“The Gamut of Truth” by Danil Rudoy is an eight-line poem from Love Is Poetry. Its two quatrains compress a volatile argument about ascent, compromise, money, hope and the difficult value of truth.
The Gamut of Truth
We’re flying lower, we’re flying higher;
A fall becomes a command to soar.
She went for cash, but myself’s no buyer:
I don’t relinquish my hopes for more.
Perhaps I’d better await the morning:
It may surrender the missing clue.
This girl is always a healthy warning;
Perhaps she’s crazy; at least she’s true.
2012/2013
Publication
“The Gamut of Truth” appears in Love Is Poetry: Rhyming Poems About Love Life, in the opening movement, The Marriage Market.
Two quatrains
The first quatrain moves through vertical oppositions and the pressure of money. The second delays judgment until morning and ends on the word “true.” Eight lines give every turn immediate weight, while the paired quatrains keep uncertainty under formal control.
Critical reading
A detailed critical reading of “The Gamut of Truth” on Prose & Poetry follows its two-quatrain form, alternating rhyme, vertical imagery, resilience, tonal movement and closing judgment of truth.
Text and citation
Copyright © Danil Rudoy. The poem is published here as the author’s canonical text. Short excerpts may be quoted for criticism, scholarship, teaching and literary discussion with attribution to Danil Rudoy and a link to this page. Full reproduction requires separate permission.