"Ceasefire" by Michael Longley
I
Put in mind of his own father and moved to tears
Achilles took him by the hand and pushed the old king
Gently away, but Priam curled up at his feet and
Instead of writing an epic poem in the style of Homer, Longley structures his poem as a traditional English or “Shakespearian” sonnet composed of three quatrains and a couplet. However, he does not adhere to the classic Shakespearian rhyme scheme and meter. The poem is not written in iambic pentameter, and the quatrains do not follow ababcdcdefef rhyme scheme. However, the final couplet does rhyme, and is written in iambic hexameter.
Ceasefire