Lyrics & Translation
[English]
It's a still-life watercolorOf a now-late afternoon
As the sun shines through the curtain lace
And shadows wash the room
And we sit and drink our coffee
Couched in our indifference
Like shells upon the shore
You can hear the ocean roar
In the dangling conversation
And the superficial sighs
The borders of our lives
And you read your Emily Dickinson
And I my Robert Frost
And we note our place with book markers
That measure what we've lost
Like a poem poorly written
We are verses out of rhythm
Couplets out of rhyme
In syncopated time
And the dangling conversation
And the superficial sighs
Are the borders of our lives
Yes, we speak of things that matter
With words that must be said
Can analysis be worthwhile?
Is the theater really dead?
And how the room has softly faded
And I only kiss your shadow
I cannot feel your hand
You're a stranger now unto me
Lost in the dangling conversation
And the superficial sighs
In the borders of our lives
Key Vocabulary
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Key Grammar Structures
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It's a still-life watercolor
➔ Contraction (It's = It is)
➔ Uses the contraction "**It's**" which is short for "It is," a common construction in English.
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As the sun shines through the curtain lace
➔ Subordinating conjunction (As)
➔ The word "**As**" introduces a subordinate clause explaining when the action in the main clause occurs.
-
And we sit and drink our coffee
➔ Parallel structure (sit and drink)
➔ The verbs "**sit**" and "**drink**" are used in a parallel structure, connected by "and", to show the simultaneous nature of the actions.
-
Couched in our indifference
➔ Past participle as adjective (Couched)
➔ The past participle "**Couched**" functions as an adjective, describing the state of being within their indifference.
-
Like shells upon the shore
➔ Prepositional phrase (Like shells)
➔ The phrase "**Like shells upon the shore**" functions as a prepositional phrase, providing a comparison to illustrate the subject's detachment.
-
And you read your Emily Dickinson
➔ Possessive pronoun (your)
➔ The possessive adjective "**your**" indicates that the Emily Dickinson book belongs to the person being addressed.
-
Like a poem poorly written
➔ Adjective (poorly written)
➔ "**Poorly written**" acts as an adjective phrase describing the poem, emphasizing its quality.
-
We are verses out of rhythm
➔ Prepositional phrase (out of rhythm)
➔ "**Out of rhythm**" functions as a prepositional phrase providing more information about the verses, suggesting a lack of harmony.
-
In the dangling conversation
➔ Gerund (dangling)
➔ The gerund "**dangling**" functions as a noun, modifying the phrase "conversation," personifying it, and indicating the unstructured and seemingly endless nature of the discussions.
