Peripeteia Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: ABCDECFGHIJKLCMN MJKNKOKNKNKKPMNQKKFN JKKNNJRKKNRKKPK KSKKKTNKNUNQVKNKKKNW X MBNSNYZNMNNTNYA2KNNB 2TN

Of course the familiar rustling of programsA
My hair mussed from behind by a grand gestureB
Of mink A little craning about to seeC
If anyone I know is in the audienceD
And as the house fills upE
A mild relief that no one there knows meC
A certain amount of getting up and downF
From my aisle seat to let the others inG
Then my eyes wander briefly over the castH
Management stand ins make up men designersI
Perfume and liquor ads and rise prayerlikeJ
To the false heaven of rosetted lightsK
The stucco lyres and emblems of high artL
That promise with crude Broadway honestyC
Something less than perfectionM
Two bulbs are missing and Apollo s boredN
-
-
And then the cool drawn out anticipationM
Not of the play itself but the false duskJ
And equally false night when the houselightsK
Obey some planetary rheostatN
And bring a stillness on It is that stillnessK
I wait forO
Before it comesK
Whether we like it or not we are a crowdN
Foul breathed gum chewing fat with arroganceK
Passion opinion and appetite for bloodN
But in that instant which the mind protractsK
From dim to dark before the curtain risesK
Each of us is miraculously aloneP
In calm invulnerable isolationM
Neither a neighbor nor a fellow butN
As at the beginning and end a single soulQ
With all the sweet and sour of lonelinessK
I as a connoisseur of lonelinessK
Savor it richly and set it downF
In an endless umber landscape a stubble fieldN
Under a lilac electric storm flushed skyJ
Where in companionship with worthless stonesK
Mica flecked or at best some rusty quartzK
I stood in childhood waiting for things to mendN
A useful discipline perhaps One that might leadN
To solitary self denying workJ
That issues in something harmless like a poemR
Governed by laws that stand for other lawsK
Both of which aim through kindred disciplinesK
At the soul s knowledge and habilimentN
In any case in a self granted freedomR
The mind lone regent of itself prolongsK
The dark and silence mirrors itself delightsK
In consciousness of consciousness aloneP
Sufficient nimble touched with a small graceK
-
-
Then as it must at last the curtain risesK
The play begins Something by ShakespeareS
Framed in the arched proscenium it seemsK
A dream neither better nor worseK
Than whatever I shall dream after I riseK
With hat and coat go home to bed and dreamT
If anything more limited more strictN
No one will fly or turn into a mooseK
But acceptable like a dream because remoteN
And there is after all a pretty girlU
Perhaps tonight she ll figure in the castN
I summon to my slumber and controlQ
In vast arenas limitless space and timeV
That yield and sway in soft Einsteinian tidesK
Who is she Sylvia Amelia EarhartN
Some creature that appears and disappearsK
From life from reverie a fugitive of dreamsK
There on the stage with awkward grace the actorsK
Beautifully costumed in Renaissance brocadeN
Perform their duties even as I must mineW
Though not as I am always free to smileX
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-
Something is happening Some consternationM
Are the knives out Is someone s life in dangerB
And can the magic cloak and book protectN
One has of course real confidence in ShakespeareS
And I relax in my plush seat convincedN
That prompt as dawn and genuine as a toothacheY
The dream will be accomplished provisionally trueZ
As anything else one cares to think aboutN
The players are aghast Can it be the villainM
The outrageous drunks plotting the coup d tatN
Are slyer than we thought Or we more innocentN
Can it be that poems lie As in a dreamT
Leaving a stunned and gap mouthed FerdinandN
Father and faery pageant she even sheY
Miraculous Miranda steps from the stageA2
Moves up the aisle to my seat where she stopsK
Smiles gently seriously and takes my handN
And leads me out of the theatre into a nightN
As luminous as noon more deeply realB2
Simply because of her hand than any dreamT
Shakespeare or I or anyone ever dreamedN

Anthony Evan Hecht



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