The Turn of the Road

James Stephens 1882 (Dublin) – 1950



I was playing with my hoop along the road
  Just where the bushes are, when, suddenly,
There came a shout.—I ran away and stowed
  Myself beneath a bush, and watched to see
What made the noise, and then, around the bend,
  I saw a woman running. She was old
And wrinkle-faced, and had big teeth.—The end
  Of her red shawl caught on a bush and rolled
Right off her, and her hair fell down.—Her face
  Was awful white, and both her eyes looked sick,
And she was talking queer. 'O God of Grace!'
  Said she, 'where is the child?' and flew back quick
The way she came, and screamed, and shook her hands;
  ... Maybe she was a witch from foreign lands.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

37 sec read
117

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABABCDCDEFEFGG
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 649
Words 128
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14

James Stephens

James Stephens was an Irish Republican and the founding member of an originally unnamed revolutionary organisation in Dublin on 17 March 1858, later to become known as the Irish Republican Brotherhood, also referred to as the Irish Revolutionary Brotherhood by contemporaries. more…

All James Stephens poems | James Stephens Books

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