Analysis of Once I had a Muse
Hajra Khan 1997 (Lahore)
Thousands of light years before,
I saw a maiden near the sea.
I thought she was delicate,
But she was so much more than that.
I thought it was her; the love of my life,
Yet there is something about her,
That I do not understand.
She is not like daisies in her onyx locks,
Or a pretty little flower in her hands,
She is the type you cannot tame.
For she holds extraordinary power.
And this was the reason that long ago,
Often when I'm dreaming so,
Across the sky the moon will go
I saw a lady sweet and fair
Who comes to gather daisies there.
For when at morning I arise,
There's not a star left in the skies,
She picked them all and dropped them down,
Into the meadows of the town.
| Scheme | ABCDEFGHIJFKKKLLMMNN |
|---|---|
| Poetic Form | Etheree (30%) Tetractys (20%) |
| Metre | 1011101 11010101 1111100 11111111 1111001111 11110010 111101 11111000101 10101010001 11011101 111010010 0110101101 1011101 01010111 11010101 11110101 11110101 11011001 11110111 0101101 |
| Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
| Characters | 686 |
| Words | 152 |
| Sentences | 7 |
| Stanzas | 1 |
| Stanza Lengths | 20 |
| Lines Amount | 20 |
| Letters per line (avg) | 26 |
| Words per line (avg) | 7 |
| Letters per stanza (avg) | 525 |
| Words per stanza (avg) | 133 |
About this poem
The poem describes a personal experience or a dream. The setting of the poem is distant in time and space, "thousands of light years before." The speaker recounts encountering a maiden near the sea, whom they initially perceived as delicate, but later realized she possessed a unique and powerful nature. This maiden seems untamable and holds extraordinary abilities. The poem also mentions a lady who gathers daisies from the sky, suggesting a mystical or dreamlike element. These dream sequences involve stars disappearing from the sky when the lady picks the daisies and drops them into the town's meadows. The overall context of the poem seems to revolve around themes of wonder, fascination, and the realization that there is something mysterious and incomprehensible about the woman they encountered or dreamt about. It also explores the power and enchantment associated with her presence, making the experience both captivating and puzzling for the speaker. more »
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"Once I had a Muse" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 8 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/165312/once-i-had-a-muse>.
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