Analysis of The Startle
The wind runs headlong into the windows
of our architecturally unimportant office building
And when it does, it screams, like the whistles
of a thousand frothing red-faced football coaches.
It’s a bitter noise tinged with regret
Sounding out the disbelief that it has encountered
Such an obstacle in such a place
But armed with the firm conviction
that it will find its way around
It’s that conviction that makes it disturbing
And sends pin pricks to the neck
each winter night as the sun sets
but that howl and the unease become friends
two former enemies who gradually grow to need each other
and value the companionship.
So many hours in each day devoted to demystifying the mysterious
Pulling back the curtain on the wizard
Building unsinkable ships and towers that poke holes in the firmament
Gazing through time to find the very dust that we are created from
Yet why do we not eliminate the noises?
It seems we cannot bulletproof our institutional knowledge of the supernatural. We cannot escape the charge a banging door puts into our pulse or the shiver a cracking twig brings to our shoulders.
And though we can build buildings to protect us from the fiercest wind or the bitterest blizzard it’s as if our own architectural souls won’t let us render out the tallow of those last sounds.
There’s something in us that can’t bring ourselves to fully believe that it’s just a twig, just the wind, just the door.
We need the noise. The startle. The sharp sucking in of air into our uncertain lungs.
We need to quicken our steps, as I do tonight on the way to the parking lot, thinking that just maybe I can outrun whatever banshee is chasing me.
Scheme | ABCDEFGHIBJKLMNOFEPDQRSTU |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 011101010 1100100000101010 0111111010 1010111110 101011101 101001111010 111000101 11101010 11111101 11010111010 0111101 11011011 1110001011 11010011000111110 0100010 110100110101100100 1010101010 1001001010111001 10111101011110101 11111010010 1111010100100101001001100101010110110110100101111010 01111101011101011010010111101010011111010101111 110011110011100111101101101 1101010011001101100101 111101011110110110101101110110110011101 |
Closest metre | Iambic octameter |
Characters | 1,639 |
Words | 292 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 25 |
Lines Amount | 25 |
Letters per line (avg) | 53 |
Words per line (avg) | 12 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 1,333 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 292 |
Font size:
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"The Startle" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 20 Sep. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/87986/the-startle>.
Discuss this Dave Tyler poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In