Broken Tabernacles

Carl Sandburg 1878 (Galesburg) – 1967 (Flat Rock)



Have I broken the smaller tabernacles, O Lord?
And in the destruction of these set up the greater and massive, the everlasting tabernacles?
I know nothing today, what I have done and why, O Lord, only I have broken and broken tabernacles.
They were beautiful in a way, these tabernacles torn down by strong hands swearing—
They were beautiful—why did the hypocrites carve their own names on the corner-stones? why did the hypocrites keep on singing their own names in their long noses every Sunday in these tabernacles?
Who lays any blame here among the split cornerstones?

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

29 sec read
58

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABBCBB
Characters 580
Words 99
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 6

Carl Sandburg

Carl Sandburg was an American writer and editor best known for poetry. more…

All Carl Sandburg poems | Carl Sandburg Books

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