Remarks About Kings
Henry Van Dyke 1852 (Germantown, Pennsylvania) – 1933 (Princeton, New Jersey)
"God said I am tired of kings." -- EMERSON
God said, "I am tired of kings,"--
But that was a long while ago!
And meantime man said, "No,--
I like their looks in their robes and rings."
So he crowned a few more,
And they went on playing the game as before,
Fighting and spoiling things.
Man said, "I am tired of kings!
Sons of the robber-chiefs of yore,
They make me pay for their lust and their war;
I am the puppet, they pull the strings;
The blood of my heart is the wine they drink.
I will govern myself for awhile I think,
And see what that brings!"
Then God, who made the first remark,
Smiled in the dark.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 37 sec read
- 47 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | X ABBACCA ACCADDA EE |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 610 |
Words | 128 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 7, 7, 2 |
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"Remarks About Kings" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 4 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/18366/remarks-about-kings>.
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