Nothing Twice

Szymborska’s “Nothing Twice” is seven stanzas long. Each stanza consists of four lines, or a quatrain. The poem follows a set metrical rhythm of iambic tetrameter. Iambic tetrameter is defined as a poetic line made up of four beats. An iamb, or a beat in a line of poetry, is where a stressed syllable follows an unstressed syllable. Four iambs in a line of poetry is defined as a tetrameter. Tending to be eight syllables in length, poems written in this style are easy to read, with their rhythm often resembling a heartbeat. Take this example:

One day, | perhaps | some i | dle tongue

mentions | your name | by ac | cident:

I feel | as if | a rose | were flung

into | the room, | all hue | and scent (Lines 13-16).

In this stanza, each line is eight syllables long. An unstressed syllable begins each line followed by a stressed syllable (represented in bold text). Two beats or syllables separate each of the metrical feet.

Stanzas 4 and 5 in “Nothing Twice” follow iambic tetrameter perfectly. However, many of her other stanzas have slight variations; lines may be one syllable shorter or longer than eight syllables in length.