Not Half-Not Whole
Where would the leaf be
without the branch
The cowboy drifting
without the ranch
Where would the wave be
without the sea
Its motion unformed,
adrift unseen
Where would a song be
without a voice
A silent concert,
a barren choice
And where would you be
without your soul
Condemned to matter,
not half—not whole
(Villanova Pennsylvania: January, 2018)
Font size:
Submitted by KurtPhilipBehm on January 26, 2018
Modified on March 18, 2023
- 17 sec read
- 314 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | AB XB AA XX AC XC AD XD A |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic dimeter |
Characters | 350 |
Words | 59 |
Stanzas | 9 |
Stanza Lengths | 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 1 |
Translation
Find a translation for this poem in other languages:
Select another language:
- - Select -
- 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
- 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
- Español (Spanish)
- Esperanto (Esperanto)
- 日本語 (Japanese)
- Português (Portuguese)
- Deutsch (German)
- العربية (Arabic)
- Français (French)
- Русский (Russian)
- ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
- 한국어 (Korean)
- עברית (Hebrew)
- Gaeilge (Irish)
- Українська (Ukrainian)
- اردو (Urdu)
- Magyar (Hungarian)
- मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
- Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Italiano (Italian)
- தமிழ் (Tamil)
- Türkçe (Turkish)
- తెలుగు (Telugu)
- ภาษาไทย (Thai)
- Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
- Čeština (Czech)
- Polski (Polish)
- Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Românește (Romanian)
- Nederlands (Dutch)
- Ελληνικά (Greek)
- Latinum (Latin)
- Svenska (Swedish)
- Dansk (Danish)
- Suomi (Finnish)
- فارسی (Persian)
- ייִדיש (Yiddish)
- հայերեն (Armenian)
- Norsk (Norwegian)
- English (English)
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Not Half-Not Whole" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 31 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/46543/not-half-not-whole>.
Discuss the poem Not Half-Not Whole with the community...
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In