Under a Hat Rim
Under a Hat Rim - form Summary
Free Verse's Urgent Immediacy
Written in spare free verse, "Under a Hat Rim" uses terse lines and abrupt imagery to compress a sudden, intense perception into a few moments. The poem places urban sounds and a single face side by side, so the plain diction and loose rhythm make the speaker's flash of empathy feel immediate and cinematic. Its structure foregrounds feeling over narrative, converting a street encounter into the metaphor of a sea wreck.
Read Complete AnalysesWhile the hum and the hurry Of passing footfalls Beat in my ear like the restless surf Of a wind-blown sea, A soul came to me Out of the look on a face. Eyes like a lake Where a storm-wind roams Caught me from under The rim of a hat. I thought of a midsea wreck and bruised fingers clinging to a broken state-room door.
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