Analysis of Elevator Mirrors
Leonard Cohen 1934 (Westmount) – 2016 (Los Angeles, California)
My father had a moustache,
But not his father or his brothers
I am very tempted
In the new hotels
The elevators are often so dark
The mirrors are useless
(Like this one)
I don't want to go anywhere
I’ve been to the Acropolis (1959)
I sat on the old stones
And was photographed with a woman
(1970)
Who troubled my life
From then until now (2008)
Dying in reasonable circumstances
Is mostly what I hope for
But here I am on the road
Far from reasonable circumstances
There is a woman I like
She is young and beautiful and kind
And cannot sing
But she wants to be a singer
I used to keep a full picture of her
Hidden on my laptop
Then I thought:
I can’t do this again
And I dragged it (reluctantly)
To the little trash basket
Which I did not empty for quite a while
In the elevator
Of the Manchester Malmaison Hotel
I have to put on reading glasses
To find the button for my floor
The corridors are dark purple
Lit with pinpoint lights
Bass-heavy hip-hop
Dooming the generation
From hidden speakers
You squint to find your door
(The entire enterprise
Of travel and lodging
Now pitched
As a dangerous erotic adventure)
I’m no one to say
Who can or can't be a singer
God knows my own credentials
Were not extensive
It was Good Fortune
As success always is
Period
(A really lovely person
I don't have to introduce
To anyone at Sony)
Scheme | XAB XXC D XCXDXXX EFXE XXGH HIXXJXX HXEFXXIDAF XGXH XHXXDXB DXJ |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 110101 111101110 111010 00101 010011011 010110 111 1111110 11100100 111011 01101010 1 11011 11011 1001000100 1101111 1111101 111000100 1101011 111010001 0101 11111010 1111011010 10111 111 111101 01110100 1010110 1111101101 00100 1010101 111111010 11010111 01001110 1111 11011 100010 11010 111111 001010 110010 11 10100010010 11111 11111010 1111010 01010 11110 10111 100 0101010 111101 110110 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,280 |
Words | 252 |
Sentences | 1 |
Stanzas | 11 |
Stanza Lengths | 3, 3, 1, 7, 4, 4, 7, 10, 4, 7, 3 |
Lines Amount | 53 |
Letters per line (avg) | 20 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 96 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 23 |
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"Elevator Mirrors" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 10 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/53734/elevator-mirrors>.
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