Analysis of Compulsion
John Jessup Kennan 1953 (Pomona)
No truth could possibly
Be good enough for her
Garden gnomes, toy soldier mimes
Silent as she
Guard a forest pathway's end
Beautiful and darkening as
A pirhana-filled moat empties
Out to sea
The fortress door, ornate,
Intimidates,
Imposing by design
Each mysery depends on a potential
Intended victim's state of mind
Each step upon her cold stone floor resounds
Echoes maddening right through her
Willing potential intended victim
It's the mystery draws him to her
Marble statue stands shiny white
Heart as a fortress floor disguised
Athena in all her hard glory
Staring down the truth with stony eyes
The Enchanted Forest Temptress's
Voice echoes through the trees
Compelling and foreboding
The Muse of Mystery
But there are no caped crusaders here
No Wonderland, no Oz wizards
Just Jimmy Olsen at his desk,
Tin men in distress,
Crocodiles posing as alligator lizards
Best make sure you get in early
She locks it down at nine
Tread lightly, then, and offer
Your kingdom for each clue you find
The gnomes and statues are not talking
Go take it up with the church mouse
The vows of silence they have taken
Echo through that haunted house
The bats peek out from the comfort of their blankets
Each sound reveals another mystery
It's just an unassuming house out in the suburbs
Feels like a haunted castle fortress to me
© John Kennan 6-23-18
Scheme | ABCAXCCA XCDXE CBXB XXAC CCFA XCXCC ADBE FCGC CACA G |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111100 110110 1011101 1011 101011 10001001 011110 111 010101 010 010101 110110010 01010111 110101111 10100110 1001001010 101001110 1011101 11010101 010010110 101011101 0010101 110101 0100010 011100 111110101 1101110 11010111 11001 1010110010 11111010 111111 1101010 11011111 01011110 11111011 011101110 1011101 011110101110 1101010100 111010110010 11010101011 110 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,300 |
Words | 231 |
Sentences | 1 |
Stanzas | 10 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 5, 4, 4, 4, 5, 4, 4, 4, 1 |
Lines Amount | 43 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 109 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 23 |
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"Compulsion" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 26 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/100763/compulsion>.
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