Analysis of The Longest Wait
Michael Ullom 2004 (Fayetteville)
Come the height of the sun's old reign
I return to depths most unchanged,
The parched Earth lasts not without rain,
Yet it is my heart claimed estranged;
I am a garden bed afraid -
To change and grow and grow dismayed.
For who knocks upon hallowed halls
And echoes deeply his abandoned fears?
The few souls here have stained the walls,
Sundering memories and quiet tears;
All that is to be, a picture of you;
And the room shaded a lamented hue.
Each step sounds a thunderous roar;
Is reluctance a signal? Is it real?
Each step beckons, Another more!
What is autonomy when you can't feel?
These white-washed halls do no man well;
Do not disguise as heaven what is hell.
It is a beige ceiling, tired, old, and sick;
Yet mother stays aloft to keep you in;
Have you heard the old men demand her tricks-
Like a dog; submit and one day you win;
It's why throughout the night the TV's on,
Because it's what keeps you warm before dawn.
Tears do not kiss my eyes and flee my face,
Because outside the window beauty thrives!
There's never been a soul here, but a trace-
Of time escaping our warm wasted lives,
But the sun is high and the garden green!
I see it all through the old window screen.
Four walls surrounding me, a separate shade;
A color such a deep and mystic well,
Yet the same, transparent and overplayed;
The colors swim and mix an awful tell;
It makes one sick to think! A heart debate!
I curse myself and face the longest wait;
Scheme | ABABCC DXDXEE FGFGHH XIXIXX JXJXKK CHCHLL |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 10110111 10111101 01111011 11111101 11010101 11010101 11101101 0101010101 01111101 11000101 1111101011 0011000101 11101001 1010010111 11100101 1101001111 11111111 1101110111 11011010101 1101011110 1110110101 1010101111 110101011 0111111011 1111110111 0111010101 1101011101 11010101101 1011100101 1111101101 1101010101 0101010101 1010100101 0101011101 1111110101 111010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,440 |
Words | 305 |
Sentences | 15 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 36 |
Letters per line (avg) | 31 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 186 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 45 |
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Written on July 17, 2021
Submitted by michaelu.47366 on February 23, 2023
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:33 min read
- 2 Views
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"The Longest Wait" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/152137/the-longest-wait>.
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