Analysis of From: Preludes for Memnon
I read the primrose and the sea
and remember nothing
I read Arcturus and the snow
and remember nothing
I read the green and white book of spring
and remember nothing
I read the hatred in a man’s eye
Lord, I remember nothing.
Scorn spat at me and spoke
I remember it not
The river was frozen round the ship
I remember it not
I found a secret message in a blade of grass
and it is forgotten
I called my lovers by their sweet names
they are all forgotten.
Where are my lovers now?
buried in me.
The blades of grass, the ships, the scorners?
here in me
The haters in the spring, snow and Arcturus?
here in me
The primrose and the sea?
here in me.
I know what humans know
no less no more
I know how the summer breaks
on Neptune’s shore
I know how winter freezes
the Milky Way
My heart’s home is in Limbo
and there I stay.
Praise Limbo, heart, and praise
forgetfulness
We know what the tiger knows
no more no less
We know what the primrose thinks
and think it too
We walk when the snail walks
across the dew.
I was a rash man in my time
but now I am still
I spoke with god’s voice once
now I am still
Evil made my right hand strong
which now is still
Wisdom gave me pride once,
but it is still.
Lie down poor heart at last
and have your rest
Remember to forget
and have your rest
Think of yourself as once you were
at your best
And then lie down alone
and have your rest.
These things are as time weaves them
on his loom
Forgot, forgetting, we survive not
mortal bloom
Let us give thanks, to space,
for a little room
Space is our face and time our death
two poles of doom
Come dance around the compass
pointing north
Before, face downward, frozen,
we go forth.
Thus systole addressed diastole,—
The heart contracting, with its grief of burden,
To the lax heart, with grief of burden gone.
Thus star to dead leaf speaks; thus cliff to sea;
And thus the spider, on a summer’s day,
To the bright thistledown, trapped in the web.
No language leaps this chasm like a lightning:
Here is no message of assuagement, blown
From Ecuador to Greenland; here is only
A trumpet blast, that calls dead men to arms;
The granite’s pity for the cloud; the whisper
Of time to space.
Scheme | aBcBbBxb xDxDxexe xaaAfAaA cgxgxhch xaxxxixi xjkjxjkj xLxLmlnL xodopoxo fqeq aex ahx bna xmp |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (30%) Etheree (25%) |
Metre | 1101001 001010 1110001 001010 110101111 001010 110100011 1101010 111101 101011 010110101 101011 110101000111 011010 111101111 111010 111101 1001 01110101 101 0100011010 101 01001 101 111101 1111 1110101 111 1111010 0101 1111010 0111 110101 1 1110101 1111 111011 0111 111011 0101 11011011 11111 111111 1111 1011111 1111 101111 1111 111111 0111 010101 0111 11011110 111 011101 0111 1111111 111 010101011 101 111111 10101 1110101101 1111 1101010 101 0111010 111 1101010 01100111110 1011111101 1111111111 0101010101 10111001 11011101010 11110111 1101101110 0101111111 0110101010 1111 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 2,109 |
Words | 425 |
Sentences | 17 |
Stanzas | 13 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 4, 3, 3, 3, 3 |
Lines Amount | 80 |
Letters per line (avg) | 21 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 130 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 32 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 2:07 min read
- 60 Views
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"From: Preludes for Memnon" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 13 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/6991/from%3A--preludes-for-memnon>.
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