Sweet Briars of the Stairways
Vachel Lindsay 1879 (Springfield) – 1931 (Springfield)
We are happy all the time
Even when we fight:
Sweet briars of the stairways,
Gay fairies of the grime;
We, who are playing to-night.
"Our feet are in the gutters,
Our eyes are sore with dust,
But still our eyes are bright.
The wide street roars and mutters —
We know it works because it must —
We, who are playing to-night!
"Dirt is everlasting. — We never, never fear it.
Toil is never ceasing. — We will play until we near it.
Tears are never ending. — When once real tears have come;
"When we see our people as they are —
Our fathers — broken, dumb —
Our mothers — broken, dumb —
The weariest of women and of men;
Ah — then our eyes will lose their light —
Then we will never play again —
We, who are playing to-night."
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 44 sec read
- 62 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | abxaB cdbcdB eef xf fgbgB |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 754 |
Words | 148 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 5, 6, 3, 2, 5 |
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"Sweet Briars of the Stairways" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/37337/sweet-briars-of-the-stairways>.
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