A Distance From The Sea Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: A BCDE FGHIFJKLMNOPQRSTUVWX YZA2B2 C2D2E2UF2G2OD2H2I2LJ 2K2L2M2N2O2P2Q2YR2S2 T2U2V2W2I2X2Y2C Z2Q2A3 B3C3P2S2BXFLD3E3| To Ernest Brace | A |
| - | |
| And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices I was | B |
| about to write and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto | C |
| me Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered and | D |
| write them not REVELATIONS x | E |
| - | |
| That raft we rigged up under the water | F |
| Was just the item when he walked | G |
| With his robes blowing dark against the sky | H |
| It was as though the unsubstantial waves held up | I |
| His slender and inviolate feet The gulls flew over | F |
| Dropping crying alone thin ragged lengths of cloud | J |
| Drifted in bars across the sun There on the shore | K |
| The crowd's response was instantaneous He | L |
| Handled it well I thought the gait the tilt of the head just right | M |
| Long streaks of light were blinding on the waves | N |
| And then we knew our work well worth the time | O |
| The days of sawing fitting all those nails | P |
| The tiresome rehearsals considerations of execution | Q |
| But if you want a miracle you have to work for it | R |
| Lay your plans carefully and keep one jump | S |
| Ahead of the crowd To report a miracle | T |
| Is a pleasure unalloyed but staging one requires | U |
| Tact imagination a special knack for the job | V |
| Not everyone possesses A miracle in fact means work | W |
| And now there are those who have come saying | X |
| That miracles were not what we were after But what else | Y |
| Is there What other hope does life hold out | Z |
| But the miraculous the skilled and patient | A2 |
| Execution the teamwork all the pain and worry every miracle involves | B2 |
| - | |
| Visionaries tossing in their beds haunted and racked | C2 |
| By questions of Messiahship and eschatology | D2 |
| Are like the mist rising at nightfall and come | E2 |
| Perhaps to even less Grave supernaturalists devoted worshippers | U |
| Experience the ecstasy such as it is but not | F2 |
| Our ecstasy It was our making Yet sometimes | G2 |
| When the torrent of that time | O |
| Comes pouring back I wonder at our courage | D2 |
| And our enterprise It was as though the world | H2 |
| Had been one darkening abandoned hall | I2 |
| Where rows of unlit candles stood and we | L |
| Not out of love so much or hope or even worship but | J2 |
| Out of the fear of death came with our lights | K2 |
| And watched the candles one by one take fire flames | L2 |
| Against the long night of our fear We thought | M2 |
| That we could never die Now I am less convinced | N2 |
| The traveller on the plain makes out the mountains | O2 |
| At a distance then he loses sight His way | P2 |
| Winds through the valleys then at a sudden turning of a path | Q2 |
| The peaks stand nakedly before him they are something else | Y |
| Than what he saw below I think now of the raft | R2 |
| For me somehow the summit of the whole experience | S2 |
| And all the expectations of that day but also of the cave | T2 |
| We stocked with bread the secret meetings | U2 |
| In the hills the fake assassins hired for the last pursuit | V2 |
| The careful staging of the cures the bribed officials | W2 |
| The angels' garments tailored faultlessly | I2 |
| The medicines administered behind the stone | X2 |
| That ultimate cloud so perfect and so opportune | Y2 |
| Who managed all that blood I never knew | C |
| - | |
| The days get longer It was a long time ago | Z2 |
| And I have come to that point in the turning of the path | Q2 |
| Where peaks are infinite horn shaped and scaly choked with | A3 |
| - | |
| thorns | B3 |
| But even here I know our work was worth the cost | C3 |
| What we have brought to pass no one can take away | P2 |
| Life offers up no miracles unfortunately and needs assistance | S2 |
| Nothing will be the same as once it was | B |
| I tell myself It's dark here on the peak and keeps on getting | X |
| darker | F |
| It seems I am experiencing a kind of ecstasy | L |
| Was it sunlight on the waves that day The night comes down | D3 |
| And now the water seems remote unreal and perhaps it is | E3 |
Weldon Kees
(1)
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