Conscientious Objector
Edna St. Vincent Millay 1892 (Rockland) – 1950 (Austerlitz)
I shall die, but
that is all that I shall do for Death.
I hear him leading his horse out of the stall;
I hear the clatter on the barn-floor.
He is in haste; he has business in Cuba,
business in the Balkans, many calls to make this morning.
But I will not hold the bridle
while he clinches the girth.
And he may mount by himself:
I will not give him a leg up.
Though he flick my shoulders with his whip,
I will not tell him which way the fox ran.
With his hoof on my breast, I will not tell him where
the black boy hides in the swamp.
I shall die, but that is all that I shall do for Death;
I am not on his pay-roll.
I will not tell him the whereabout of my friends
nor of my enemies either.
Though he promise me much,
I will not map him the route to any man's door.
Am I a spy in the land of the living,
that I should deliver men to Death?
Brother, the password and the plans of our city
are safe with me; never through me Shall you be overcome.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 20, 2023
- 1:00 min read
- 397 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | XAXBXCXXXX XXXXAX XXXBCAXX |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 939 |
Words | 201 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 10, 6, 8 |
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"Conscientious Objector" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/9356/conscientious-objector>.
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