For A Thirteenth Birthday Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCDEFFFGHI BJBKBLMNOBPBQRDS TBUVWXYHZBH BBBA2B2A2BC2D2BB E2SPBPF2G2H2BA2I2J2K 2L2M2 N2| You have read War and Peace | A |
| Now here is Sister Carrie | B |
| not up to Tolstoy still | C |
| it will second the real world | D |
| predictable planes and levels | E |
| pavement that holds you | F |
| stairs that lift you | F |
| ice that trips you | F |
| nights that begin after sunset | G |
| four lunar phases | H |
| a finite house | I |
| - | |
| I give you Dreiser | B |
| although or because | J |
| I am no longer sure | B |
| Lately I have been walking into glass doors | K |
| Through the car windows curbs disappear | B |
| On the highway wrong turnoffs become irresistible | L |
| someone else is controlling the wheel | M |
| Sleepless nights pile up like a police record | N |
| all my friends are getting divorced | O |
| Language my old comrade deserts me | B |
| words are misused or forgotten | P |
| consonants fight each other | B |
| between my upper and lower teeth | Q |
| I write fiend for friend | R |
| and word for world | D |
| remember comes out with an m missing | S |
| - | |
| I used to be able to find my way in the dark | T |
| sure of the furniture | B |
| but the town I lived in for years | U |
| has pulled up its streets in my absence | V |
| disguised its buildings behind my back | W |
| My neighbor at dinner glances | X |
| at his cuffs his palms | Y |
| he has memorized certain phrases | H |
| but does not speak my language | Z |
| Suddenly I am aware | B |
| no one at the table does | H |
| - | |
| And so I give you Dreiser | B |
| his measure of certainty | B |
| a table that's oak all the way through | B |
| real and fragrant flowers | A2 |
| skirts from sheep and silkworms | B2 |
| no unknown fibers | A2 |
| a language as plain as money | B |
| a workable means of exchange | C2 |
| a world whose very meanness is solid | D2 |
| mud into mortar and you are sure | B |
| of what will injure you | B |
| - | |
| I give you names like nails | E2 |
| walls that withstand your pounding | S |
| doors that are hard to open | P |
| but once they are open admit you | B |
| into rooms that breathe pure sun | P |
| I give you trees that lose their leaves | F2 |
| as you knew they would | G2 |
| and then come green again | H2 |
| I give you | B |
| fruit preceded by flowers | A2 |
| Venus supreme in the sky | I2 |
| the miracle of always | J2 |
| landing on your feet | K2 |
| even though the earth | L2 |
| rotates on its axis | M2 |
| - | |
| Start out with that at least | N2 |
Lisel Mueller
(1)
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