The successful man has thrust himself
Stephen Crane 1871 – 1900
The successful man has thrust himself
Through the water of the years,
Reeking wet with mistakes --
Bloody mistakes;
Slimed with victories over the lesser,
A figure thankful on the shore of money.
Then, with the bones of fools
He buys silken banners
Limned with his triumphant face;
With the skins of wise men
He buys the trivial bows of all.
Flesh painted with marrow
Contributes a coverlet,
A coverlet for his contented slumber.
In guiltless ignorance, in ignorant guilt,
He delivered his secrets to the riven multitude.
"Thus I defended: Thus I wrought."
Complacent, smiling,
He stands heavily on the dead.
Erect on a pillar of skulls
He declaims his trampling of babes;
Smirking, fat, dripping,
He makes speech in guiltless ignorance,
Innocence.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 37 sec read
- 125 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABCCDEFGHIJKLDLLLMLNOMPP |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 756 |
Words | 127 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 24 |
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"The successful man has thrust himself" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 26 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/35731/the-successful-man-has-thrust-himself>.
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