A Crowded Trolley-Car

Elinor Morton Wylie 1885 (Somerville, New Jersey) – 1928 (New York City, New York)



The rain's cold grains are silver-gray
Sharp as golden sands,
A bell is clanging, people sway
Hanging by their hands.

Supple hands, or gnarled and stiff,
Snatch and catch and grope;
That face is yellow-pale, as if
The fellow swung from rope.

Dull like pebbles, sharp like knives,
Glances strike and glare,
Fingers tangle, Bluebeard's wives
Dangle by the hair.

Orchard of the strangest fruits
Hanging from the skies;
Brothers, yet insensate brutes
Who fear each other's eyes.

One man stands as free men stand,
As if his soul might be
Brave, unbroken; see his hand
Nailed to an oaken tree.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

31 sec read
130

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF XGBG HIHI
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 591
Words 103
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

Elinor Morton Wylie

Elinor Morton Wylie was an American poet and novelist popular in the 1920s and 1930s. "She was famous during her life almost as much for her ethereal beauty and personality as for her melodious, sensuous poetry." more…

All Elinor Morton Wylie poems | Elinor Morton Wylie Books

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    "A Crowded Trolley-Car" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/10139/a-crowded-trolley-car>.

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