Analysis of In Despair
Constantine P. Cavafy 1863 (Alexandria) – 1933 (Alexandria)
He has lost him completely. And now he is seeking
on the lips of every new lover
the lips of his beloved; in the embrace
of every new lover he seeks to be deluded
that he is the same lad, that it it to him he is yielding.
He has lost him copmletely, as if he had never been at all.
For he wanted -- so he said -- he wanted to be saved
from the stigmatized, the sick sensual delight;
from the stigmatized, sensual delight of shame.
There was still time -- as he said -- to be saved.
He has lost him completely, as if he had never been at all.
In his imagination, in his delusions,
on the lips of others it is his lips he is seeking;
he is longing to feel again the love he has known.
Scheme | AXXXA BCXXC BXAX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111010011110 1011100110 0111010001 11001101111010 111011111111110 11111111110111 1110111110111 10100110001 10101000111 1111111111 1111010111110111 01001001010 10111011111110 1110110101111 |
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 803 |
Words | 138 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 5, 5, 4 |
Lines Amount | 14 |
Letters per line (avg) | 37 |
Words per line (avg) | 9 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 172 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 43 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 10, 2023
- 41 sec read
- 59 Views
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"In Despair" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/7164/in-despair>.
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