What the Ghost of the Gambler Said

Vachel Lindsay 1879 (Springfield) – 1931 (Springfield)



Where now the huts are empty,
Where never a camp-fire glows,
In an abandoned cañon,
A Gambler's Ghost arose.
He muttered there, "The moon's a sack
Of dust." His voice rose thin:
"I wish I knew the miner-man.
I'd play, and play to win.
In every game in Cripple-creek
Of old, when stakes were high,
I held my own. Now I would play
For that sack in the sky.
The sport would not be ended there.
'Twould rather be begun.
I'd bet my moon against his stars,
And gamble for the sun.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 05, 2023

29 sec read
392

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABCBDEFEGHIHJKLK
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 483
Words 95
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 16

Vachel Lindsay

Nicholas Vachel Lindsay was an American poet. more…

All Vachel Lindsay poems | Vachel Lindsay Books

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