To Eva Descending the Stair
Clocks cry: stillness is a lie, my dear; The wheels revolve, the universe keeps running. (Proud you halt upon the spiral stair.) The asteroids turn traitor in the air, And planets plot with old elliptic cunning; Clocks cry: stillness is a lie, my dear. Red the unraveled rose sings in your hair: Blood springs eternal if the heart be burning. (Proud you halt upon the spiral stair.) Cryptic stars wind up the atmosphere, In solar schemes the titled suns go turning; Clocks cry: stillness is a lie, my dear. Loud the immortal nightingales declare: Love flames forever if the flesh be yearning. (Proud you halt upon the spiral stair.) Circling zodiac compels the year. Intolerant beauty never will be learning. Clocks cry: stillness is a lie, my dear. (Proud you halt upon the spiral stair.)
To Eva Descending the Stair - form Summary
Villanelle of Recurring Refrain
This villanelle uses strict refrains and a tight rhyme scheme to create a sense of circular inevitability. The repeated lines Clocks cry: stillness is a lie, my dear
and (Proud you halt upon the spiral stair)
return like a musical refrain, folding cosmic images and intimate address into a looping argument against stasis. The form’s repetition reinforces the poem’s tension between motion and suspended poise, making structure the poem’s central expressive force.
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