Analysis of The Old Man



The old man found me in the churchyard after I fled,
He took my hands in his and the words that he said,
Scarred my heart forever and I never forgot,
The way his gentle tone released my stomach from knots,

Life comes down to a few special moments Monroe,
This is one of yours, please don’t choose to go,
Go back inside and give your heart to that man,
Don’t run away from your love before your story’s began,

I know from experience that life is too short,
The last time I saw my love he was leaving the port,
On his way to be blasted by Tom, Dick and Harry,
He took one to his head and we never did marry,

So I’ve faced this world alone and it’s not been too bad,
But if I had the chance you have I’d be nothing but glad,
Forgive me for being glum but I’m trying my best,
To help you through one of God’ hardest tests,

I know it’s a big step but you need not fear,
As I’ll be right here waiting if you need me my dear,
It’s not terrifying once it’s all said and done,
And ten years from now you’ll feel like you’ve won,

Every single thing that this life has to offer,
And you’ll look back on this day as a tiny blur,
As the start of your little journey together,
Now go back in girl, he won’t wait forever,

I turned back around as I stepped in the church,
The old man sat by a grave, on a bench he was perched,
With his head in his hands, I could hear his groans,
And as he crouched down I could hear his old bones,

He turned back towards me, nodded and smiled,
Then lay beside his estranged love for a while,
I turned to my love and I whispered my vows,
And gave myself to him there, as much as God would allow,

When I exited the church I saw a lifeless body,
I knelt down beside him and placed down two poppies,
I can’t help but be grateful to that wise old man,
For he spent his last breaths making sure I never ran.


Scheme AAXX BBCC DDEE FFXX GGHH IIII XXJJ XXXX EXCC
Poetic Form Quatrain  (44%)
Metre 011110011011 111101001111 111010011001 0111010111011 111101101001 1111111111 11010111111 1101111011101 111010011111 0111111111001 1111110111010 1111110110110 1111101011111 11110111111011 0111101111011 1111111101 11101111111 1111110111111 11100111101 0111111111 1001011111110 011111110101 101111010010 11101111010 11101111001 0111101101111 11101111111 01111111111 1110111001 11011011101 11111011011 0111111111101 11100011101010 111011011110 111111011111 1111111011101
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 1,863
Words 415
Sentences 1
Stanzas 9
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 36
Letters per line (avg) 39
Words per line (avg) 10
Letters per stanza (avg) 154
Words per stanza (avg) 41

About this poem

The narrative follows an old man visiting the grave of his boyfriend, who died decades ago. He sees a young woman fleeing a church on her wedding day, and offers some advice to her. He helps her gain the courage to follow through with her wedding and marry the man of her dreams - something he never got the chance to do.

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Written on September 14, 2022

Submitted by abbiiema on November 07, 2022

Modified on March 05, 2023

2:04 min read
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