The Oldest Drama
John McCrae 1872 (Guelph) – 1918 (Boulogne-sur-Mer)
"It fell on a day, that he went out to his father to the reapers.
And he said unto his father, My head, my head. And he said to a lad,
Carry him to his mother. And . . . he sat on her knees till noon,
and then died. And she went up, and laid him on the bed. . . .
And shut the door upon him and went out."
Immortal story that no mother's heart
Ev'n yet can read, nor feel the biting pain
That rent her soul! Immortal not by art
Which makes a long past sorrow sting again
Like grief of yesterday: but since it said
In simplest word the truth which all may see,
Where any mother sobs above her dead
And plays anew the silent tragedy.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 39 sec read
- 91 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | AXXBX CXCX BABX |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic hexameter |
Characters | 656 |
Words | 130 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 5, 4, 4 |
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"The Oldest Drama" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 13 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/23780/the-oldest-drama>.
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