The moon shines full
and the wind blows weak:
A man is dying,
but he cannot sleep.
Old age caught him
while he was still young;
Those dark insomic dreams-
from his eyes, they hung.
And his nerves grown stiff
for his work, pulled 'em taut
Yes, the stress of each day
left no man uncaught.
Yet this was the way
of the av'rage teenager,
Whose life's prize: a grade
and sleeplessness, his wager.
Wednesday, June 18
(i am very tired)
1 comment:
Words such as "hung" and "taut" are allusions to a hangman's rope. Stress is an eventual death sentence for the poor student, who will soon be led to his noose. The student is like fish that is helplessly being baited, and soon will be "caught", like mere dispensable produce.
First stanza has a sing-song quality, contributed by the heavy stresses at the end of the first two lines.
- \ \ \
The moon shines full
- - \ \ \
and the wind blows weak
This seemingly cheerful and upbeat opening is juxtaposed against the gloomy theme of stress and depression discussed in the poem.
- \ \ - \
Whose life's prize: a grade
Emphasis on "life's prize", indicates importance. The contraction of "av'rage" gives the poem a colloquial feel, establishing intimacy between the reader and the poem.
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