Analysis of The Rain of Life

Greg Lanier 1962 (Atlanta, GA)



Wake to the ache of a cheap clock radio
   start a pot
      feed and pet the cat
         sip a cup
then peel open the eyes in the rain of life.
don some cloth
drag to the pit of fate
do the time
collect the change
stop and suck a brew for the road
swallow some grease
shuffle to the bed
another day is gone.

Wake to the ache of a cheap clock radio
   start a pot
      feed the cat
chug a cup
then peel open the eyes in the rain of life.
don some cloth
race to the pit of fate
do some time
collect the change
stop and sling a few brews for the road
swallow some grease
catch some cable
stumble to the bed
another day is gone.

Wake late to the ache of a cheap clock radio
   skip the pot
      trip over the cat
and rip open the eyes in the rain of life.
change the mind
call the man and tell a lie
sit and dream and wonder why
power up and write a line
decide it’s worthless
catch some cable
catch some cable
catch some cable
another day is gone.
Wake on the couch to the ache
of a distant cheap clock radio
   start a pot
      feed and rub the cat
say a prayer thanking God that it’s Saturday
then peel open the eyes in the rain of life.


Scheme ABcdEFghIjKlM ABcdEFghIjKNlM abcexooxxNNNMxaBcxE
Poetic Form
Metre 1101101110 101 10101 101 11100100111 111 110111 101 0101 10101101 1011 10101 010111 1101101110 101 101 101 11100100111 111 110111 111 0101 101011101 1011 1110 10101 010111 11101101110 101 11001 01100100111 101 1010101 1010101 1010101 1110 1110 1110 1110 010111 1101101 10101110 101 10101 10110111100 11100100111
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 1,101
Words 234
Sentences 7
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 13, 14, 19
Lines Amount 46
Letters per line (avg) 19
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 285
Words per stanza (avg) 78
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Submitted by GregLanier on May 10, 2021

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:10 min read
35

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