The Question and the Answer
( A poem a day, everyday for a month #7)
In every rising peak
In every river deep
In every wall broken
In every window open
In every silence born
In every silent storm
In every stranger’s eyes
In every lover’s sighs
In every star-filled dream
In every sun’s first gleam
In every morning’s rush
In every dawning dusk
In every question that ever was asked
You, O you,
are first answer
and the last
Comment:
This poem evolved entirely from word play and figures of speech.
1) First I started with anaphora –repeating the phrase “In every…”
2) Then I tried to create couplets — 2 lines that rhyme ( AA rhyme scheme) with oppositions ( night/day, peak/deep etc)
3) As I went on, I realized I was also using a figure of speech called the Periodic sentence. This is when when you ask a question and delay the answer.
Every Breathe You Take by the Police uses this figure of speech:
Every breath you take
Every move you make
Every bond you break
Every step you take
I’ll be watching you
( The periodic sentence may help explain why the song describes stalking to effectively — not matter what, you come back to the end line — “I’ll be watching you.”
Periodic sentences create a kind of suspense that keeps the reader listening until the end when the sentence is finally complete.
Poetry Prompt: Take any one or all of these and experiment with them:
Anaphora, rhyming couplets, couplets with oppositions, anaphora as part of a periodic sentence.
For an excellent book about figures of speech, what they are and how they work, check out The Elements of Eloquence by Mark Forsyth:
