Analysis of A Scanner Darkly



I drop Death and dream images
Of a vaulted room. It has me inside.
I'm a faint blur, a shadow formless,
In Nature's big capsule of art.
‘Surrender me images', you call. I listen
With a turning of the head, a start.
What could a girl like me do, spaced out,
Fatuous, unnerved, with a crawling within,
A spasm threatening; like a nark;
A full-blooded gargoyle, in my dreams.
The dark, toothless grin of a maniac,
The smell of his supercharge.
I slip from worlds to worlds, I see portals,
The Heavens of God.
His minions are the stuff of my trip.
I hallucinate the joyless desire of my anima.
Drop Death, I've been locked up,
Inside the vaulted room, with mirrors on either side.
My brain is cut into two; the uncompromising halves.
Serenade me, Substance D! I can't tell
The difference between my reflection,
My photograph. Are we the same, the same faces,
The same sounds of a single monotone?
Or am I looking the glass wrongly,
Through a scanner darkly,
It is me, but unlike me,
A human, an automaton.


Scheme ABACDCEFGHGIJKLMNBOPDAQRRMS
Poetic Form
Metre 11101100 1010111101 1011011 01011011 010110011110 101010101 110111111 10001101001 010100101 01101011 011011010 011101 1111111110 01011 110101111 1010001010111 111111 0101011101101 11110110010001 011101111 0100011010 11011010110 011101010 111100110 101010 1111011 0101010
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 977
Words 183
Sentences 16
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 27
Lines Amount 27
Letters per line (avg) 28
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 767
Words per stanza (avg) 183
Font size:
 

Submitted on December 18, 2015

Modified on March 05, 2023

56 sec read
7

Discuss this Momina Masood poem analysis with the community:

0 Comments

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "A Scanner Darkly" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 17 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/64780/a-scanner-darkly>.

    Become a member!

    Join our community of poets and poetry lovers to share your work and offer feedback and encouragement to writers all over the world!

    More poems by

    Momina Masood

    »

    June 2024

    Poetry Contest

    Join our monthly contest for an opportunity to win cash prizes and attain global acclaim for your talent.
    13
    days
    16
    hours
    1
    minute

    Special Program

    Earn Rewards!

    Unlock exciting rewards such as a free mug and free contest pass by commenting on fellow members' poems today!

    Browse Poetry.com

    Quiz

    Are you a poetry master?

    »
    Shall I compare thee to a summer's _______?
    A night
    B dream
    C ray
    D day