Analysis of Sheba

Peter Zelinsky 1953 (Monroeville)

Ode


Sheba
You came to us on a midsummer’s night,
Black and elusive as a shadow in flight.
Quiet words and gestures brought you near,
Constant assurance you had nothing to fear.
As you touched my hand in a tentative way,
All your fears and trepidations seemed to wash away.
You rubbed against me time after time,
As if to say “this human is mine”.
On every floor, in every room
You picked your spots to sleep and groom.
Your favorite spot was in my lap,
I’d watch the news, you’d take a nap.
You’d climb on my chest as I lay in bed,
Pawing my hands so I’d scratch your head.
I miss those days when we cuddled and slept,
For the comfort you brought, I owe you a debt.
For seventeen years you made us your home,
The house and the yard were your places to roam.
You’d bring us your trophies, a bird or a mouse,
I wouldn’t let you bring them inside the house.
Old age and kidneys caused you to depart,
Along with you went a piece of my heart.
They say nine lives are what you own,
I hope you still have one to clone.
For when I leave this earthly shell,
Where I’ll end up I can never tell.
But having you with me would be sublime,
So we could cuddle and sleep for the rest of time.


Scheme ABBCCDDEFGGHHIIJKLLMMNNOOPPEE
Poetic Form
Metre 10 11111011 1001010101 101010111 10010111011 11111001001 1110111101 110111101 111111011 1100101001 11111101 110011011 11011101 1111111101 101111111 1111111001 10101111101 1101111111 01001011011 11111001101 1111110101 1101011101 0111101111 11111111 11111111 11111101 111111101 1101111101 111100110111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 1,192
Words 260
Sentences 14
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 29
Lines Amount 29
Letters per line (avg) 31
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 898
Words per stanza (avg) 234

About this poem

It's about my cat that I lost a while back

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Submitted by lilziz on March 23, 2022

Modified on April 24, 2023

1:18 min read
62

Peter Zelinsky

Benn writing poetry for over 50 years. Many are about love and loss. more…

All Peter Zelinsky poems | Peter Zelinsky Books

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