AND YET THE BOOKS

STRUCTURE

• 16 line poem, lines are long - many enjambed with a few end-stopped lines
• Free verse - One large stanza
• The longer length of the lines shows the continuity of books
• No rhyme scheme; assonance and consonance is shown
• Meter has relatively slow cadence, with moments that speed up; unstructured

Consonance:
“And yet the books will be there on the shelves, separate beings”

Personification:
“We are,” they said, even as their pages
Were being torn out, or a buzzing flame
Licked away their letters”

Imagery:
“That appeared once, still wet
As shining chestnuts under a tree in autumn”

This poem illustrates the immortal quality of books. Even though humans perish, the books they write never truly do as they have the strength of a story to survive and thrive on. The title itself portrays the continuity of literature, saying that despite all, the books will still be there.

Related Song:
"There is a Light that Never Goes Out" by The Smiths

Milosz, Czeslaw. "And Yet the Books." Trans. Robert Hass. Reading the World: Contemporary Literature From Across the Globe. Ed. Carol Francis. Logan, Iowa: Perfection Learning, 2012. eBook.

MADE BY ALEX CHAIDEZ