff xxggxdhxii ddddhxACC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 111111 1101111 1111011 0111111 11111111 111111 111111 111111 111111 1111111 1111111 11101 11101 110101 1101111 111001010 0100101010 0111010 01010010 0110010 1101010 11111 1011111 101100010 1010010 101010010 1100010010 01000110 1111010 010101010 1111010 111110 01010010 1110010 1011010 101111 11111 111111 1111111 1111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,243 |
Words | 262 |
Sentences | 22 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 11, 10, 10, 9 |
Lines Amount | 40 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 235 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 58 |
About this poem
The poem details an awkward but deep relationship between an 'Angel' and a 'Demon' which is an allegory to relationships that are not accepted in most religions. For example, a relationship between a Muslim and a Christian, incest. The poem opens with the speaker lamenting on the disadvantages of being in a relationship that cannot be accepted by others and ends with the speaker emphasising on the near impossibility of breaking such relationships.
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"Forbidden" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/141058/forbidden>.
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