Conrad in Twilight

John Crowe Ransom 1888 (Pulaski) – 1974 (Gambier)



Conrad, Conrad, aren't you old
To sit so late in your mouldy garden?
And I think Conrad knows it well,
Nursing his knees, too rheumy and cold
To warm the wraith of a Forest of Arden.

Neuralgia in the back of his neck,
His lungs filling with such miasma,
His feet dipping in leafage and muck:
Conrad! you've forgotten asthma.

Conrad's house has thick red walls,
The log on Conrad's hearth is blazing,
Slippers and pipe and tea are served,
Butter and toast are meant for pleasing!
Still Conrad's back is not uncurved
And here's an autumn on him, teasing.

Autumn days in our section
Are the most used-up thing on earth
(Or in the waters under the earth)
Having no more color nor predilection
Than cornstalks too wet for the fire,
A ribbon rotting on the byre,
A man's face as weathered as straw
By the summer's flare and winter's flaw.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

48 sec read
107

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABXAB XCXC XDXDAD BEEBFFGG
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 840
Words 154
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 5, 4, 6, 8

John Crowe Ransom

John Crowe Ransom was an educator, scholar, literary critic, poet, essayist and editor. more…

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