03-21-2016, 07:26 PM
I first read this at about age ten, I wish I could remember what I thought about it then, I guess enough for it to still sound familiar. From this end of life it says it all, with impressive technique.
He clings so firmly to his metaphor, turning it to examine every angle, reaching for every related image and making it all fit together. None seems to be thrown in only because he could, but used to it's fullest, by which I mean each means something to me.
He manages to be clear as a bell and still leave so much room to wander.
"My instep arch not only keeps the ache,
It keeps the pressure of a ladder-round."
This morning these lines are my favorite, how they are not saved until the end but inserted amid all the opportunities and possibilities, the constant pain without which all balance would be lost.
The use of rhyme and meter is a perfect example of knowing the rules so that you can break them, all for the benefit of this particular poem, all to achieve a desired effect. For me, inspirational.
He clings so firmly to his metaphor, turning it to examine every angle, reaching for every related image and making it all fit together. None seems to be thrown in only because he could, but used to it's fullest, by which I mean each means something to me.
He manages to be clear as a bell and still leave so much room to wander.
"My instep arch not only keeps the ache,
It keeps the pressure of a ladder-round."
This morning these lines are my favorite, how they are not saved until the end but inserted amid all the opportunities and possibilities, the constant pain without which all balance would be lost.
The use of rhyme and meter is a perfect example of knowing the rules so that you can break them, all for the benefit of this particular poem, all to achieve a desired effect. For me, inspirational.