Analysis of And They Obey

Carl Sandburg 1878 (Galesburg) – 1967 (Flat Rock)



Smash down the cities.
Knock the walls to pieces.
Break the factories and cathedrals, warehouses
and homes
Into loose piles of stone and lumber and black
burnt wood:
You are the soldiers and we command you.
Build up the cities.
Set up the walls again.
Put together once more the factories and cathedrals,
warehouses and homes
Into buildings for life and labor:
You are workmen and citizens all: We
command you.


Scheme ABCDEFGAHIDJKG
Poetic Form
Metre 11010 101110 10100001010 01 01111101001 11 1101001011 11010 110101 10101101000010 1001 011011010 1110010011 011
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 405
Words 73
Sentences 7
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 24
Words per line (avg) 5
Letters per stanza (avg) 329
Words per stanza (avg) 71
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 15, 2023

21 sec read
474

Carl Sandburg

Carl Sandburg was an American writer and editor best known for poetry. more…

All Carl Sandburg poems | Carl Sandburg Books

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