Analysis of The System
Joe Strickland 1986 (Hobbysville, SC)
When pain is chronic,
It's hard to keep up resistance,
It chips away at our security,
Until we become something else entirely
A stranger to ourselves.
The cruelty then creeps up,
A way to protect oneself from the constant sting,
But something dies inside of us,
A light that once shone brightly begins to dim,
As a fading star.
It's not just individuals,
But the very system of the world,
Built on a lie from the very beginning,
A notion of worth defined by wealth,
By social placement.
The rich stay rich,
The poor stop trying,
The middle class dwindles,
The system benefits those
Who understand the game.
But what about justice and fairness?
Where is the compassion and care?
It's all about the bottom line,
And those on top could give a shit.
And we keep voting the same.
So we struggle and we fight,
To hold on to our humanity,
To keep that spark alive,
In this cold and cruel society.
That's the system.
Scheme | XXAAX XBCXX DXBXX XBDXE CXXXE XAXAX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (30%) |
Metre | 11110 11111010 11011100100 011011010100 0101001 010111 01101110101 11010111 01111100111 10101 1110100 101010101 11011010010 010110111 11010 0111 01110 010110 0101001 10101 110110010 11001001 11010101 01111101 0111001 1110011 1111100100 111101 0110100100 1010 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 917 |
Words | 201 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 |
Lines Amount | 30 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 119 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 28 |
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"The System" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 3 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/160776/the-system>.
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