Desperation Before Death
ted s owens 1949 (SC)
In violent fields, no eye is on the sparrow.
It flits amidst the rage of sling and arrow.
And though to it, no refuge calls,
Still, it beats its wing until to earth it falls a breathless thing.
How frail a thread holds hope above the fray.
Too soon it yields to weight of mortal wound.
And sparrows lie in fields like buds that never bloom.
About this poem
This poem is based on my experience in Vietnam. It's about the feelings of nakedness and exposure when there's nowhere to hide during an attack. Actual death is the easy part.
Font size:
Written on January 02, 2022
Submitted by BU3 on January 21, 2022
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 21 sec read
- 11 Views
Quick analysis:
| Scheme | AABCDEF |
|---|---|
| Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
| Characters | 341 |
| Words | 73 |
| Stanzas | 1 |
| Stanza Lengths | 7 |
1 fan
Translation
Find a translation for this poem in other languages:
Select another language:
- - Select -
- 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
- 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
- Español (Spanish)
- Esperanto (Esperanto)
- 日本語 (Japanese)
- Português (Portuguese)
- Deutsch (German)
- العربية (Arabic)
- Français (French)
- Русский (Russian)
- ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
- 한국어 (Korean)
- עברית (Hebrew)
- Gaeilge (Irish)
- Українська (Ukrainian)
- اردو (Urdu)
- Magyar (Hungarian)
- मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
- Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Italiano (Italian)
- தமிழ் (Tamil)
- Türkçe (Turkish)
- తెలుగు (Telugu)
- ภาษาไทย (Thai)
- Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
- Čeština (Czech)
- Polski (Polish)
- Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Românește (Romanian)
- Nederlands (Dutch)
- Ελληνικά (Greek)
- Latinum (Latin)
- Svenska (Swedish)
- Dansk (Danish)
- Suomi (Finnish)
- فارسی (Persian)
- ייִדיש (Yiddish)
- հայերեն (Armenian)
- Norsk (Norwegian)
- English (English)
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Desperation Before Death" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 24 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/118233/desperation-before-death>.
Powered by CITE.ME
Discuss the poem Desperation Before Death 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