I am sitting
In the morning
At the diner
On the corner
I am waiting
At the counter
For the man
To pour the coffee
And he fills it
Only halfway
And before
I even argue
He is looking
Out the window
At somebody
Coming in
"It is always
Nice to see you"
Says the man
Behind the counter
To the woman
Who has come in
She is shaking
Her umbrella
And I look
The other way
As they are kissing
Their hellos
I'm pretending
Not to see them
And Instead
I pour the milk
I open
Up the paper
There's a story
Of an actor
Who had died
While he was drinking
He was no one
I had heard of
And I'm turning
To the horoscope
And looking
For the funnies
When I'm feeling
Someone watching me
And so
I raise my head
There's a woman
On the outside
Looking inside
Does she see me?
No she does not
Really see me
Cause she sees
Her own reflection
And I'm trying
Not to notice
That she's hitching
Up her skirt
And while she's
Straightening her stockings
Her hair
Is getting wet
Oh, this rain
It will continue
Through the morning
As I'm listening
To the bells
Of the cathedral
I am thinking
Of your voice...
And of the midnight picnic
Once upon a time
Before the rain began...
I finish up my coffee
It's time to catch the train
In the morning
At the diner
On the corner
I am waiting
At the counter
For the man
To pour the coffee
And he fills it
Only halfway
And before
I even argue
He is looking
Out the window
At somebody
Coming in
"It is always
Nice to see you"
Says the man
Behind the counter
To the woman
Who has come in
She is shaking
Her umbrella
And I look
The other way
As they are kissing
Their hellos
I'm pretending
Not to see them
And Instead
I pour the milk
I open
Up the paper
There's a story
Of an actor
Who had died
While he was drinking
He was no one
I had heard of
And I'm turning
To the horoscope
And looking
For the funnies
When I'm feeling
Someone watching me
And so
I raise my head
There's a woman
On the outside
Looking inside
Does she see me?
No she does not
Really see me
Cause she sees
Her own reflection
And I'm trying
Not to notice
That she's hitching
Up her skirt
And while she's
Straightening her stockings
Her hair
Is getting wet
Oh, this rain
It will continue
Through the morning
As I'm listening
To the bells
Of the cathedral
I am thinking
Of your voice...
And of the midnight picnic
Once upon a time
Before the rain began...
I finish up my coffee
It's time to catch the train
-Suzanne Vega
Hmmmm... After working on this for quite some time now, looking for something that is not here, I have come to the realization that I picked a terrible example for a nine-point analysis... The beauty of this poem (song) is its simplicity and lack of multiple burdening underlying meanings. I honestly don't believe that there is any particular structure or theme applied to the poem. I highly doubt that Vega was constructing a sophisticated abstraction through any sense of tone or prosody or any number of literary techniques (though the imagery was very strong throughout..). To impose such complex structure as a nine-point poetry analysis on something so free and simple would be superfluous in your task to read/understand/appreciate the piece. So boo! to the nine-point poetry analysis. At least for now..
No comments:
Post a Comment