The Monster Of Mr Cogito Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: A BCDE FF DEGFH IJKK HFL DMNE EF DO DP DQREESS TU VDD WX YD ZWW DMA2 B2C2 WF FD2 WIDWD E2F2DD WG2WW WD H2D HFL WFEI2 J2K2FJ2A | |
- | |
Lucky Saint George | B |
from his knight's saddle | C |
could exactly evaluate | D |
the strength and movements of the dragon | E |
- | |
the first principle of strategy | F |
is to assess the enemy accurately | F |
- | |
Mr Cogito | D |
is in a worse position | E |
he sits in the low | G |
saddle of a valley | F |
covered with thick fog | H |
- | |
through fog it is impossible to perceive | I |
fiery eyes | J |
greedy claws | K |
jaws | K |
- | |
through fog | H |
one sees only | F |
the shimmering of nothingness | L |
- | |
the monster of Mr Cogito | D |
has no measurements | M |
it is difficult to describe | N |
escapes definition | E |
- | |
it is like an immense depression | E |
spread out over the country | F |
- | |
it can't be pierced | D |
with a pen | O |
- | |
with an argument | D |
or spear | P |
- | |
were it not for its suffocating weight | D |
and the death it sends down | Q |
one would think | R |
it is the hallucination | E |
of a sick imagination | E |
but it exists | S |
for certain it exists | S |
- | |
like carbon monoxide it fills | T |
houses temples markets | U |
- | |
poisons wells | V |
destroys the structures of the mind | D |
covers bread with mould | D |
- | |
the proof of the existence of the monster | W |
is its victims | X |
- | |
it is not direct proof | Y |
but sufficient | D |
- | |
- | |
- | |
reasonable people say | Z |
we can live together | W |
with the monster | W |
- | |
we only have to avoid | D |
sudden movements | M |
sudden speech | A2 |
- | |
if there is a threat assume | B2 |
the form of a rock or a leaf | C2 |
- | |
listen to wise Nature | W |
recommending mimicry | F |
- | |
that we breathe shallowly | F |
pretend we aren't there | D2 |
- | |
- | |
Mr Cogito however | W |
does not want a life of make believe | I |
he would like to fight | D |
with the monster | W |
on firm ground | D |
- | |
so he walks out at dawn | E2 |
into a sleepy suburb | F2 |
carefully equipped | D |
with a long sharp object | D |
- | |
he calls to the monster | W |
on the empty streets | G2 |
he offends the monster | W |
provokes the monster | W |
- | |
like a bold skirmisher | W |
of an army that doesn't exist | D |
- | |
he calls | H2 |
come out contemptible coward | D |
- | |
through the fog | H |
one sees only | F |
the huge snout of nothingness | L |
- | |
Mr Cogito wants to enter | W |
the uneven battle | F |
it ought to happen | E |
possibly soon | I2 |
- | |
before there is | J2 |
a fall from inertia | K2 |
an ordinary death without glory | F |
suffocation from formlessness | J2 |
Zbigniew Herbert
(1)
Poem topics: , Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme
Submit Spanish Translation
Submit German Translation
Submit French Translation
Write your comment about The Monster Of Mr Cogito poem by Zbigniew Herbert
Best Poems of Zbigniew Herbert