WHEN I WOKE
In
the following short poem you can get a feeling for the anapestic
foot. The anapestic foot, so called, in two unstressed (or "short")
syllables followed by a stressed (or "long") one. A
feeling for this swift "beat" can be experienced by taking
two short steps followed by a long one. It can be vocalized as "ta,
ta, TUM". In this poem there are four of these feet in each line
( When I woke
it was late
and in winter
in night
). A four-footed line is called a tetrameter so this could be
described as being written in anapestic tetrameters.
WHEN I WOKE
When
I woke it was late and in winter in night
And
in quietness and shadow
I felt I was caught
In
the sense of another awareness and sight
In
the light of the lightless, as secret as thought.
And
the dreams from the darkness still rang in my brain
And
the clouds wove a blanket that hid star-born light.
And
beyond the dim walls there the sound of soft rain
Was
the whispering voice of the winter and night.
