What The Hyena Said

Vachel Lindsay 1879 (Springfield) – 1931 (Springfield)



The moon is but a golden skull,
She mounts the heavens now,
And Moon-Worms, mighty Moon-Worms
Are wreathed around her brow.

The Moon-Worms are a doughty race:
They eat her gray and golden face.
Her eye-sockets dead, and molding head:
These caverns are their dwelling-place.

The Moon-Worms, serpents of the skies,
From the great hollows of her eyes
Behold all souls, and they are wise:
With tiny, keen and icy eyes,
Behold how each man sins and dies.

When Earth in gold-corruption lies
Long dead, the moon-worm butterflies
On cyclone wings will reach this place—
Yea, rear their brood on earth’s dead face.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 26, 2023

31 sec read
74

Quick analysis:

Scheme XAXA BBXB CCCCC CCBB
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 601
Words 105
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 5, 4

Vachel Lindsay

Nicholas Vachel Lindsay was an American poet. more…

All Vachel Lindsay poems | Vachel Lindsay Books

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