Analysis of The Speed of Time



We once were young and daring
     As foolish as could be
The world was ours for taking
     The future, we could not see

We lived, and loved, and laughed
     As time passed swiftly by
Time was but a concept
     Meaning naught to you or I

And then one day it happened!
     In the mirror I could see
Who the Hell was that old man
     Staring back at me!

I know he looks familiar
     But that face just can't be mine!
Those wrinkles, scars, and age spots
     All collected over time

It then began to dawn on me
     The years had marched on by
Leaving me to marvel
     How time could really fly

As one who had tomorrows
     That seemed would never end
Was it really  nearly over
     This journey so long began

And then I had another thought
     About those years long gone
I had lived them to the fullest
     And regretted not a one

As now I'm in my final years
     And grown to be content
To view each day a gift
     From Heaven that was sent


Scheme ABAB XCXC XBDB EXXX BCXC XXED XXXX XFXF
Poetic Form Quatrain  (63%)
Metre 1101010 110111 01110110 0101111 110101 111101 111010 1011111 0111110 0010111 1011111 10111 1111010 1111111 1101011 1010101 11011111 011111 101110 111101 111101 111101 11101010 1101101 01110101 011111 11111010 0010101 11101101 011110 111101 110111
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 961
Words 188
Sentences 4
Stanzas 8
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 32
Letters per line (avg) 21
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 86
Words per stanza (avg) 22

About this poem

As I was shaving one morning, I observed an old man watching me from the mirror. It didn't seem that long ago that a much younger man stared back at me and I began to marvel at how swiftly the years had passed. This was the inspiration for this humble work.

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Written on July 08, 2021

Submitted by Marv44 on October 21, 2023

57 sec read
52

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