Sonnet Analysis

SECOND COMING

Cold winds from the north grew wilder, puckered
The face and flared hair. Loaded bush and tree
Flew comet tail and bent. For long before we
Had heard the whinge of animal and bird.
It is the ice again, it is the ice
Again. Something has provoked the long peace,
Something has stirred the white rage of passion,
Swollen, risen out on the horizon.
It is the conqueror again. She tramps
To war again, she surges on, taking
All in her stride, growth and rising, old ramps
And barriers of former battle, ring
And granite rampart, then piles up and slumps
To silence. That was her second coming.

http://www.petermakem.com/

The rhyme scheme changed.  Makem's scheme is "ABBACCDDEFEFEF."  It's kind of a mix between Shakespearean rhyme and Petrarchan rhyme.  The enjambment used pulls the focus from the format of the sonnet and puts more attention on the meaning and sound of the poem overall.  There seems to be iambic meter throughout the poem, but instead of lines it's used in the sentences; it isn't perfect, either.  "For long before we/had heard the whinge of animal and bird," can be split up like this: "For long/before/we/had heard/the whinge/of an/imal/and bird," with "we" as the connector between the two lines.  At the same time, iambic can't be found all throughout the poem.  The line "something has stirred..." has all sorts of patterns in it, but they don't exactly repeat.  I guess the volta is line 9.  It changes from "it" to she."  The speaker finally knows what is going on; the conqueror is here again.  It talks about the change of weather?  Yeah that sounds right, with things getting colder and trees losing leaves?  And birds used to chirp and stuff.  White rage can be snow.  Hey, maybe the conqueror is winter?  Makes sense. I think this poem is about a blizzard or just snow in general.  The sonnet form helps show the romantic side of seasonal change while the actual words demonstrate the power and unpredictability of weather.