Analysis of Insanity
John Jessup Kennan 1953 (Pomona)
In a fetal position I waken
On ground so hardened and froze
Why am I bleeding? Why am I bruised?
Where am I? Where are my clothes?
I struggle, try to remember
Find a fig leaf to cover my shame
Wander the forest searching for clues
Amnesty to shroud the blame
Appears a fortress in a clearing
On a hill above a track
Black pearls shine, eyes like diamonds
Diamonds on a diamondback's back
Through the windows of the bars
The bars on her windows
Pearls shine, like beacons, beckon
Distant, hesitant, cautious, I close
A prisoner to nakedness
She tells me that I'm free
If loves a prison, lock me up
And throw away the key
Drawbridge lowers over a moat
Fortress is cold, of stone
She decides to grant an audience
Where loneliness is shared alone
Echoes as I cross the threshold
The fortress door resounds behind
I search her soft, compelling eyes
Eager, confident, soothing, kind
She nurses weeping, bloody wounds
With tender, gentle, open kiss
The bleeding stops, the bruises heal
Cherished in a cherub's bliss
The beacon beckons in her eyes
Shines through bars, compelling me
Gently, she removes the leaf
Removes the shroud, the mystery
A prisoner to nakedness
She tells me that I'm free
If loves a prison, lock me up
And throw away the key
She hurts for species endangered
In seas and upon land
But never does she think about
A dagger in the heart of a man
The fangs are bared, the claws come out
On a hill above a track
Her eyes, how they shine and sparkle
Diamonds on a diamondback's back
Is she really so cold and heartless?
I'm afraid, alone, and confused
Wounded, into the woods I run
Cold, naked, bleeding and bruised
Anemic from the loss of blood
Weak, I curl up on the ground
Fade quietly to restfulness
Come deep to sleep, without a sound
A prisoner to nakedness
She tells me that I'm free
If loves a prison, lock me up
And throw away the key
In a fetal position I waken
On ground so hardened and froze
Why am I bleeding? Why am I bruised?
Where am I? Where are my clothes?
I struggle, try to remember
Find a fig leaf to cover my shame
Wander the forest searching for clues
Amnesty to shroud the blame
Appears a fortress in a clearing...
© John Kennan 4-27-14
Scheme | ABCDEFGF HIxIxbax BJKJ xlxlxmnm xoxonjxj BJKJ xxpxpIxI xcacxqbq BJKJ ABCDEFGF H a |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (21%) |
Metre | 0010010110 1111001 111101111 1111111 11011010 101111011 100101011 1001101 010100010 1010101 1111110 101011 1010101 011010 1111010 101001011 010011 111111 11010111 010101 1101001 101111 11111100 11001101 1011101 0101101 11010101 10100101 11010101 11010101 01010101 100011 01010001 1110101 1010101 01010100 010011 111111 11010111 010101 11110010 010011 11011101 010001101 01110111 1010101 01111010 101011 111011010 10101001 10010111 1101001 01010111 1111101 110011 11110101 010011 111111 11010111 010101 0010010110 1111001 111101111 1111111 11011010 101111011 100101011 1001101 010100010 110 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 2,142 |
Words | 403 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 12 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 4, 8, 8, 4, 8, 8, 4, 8, 1, 1 |
Lines Amount | 70 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 143 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 34 |
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"Insanity" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 12 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/100755/insanity>.
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