Analysis of Father
Once you had arms
that held me so tight
Once you had legs
that stood up for right
Once you had eyes
that could see in the dark
Once your strong hands
plotted courses to chart
Once we would walk
and the birds would proclaim
Once we would sing
and the heavens refrained
Once we thought time
was our servant and slave
Once, before war
we forgot and forgave
Now that you’re gone,
my memory’s gone dark
Now that you’re gone,
paths unwalked in the park
Now that you’re gone,
surname given and fast
Now that you’re gone
—my heart beats in the past
(Villanova Pennsylvania: January, 2020)
Scheme | xa xa xb xx xx xx xc xc Db Db De De x |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (36%) |
Metre | 1111 11111 1111 11111 1111 111001 1111 101011 1111 001101 1111 001001 1111 1101001 1011 101001 1111 1111 1111 11001 1111 11001 1111 111001 010010100 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 568 |
Words | 108 |
Sentences | 1 |
Stanzas | 13 |
Stanza Lengths | 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 1 |
Lines Amount | 25 |
Letters per line (avg) | 18 |
Words per line (avg) | 4 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 35 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 8 |
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"Father" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/52264/father>.
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