A Certain Man

Jean Toomer 1894 (Washington, D.C.) – 1967 (Doylestown)



A certain man wishes to be a prince
Of this earth; he also wants to be
A saint and master of the being-world.
Conscience cannot exist in the first:
The second cannot exist without conscience.
Therefore he, who has enough conscience
To be disturbed but not enough to be
Compelled, can neither reject the one
Nor follow the other...

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 05, 2023

18 sec read
134

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABCDEEBFG
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 330
Words 61
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 9

Jean Toomer

Jean Toomer was an American poet and novelist and an important figure of the Harlem Renaissance. more…

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