Analysis of Return
Hayyim Nahman Bialik 1873 (Ivnitsa, Volhynian Governorate) – 1934 (Vienna)
Once more. Look: a spent old scarecrow
shrivelled face
straw-dry shadow
swaying like a leaf
bending and swaying over books.
Once more. Look: a spent old crone
weaving and weaving
knitted stockings
mouth full of curses
lips forever mumbling curses.
There’s the household cat
has not moved since I left,
still dreaming by the stove
playing cat and mouse
in his dream.
And as ever, in darkness
the spider weaves
hanging its web
full of swollen fly corpses
in the dark west corner.
You’ve not changed:
All old as the hills.
Nothing new.
I’ll join you, old cronies!
Together we’ll rot till we stink.
| Scheme | AXAXX XXXBB XXXXX XXXXX XXXXX |
|---|---|
| Poetic Form | Tetractys (48%) |
| Metre | 11101110 11 111 10101 10010101 1110111 10010 1010 11110 101010010 1011 111111 110101 10101 011 0110010 0101 1011 1110110 001110 111 11101 101 111110 01011111 |
| Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
| Characters | 586 |
| Words | 106 |
| Sentences | 11 |
| Stanzas | 5 |
| Stanza Lengths | 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 |
| Lines Amount | 25 |
| Letters per line (avg) | 19 |
| Words per line (avg) | 4 |
| Letters per stanza (avg) | 94 |
| Words per stanza (avg) | 21 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 20, 2023
- 31 sec read
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"Return" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/17031/return>.
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