Analysis of This Settling House



This is the journey of my soul.
Random recordings fill me
With memories and sorrows
And yes, joys.

A woman’s loving voice
Pleads with me, Listen!
Strings thrummed lightly
Fill the void.

Eighteen again, it sometimes
Seems to creep up like an unwanted
Dream that reoccurs too often
And you want to hide the sound of it.

You want to hear instead the rolling
Of the waves and the hiss of wind

Allured by the seductive tide, slowly,
Inexorably grasping and leading us back
Into the ancient and daunting sea where
Darkness hesitantly admits narrow shafts of light.

So what that the sand and grit of life
Blast through the open window and
Frayed rusted screen? So what the roar of
Late night drivers and sea lions barking?

And of sleep when it does not come
The color of the hour means little.
Reading takes light from whatever source
Determines my angle of repose;

Slipping through the cracks and crevices
Of this settling house.


Scheme XABX XCAX XXCX DX AXXX XXXD XXXB XX
Poetic Form
Metre 11010111 1001011 1100010 011 01101 11110 1110 101 0101101 111111010 111110 011110111 111101010 10100111 0110010110 010001001011 0101001011 1010000110111 111010111 11010100 110111011 1110011010 01111111 0101010110 10111101 010110101 101010100 111001
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 936
Words 184
Sentences 10
Stanzas 8
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 2, 4, 4, 4, 2
Lines Amount 28
Letters per line (avg) 27
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 93
Words per stanza (avg) 21

About this poem

Reflections on acceptance.

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Written on December 20, 2020

Submitted by DJGillert on December 12, 2022

Modified on March 08, 2023

55 sec read
105

Douglas Gillert

Douglas Gillert is a retired journalist and editor. He writes poetry as part of his spiritual path. more…

All Douglas Gillert poems | Douglas Gillert Books

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