Analysis of Why Do Legends Die Early?
Zina Nweke 2004 (Port harcourt)
Why do legends die early?
Why does the man who has found favour in the eyes of men,
Not last long with them.
For the limp has fallen
from the family tree again
Though I hear a voice say
"Grieve not for him".
When we heard, we wept where we were.
Our hearts, we could not express in ways of words or actions.
We question the blind black man again
Why? Why do you go on taking the innocent?
Why does the kind hearted get beheaded?
Why does the humble get humbled?
For our hearts are filled with questions—
Questions in desperate needs of answers.
Oh death! Why why?
Why do you derive joy in taking lives?
Lives of the young who is yet to see life.
Now we do not see him with our eyes.
But with our hearts,
we still see the alluring soul.
'Is' we do not use again to describe him
For he was. He was a humble caring
gifted masculine.
We stand in dismay and pity for his family.
We send our condolences and we keep on waiting.
Waiting for the right time
to see our alluring soul again.
Till then,
we pray for security and endurance.
Oh Big Man!
Scheme | ABXCBXD XEBXXXEX XXXXXXDFCAFXBBXX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1110110 1101111100111 11111 101110 10100101 111011 1111 11111110 101111010111110 110011101 111111100100 1101101010 11010110 110111110 100101110 1111 1110110101 1101111111 1111111101 11101 11100101 11111011011 1111101010 10100 1100101011100 11100100011110 101011 1110010101 11 11101000100 111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,383 |
Words | 231 |
Sentences | 23 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 7, 8, 16 |
Lines Amount | 31 |
Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
Words per line (avg) | 10 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 267 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 103 |
About this poem
This poem is about the loss of a loved one. The writer is in pain and wondering why legends(people with great impact and are loved) die early. Rhetorical questions in the poem shows how confusing it is to the writer and he wishes it never happened. At the last two stanzas though, there is hope of resurrection.
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"Why Do Legends Die Early?" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 16 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/161521/why-do-legends-die-early%3F>.
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