Analysis of Now and Not Yet
E.K. Tardiff 2001 (Phoenix)
I saw It on a late summer evening, plain as day.
Shadow cascaded down around Its shapeless form.
Like fire, It was warm, and I wanted so badly to become lost in it.
I reached out, yet it shied away as if I were ice.
'No,' It said, voice wispy like the faraway wind. 'Don’t come closer.'
'But I am cold,' I protested.
It said nothing to this, yet it remained there until I’d fallen asleep.
I knew when It had left when the sun began to rise again.
Seasons have passed, and I see It once again.
It engulfs me in a wrap of stars, dripping like molten wax.
I am rendered frozen until I’m too tired to breathe.
Deep beneath Its layers of black gossamer, I see the white of bone.
Then I remember — like fire, It is fatal and disintegrating to the touch.
It’s voice is in my head, formless. 'You are cold'.
'No'. My voice is smaller. Stronger. 'Please, not yet.'
It hesitates, suspended in the air like an unanswered question.
'Not now, then,' It agrees.
I feel It release Its hold on me, and I wake up to another sunrise.
Scheme | XXXXXXXA AXXXXXXXXX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111011010111 10101011101 1101110110110101101 1111110111101 1111101010111110 11111010 111011110110111001 111111101011101 10110111101 11100111101101 11101001111011 10111011100110111 11010110111000100101 1110111111 11111010111 110010001111010 111101 111011111011110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic heptameter |
Characters | 1,032 |
Words | 217 |
Sentences | 23 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 10 |
Lines Amount | 18 |
Letters per line (avg) | 42 |
Words per line (avg) | 11 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 380 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 98 |
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"Now and Not Yet" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 3 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/158722/now-and-not-yet>.
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