Waterfall’ by Laurice Dorothy Edmond is an emotive poem that deals

with the transience of youth and life. The first stanzas of the
poem metaphorically describe how one’s youth quickly fades away.
While the following stanzas talk about love and life. According to
the speaker, when she was younger her heart was filled with the
craving of love. But after her beloved’s unfortunate death, she can
understand the shortness of life. She is enlightened with the fact that
it is like water falling from a distant height. Once it falls, it does not
return to the height. The same goes for life. Here is an analysis
of ‘Waterfall’ looking at the context, structure, and form of the poem.

The poem does not rhyme at all which creates a flowing sensation
(possibly representing time flowing by). This is supported by the fact
only the first character of each stanza is capitalized, so it seems each
stanza is one long line to read. It is important to note that full-stops
are used throughout the whole poem at the end of each stanza. This
creates some structure for the poem, especially with the fact each
stanza has six lines.

Juxtaposition is created on the third line, ‘I glimpse, minute by glinting

minute’. A glimpse is a partial view of something contrasting against
the fact she is looking for minutes. There is also alliteration created
from ‘glimpse’ and ‘glinting’.

The last line of the first stanza uses a very interesting technique of
repeating words for extra emphasis one after the other, ‘sunlight
lights‘ and ‘fast, fast falling’. She is making clear how the sun
crystallizes the water falling. The sunlight could be regarded as
happiness as both are associated with being bright and positive. So, it
is happiness and the joyous moments in life that make clear how ‘fast’
the water is falling from the waterfall – time flies by when you are
having fun.

Alliteration is created from repeating words and also continues the

theme of time. By repeating the word continues the flow of the poem.

The tone of this poem is nostalgic, low-spirited, emotive, and

thoughtful. Edmond’s speaker thoughtfully remembers the days when
she was together with her love in a nostalgic vein. When she looks at
the present moment, it becomes clear that no matter how she tries to
hold her beloved’s hands tightly, death will come at the final hour to
take the loved one away.