Analysis of Labor Pains
Akiko Yosano 1878 (Sakai) – 1942 (Tokyo)
I am sick today,
sick in my body,
eyes wide open, silent,
I lie on the bed of childbirth.
Why do I, so used to the nearness of death,
to pain and blood and screaming,
now uncontrollably tremble with dread?
A nice young doctor tried to comfort me,
and talked about the joy of giving birth.
Since I know better than he about this matter,
what good purpose can his prattle serve?
Knowledge is not reality.
Experience belongs to the past.
Let those who lack immediacy be silent.
Let observers be content to observe.
I am all alone,
totally, utterly, entirely on my own,
gnawing my lips, holding my body rigid,
waiting on inexorable fate.
There is only one truth.
I shall give birth to a child,
truth driving outward from my inwardness.
Neither good nor bad; real, no sham about it.
With the first labor pains,
suddenly the sun goes pale.
The indifferent world goes strangely calm.
I am alone.
It is alone I am.
Scheme | XABC XXX ACXD AXBD EEXX XXFX FXXEX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11101 10110 111010 1110111 1111110111 1101010 101001011 0111011101 0101011101 111101101110 111011101 101110 010001101 111101000110 1010110101 11101 1001000100111 10111011010 10110001 111011 1111101 11010111 10111111011 101101 1000111 001011101 1101 110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 914 |
Words | 168 |
Sentences | 17 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 3, 4, 4, 4, 4, 5 |
Lines Amount | 28 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 101 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 24 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 26, 2023
- 50 sec read
- 250 Views
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