Forgetfulness Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCDE FGH IJK LM FNO FPQC RSTU| The name of the author is the first to go | A |
| followed obediently by the title the plot | B |
| the heartbreaking conclusion the entire novel | C |
| which suddenly becomes one you have never read | D |
| never even heard of | E |
| - | |
| as if one by one the memories you used to harbor | F |
| decided to retire to the southern hemisphere of the brain | G |
| to a little fishing village where there are no phones | H |
| - | |
| Long ago you kissed the names of the nine Muses goodbye | I |
| and watched the quadratic equation pack its bag | J |
| and even now as you memorize the order of the planets | K |
| - | |
| something else is slipping away a state flower perhaps | L |
| the address of an uncle the capital of Paraguay | M |
| - | |
| Whatever it is you are struggling to remember | F |
| it is not poised on the tip of your tongue | N |
| not even lurking in some obscure corner of your spleen | O |
| - | |
| It has floated away down a dark mythological river | F |
| whose name begins with an L as far as you can recall | P |
| well on your own way to oblivion where you will join those | Q |
| who have even forgotten how to swim and how to ride a bicycle | C |
| - | |
| No wonder you rise in the middle of the night | R |
| to look up the date of a famous battle in a book on war | S |
| No wonder the moon in the window seems to have drifted | T |
| out of a love poem that you used to know by heart | U |
Billy Collins
(1)
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