Analysis of The Legion Of Iron
Lola Ridge 1873 – 1941
They pass through the great iron gates -
Men with eyes gravely discerning,
Skilled to appraise the tunnage of cranes
Or split an inch into thousandths -
Men tempered by fire as the ore is
And planned to resistance
Like steel that has cooled in the trough;
Silent of purpose, inflexible, set to fulfilment -
To conquer, withstand, overthrow…
Men mannered to large undertakings,
Knowing force as a brother
And power as something to play with,
Seeing blood as a slip of the iron,
To be wiped from the tools
Lest they rust.
But what if they stood aside,
Who hold the earth so careless in the crook of their arms?
What of the flamboyant cities
And the lights guttering out like candles in a wind…
And the armies halted…
And the train mid-way on the mountain
And idle men chaffing across the trenches…
And the cursing and lamentation
And the clamor for grain shut in the mills of the world?
What if they stayed apart,
Inscrutably smiling,
Leaving the ground encumbered with dead wire
And the sea to row-boats
And the lands marooned -
Till Time should like a paralytic sit,
A mildewed hulk above the nations squatting?
Scheme | XAXXBXXCXXDXEXC CX XCCXBECCADXCCA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11101101 11110010 11010111 11110110 1101101011 011010 11111001 101100100111 1100110 11011100 1011010 010110111 1011011010 111101 111 1111101 1101110001111 11001010 0011001110001 001010 001111010 0101101010 001001 0010111001101 111101 110 10010101110 001111 00101 111100101 0110101010 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,101 |
Words | 201 |
Sentences | 5 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 15, 2, 14 |
Lines Amount | 31 |
Letters per line (avg) | 29 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 295 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 66 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:00 min read
- 53 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"The Legion Of Iron" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/25941/the-legion-of-iron>.
Discuss this Lola Ridge poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In