Night Visit
I spent the night with those unseen,
We laughed, we cried, and in-between.
It was not 'til they left me there,
I wondered if it was a dream.
We talked for hours without a care,
Our words, like smoke, they filled the air,
Of Truth and Beauty and the End,
My soul was lifted from despair.
I wonder now, was it pretend,
Did real and magic mix and blend?
The window cracks with Dawn's first light,
The Morning still, to not offend.
My memory's no longer bright,
Exhaustion overwhelms my fight,
It's time for me to say good night,
It's time for me to say good-night.
Hyperion
January 28, 2009
8:01 a.m. (e.s.t.)
We laughed, we cried, and in-between.
It was not 'til they left me there,
I wondered if it was a dream.
We talked for hours without a care,
Our words, like smoke, they filled the air,
Of Truth and Beauty and the End,
My soul was lifted from despair.
I wonder now, was it pretend,
Did real and magic mix and blend?
The window cracks with Dawn's first light,
The Morning still, to not offend.
My memory's no longer bright,
Exhaustion overwhelms my fight,
It's time for me to say good night,
It's time for me to say good-night.
Hyperion
January 28, 2009
8:01 a.m. (e.s.t.)
Notes on the Poem
I wrote Night Visit in the style of Robert Frost's "Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening."
(I know he wasn't the first to do that, but he's the one I and everyone else learned this from.)
(I thought about calling it "Stopping by on a Showy Evening," but feared I might get hauled away by the hokey police.)
The poem employs iambic tetrameter, which means four feet per line. In this case the "feet" is an iamb, which is a short syllable followed by a long syllable. So, it's like duh-Duh duh-Duh duh-Duh duh-Duh.
The rhyme scheme is also unusual, with a AABA BBCB set-up. I find this very hard to duplicate, as my mind naturally pushes me to to AABB or ABAB when penning the words.
I have actually tried to write this kind of structured poem before, in what I now consider disasterous fashion.
Also, not sure it's relevant but I just thought it, a few months ago I wrote something that mythologized Night a good bit.
And for what it's worth, I hate the title Anyone who can come up with a better one, I'm all for changing.
(I know he wasn't the first to do that, but he's the one I and everyone else learned this from.)
(I thought about calling it "Stopping by on a Showy Evening," but feared I might get hauled away by the hokey police.)
The poem employs iambic tetrameter, which means four feet per line. In this case the "feet" is an iamb, which is a short syllable followed by a long syllable. So, it's like duh-Duh duh-Duh duh-Duh duh-Duh.
The rhyme scheme is also unusual, with a AABA BBCB set-up. I find this very hard to duplicate, as my mind naturally pushes me to to AABB or ABAB when penning the words.
I have actually tried to write this kind of structured poem before, in what I now consider disasterous fashion.
Also, not sure it's relevant but I just thought it, a few months ago I wrote something that mythologized Night a good bit.
And for what it's worth, I hate the title Anyone who can come up with a better one, I'm all for changing.
Only I would be dumb enough to footnote a poem
3 comments:
Quite a lovely poem. Meter has always been my achilles heel in poetry; but your iambic tetrameter was spot on.
Thanks. In his defense, Bobby Frost helped a little.
Yes, but don't give yourself short shrift...
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