Analysis of I can't break the code

Leonard Cohen 1934 (Westmount) – 2016 (Los Angeles, California)



I can't break the code

Of our frozen love
It’s too late to know
What the password was

I reach for the past
Keep coming up short
And everything feels Like a last resort

Tho' we’ve called it quits
And there’s nothing left
Still I hear my lips
Make these promises

Though we've squandered the truth
And there’s little left
We can still sweep the room
We can still make the bed

When the world is false
I won't say it’s true
When the darkness calls
I will go with you

In a time of shame
In the great Alarm
When they call your name
We’ll go arm in arm


Scheme X XXX XAA XBXX XBXX XCXC DEDE
Poetic Form
Metre 11101 110101 11111 1011 11101 11011 010110101 11111 01101 11111 11100 111001 01101 111101 111101 10111 11111 10101 11111 00111 00101 11111 11101
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 534
Words 110
Sentences 1
Stanzas 7
Stanza Lengths 1, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 23
Letters per line (avg) 18
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 61
Words per stanza (avg) 16
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Submitted by RobertHaigh on June 16, 2020

Modified on May 03, 2023

33 sec read
335

Leonard Cohen

Leonard Norman Cohen was a highly gifted and varied writer — novelist, playright, songwriter and poet. He was already quite famous as a poet before embarking on a music career as a singer-songwriter. He is generally considered to be one of the greatest songwriters of all time, and his songs have been recorded by countless other performers. Born in Montreal, Canada, in 1934, Cohen had a long and productive career. He was working right up to his death, in 2016 at the age of 82. more…

All Leonard Cohen poems | Leonard Cohen Books

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