Wilson Castillo Avils

Nelson Nazario
Ingl 3104-020
15 March 2016
A mystery out of sight
A ballad poem is a plot-driven song. It features one or more characters and tells a story. The story
is told through events describing each crucial moment until the conclusion. The ballad is often
constructed in quatrain stanzas, each line containing as few as three or four stresses and rhyming
either the second and fourth lines, or all alternating lines. In this essay, I will explain each line
and stanza of my poem, the uses of my poetic devices inside the poem and what kind of
connection there is with the poem and me.
This poem was made to fill in the gap of the last Sly Cooper game which ended in a cliffhanger.
The poem is about Sly Cooper location right after his fight. The first stanza was about the setting,
to initiate the mood and to figure out what happened to Sly. In the line It was uncertain; he was
not in sight refers to an explosion. Slys team had destroyed a time machine while Sly was still
near it. The explosion made a lot of debris and smoke which prevented them from seeing Sly.
The plan did not fail meant that the team had prepared a plan to eliminate the threat and it was
a success. The line But Sly disappeared from the fight was to give a clue to the reader about
what happened and to get an idea of what is ahead. This second stanza is about team looking for
clues to find Sly and his location. The first line in the second stanza, A clue from afar could not
be seen is to indicate that a search to find Sly has begun. In Neither hint nor sign, it means
that the team had not found any traces or whereabouts his location. The line But something was
on the screen means that the team found a clue, but the screen it was referring to was of the

Wilson 1

readers device. It was to create an effect, to make the reader a part of the poem and the
characters to briefly interact with it. The third stanza is about the team learning the location of
his friend. In It was a note, plain in sight the team picked an item that was in the screen. The
line Coordinates, written on it means that they know the location. In It is a place, far and
bright a description was given so that the reader can theorize where exactly Sly is. The final
stanza its about Sly and his exact location. Sly was in Egypt, but he did not know tells the
exact location but also means that Sly did not know where he was. At this line Sly did not wrote
the note was to catch the readers attention and made him realize that someone else wrote the
note. The third line in this stanza But he was soon in for a show was to react to what was in
Slys surroundings, to add a sense of mystery.
In this essay, I used two poetic devices. These are simile and metaphor. Like a calling into the
night is a metaphor. Like a calling is to refer to a noise and into the night to indicate
that, during the night, there is no light. This also means that nothing can be seen. Using this line
together is to indicate that Slys team was calling for him but did not see where he was. It was
as thin as pin is a simile. By connecting this line with But something was on the screen, I
used it as a way to incorporate the reader into the poem. It was as thin as a pin meant that the
clue was in front of the reader but he could not see it. The characters were the only one able to
see it. The line But lonely like a kite, another simile, it meant that a kite can only glide
through the air alone because the kite can be unstable if objects are in its surrounding.
The connection I have with this poem is with my preferences. I like to find a way I can interact
with the story. Make theories and speculate of what could happen. Videogames also were an
inspiration because of its storytelling with various twists and how it directly interacts with the
person.