ANALYSIS

No stranger to me is Spring’s sweet chicanery

Spring is the season of rebirth and growth, and in this context is representative of a potential new love interest, or in a broader sense, new developments and change.

Fleeting and fevered in deluge and dreams,

“Deluge and” is a homophone for “delusion.” “Fevered” here can be connected to “dreams” to reference a fever dream, which is itself a delusion.

Nor the way pitch clouds pour over whispered words

“Pitch” here means dark but also calls back to “fever” in the previous line (a “fever pitch,” a state of extreme excitement or agitation). “Pour over” is another double entendre, indicating both to rain heavily upon and “pore over,” meaning analyze and overthink.

And drown out discernment in din and dirge.

“Drown out” references the storm imagery (literal drowning) but also noise. The use of “dirge” hints at the relationship in question being potentially dead on arrival.

Yet glimpses of gaps piped in pyrite persist

The phrase “silver lining” is often used to describe bright bits of light escaping through clouds, a metaphor for hope in a dire situation. Here the light is coming through as “pyrite,” or fool’s gold. This represents false hope.

To siren souls of the unwise or unwit.

I like the idea here of using “siren” as a verb meaning “to lure.”

Her familiar façade bears foreign allure,

Novel recurrence with intentions obscured,

“Her” refers back to Spring. These lines are both juxtapositions suggesting the narrator has been in this situation before but cannot resist the temptation.

And so my heart clings to grandeur or guise,

The narrator is putting their trust into either something beautiful or something that appears to be beautiful.

Reluctant for refuge in the eye of the mind.

“Eye of the mind” is a call back to the storm imagery, meaning a place of reprieve amidst the chaos. This line expresses the narrator’s disinclination to approach the situation logically or with trepidation.

To wait in the squall or shelter in the eaves,

“Squall or” is a homophone for squalor. I originally wanted to work in some imagery of raindrops falling from the eaves (“eavesdrop”), but I may save that for a future revision.

If one is more wise it remains to be seen.

We end in uncertainty!

Words to Note:

Chicanery - trickery

Deluge - downpour

Discernment - correct judgment

Din - loud, droning noise

Dirge - funeral song

Pyrite - mineral known as fool’s gold

Unwit - ignorant, unaware

Guise - external appearance

Allure - charm

Squall - storm

Squalor - total disarray

Eaves - roof overhang