Analysis of Past the Shallows
Past the shallows now,
well and truly into deep water –
water that is charcoal cold.
I navigate these waters alone.
Children playing in the bay
race to collect the early morning treasure
gifted by tide,
left lying on sandy mounds.
In these shallows
the bays and cays are protected –
life is carefree and careless,
and sun sings her tuneful rays.
Too quickly the tide turns,
taking me out deeper each year -
deeper into whitewater waves
where treasures serve only to tease me.
Paths that were once clear
now seem distant, confused,
hurrying me deeper
as if in some urgency.
In this twilight break –
blackened waters swirl,
their soft-lipped touches
enticing me down.
Soon, too soon - like tidal waters
I’ll ebb and flow until
what I have to offer -
will not be enough.
Scheme | ABCDEBFGGHIJKLMNLOBNPQRSTUBV |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1011 101001110 101111 11011001 1010001 11010101010 1011 1101101 011 01011010 111010 0110101 110011 10111011 1001101 110110111 11011 111001 100110 1101100 0111 10101 11110 01011 11111010 110101 111110 11101 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 775 |
Words | 151 |
Sentences | 8 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 28 |
Lines Amount | 28 |
Letters per line (avg) | 22 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 606 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 138 |
About this poem
When we are young, we play in shallow waters and live a carefree, happy time - well-protected. As we age, we venture out alone into deeper waters until age takes its toll and no-one cares about us anymore. Can I survive the future? Will people still want what I can offer, or is this not going to be enough?
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"Past the Shallows" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 3 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/179747/past-the-shallows>.
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