A Prayer for My Daughter its "metremes", or rhymical motifs, rather than common metrical devices. The poem also may be read to consist of straightforward iambic verse that relies on common metrical devices such as elision, acephalous lines, promotion, and metrical inversion. Lines 1, 2, 3, 5, and 8 of each stanza are iambic pentameter; lines 4, 6, and 7 are iambic tetrameter. For instance, using traditional principles of scansion, stanza two may be scanned as shown below, where syllables in all caps represent metrical beats, lower-case syllables represent metrical off-beats, the vertical bar represents the termination of a metrical foot, and apostrophes represent elisions.
A Poem Is a Naked Person fate became even more uncertain after Russell and Cordell terminated their business relationship in 1976. For many years, "A Poem Is A Naked Person" was shown only at special screenings with Les Blank in attendance. In 2011 Russell told "Billboard" that he didn't like the film, and didn't intend to release it. Also in 2011, when the International Documentary Association honored Blank with a career achievement award, the film was described as "perhaps the greatest film about rock 'n' roll and American music that you will likely never see". The film finally received its public premiere (with Russell in the