The Immortals

Isaac Rosenberg 1890 (Bristol) – 1918 (Somme)



I killed them, but they would not die.
Yea! all the day and all the night
For them I could not rest or sleep,
Nor guard from them nor hide in flight.

Then in my agony I turned
And made my hands red in their gore.
In vain - for faster than I slew
They rose more cruel than before.

I killed and killed with slaughter mad;
I killed till all my strength was gone.
And still they rose to torture me,
For Devils only die in fun.

I used to think the Devil hid
In women’s smiles and wine’s carouse.
I called him Satan, Balzebub.
But now I call him, dirty louse.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 19, 2023

34 sec read
134

Quick analysis:

Scheme XAXA XBXB XXXX XXXX
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 565
Words 115
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4

Isaac Rosenberg

Isaac Rosenberg was an English poet of the First World War. more…

All Isaac Rosenberg poems | Isaac Rosenberg Books

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