Analysis of Once
I
Once, I knew a soul
clothed with the body of a woman,
infinite in moods as the sea.
It was the spirit in that soul,
arranging itself like cold
Atlantic mist
from colliding atmospheres and moving
with ethereal sadness,
that finally depicted me.
II
Once, I felt: such intimacy
exposed the seething
addiction to being
that once disturbed
by its own willingness,
flexed briefly,
like a pool-reflected image
that’s just been
stepped into.
Scheme | ABXC BXX DEC ACDD XEC XXX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (45%) Etheree (35%) |
Metre | 1 11101 110101010 10001101 11010011 0100111 0101 10101010 1010010 11000101 1 11111000 01010 010110 1101 111100 110 10101010 111 101 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 762 |
Words | 93 |
Sentences | 4 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 3, 3, 4, 3, 3 |
Lines Amount | 20 |
Letters per line (avg) | 17 |
Words per line (avg) | 4 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 58 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 12 |
About this poem
Written several lifetimes ago when I was a teenager. I think it was after a failed relationship but that's being speculative. I can however confidently say - it was at a time when both adolescent hormones and emotions were coursing unchecked through a pre-adult body and mind which is surprising given the calm and even tenor of the voice.
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"Once" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/161218/once>.
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