poetry texts, poem archive at plagiarist.com

well, did he catch her

or not

The theme of this poem is the similarities between an acrobat and a poet. In line 6 a simile is used. This simile between a poet and an acrobat establishes who is being compared in the poem and the theme. A metaphor is used in lines 25 through 27. This metaphor compares the acrobat’s assistant who jumps from the highest perch to beauty. This relates back to the theme because just as the acrobat must catch his assistant or she will fall to her death, so to must a poet catch beauty as it falls to him or it will continue to fall and become wasted.

Sums up so sharply as only poetry can the sweet risk of any creative act. Think of the millions of people capable of creative work who have stepped back for fear of falling, or is it failing?

The way the poem is printed here totally takes away some of the inherent meaning (with all the white space & such).