Mine Host

John McCrae 1872 (Guelph) – 1918 (Boulogne-sur-Mer)



There stands a hostel by a travelled way;
 Life is the road and Death the worthy host;
Each guest he greets, nor ever lacks to say,
 "How have ye fared?"  They answer him, the most,
"This lodging place is other than we sought;
 We had intended farther, but the gloom
Came on apace, and found us ere we thought:
 Yet will we lodge.  Thou hast abundant room."

Within sit haggard men that speak no word,
 No fire gleams their cheerful welcome shed;
No voice of fellowship or strife is heard
 But silence of a multitude of dead.
"Naught can I offer ye," quoth Death, "but rest!"
And to his chamber leads each tired guest.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

34 sec read
71

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABABCDCD EFEFGG
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 612
Words 120
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 8, 6

John McCrae

Lieutenant Colonel John Alexander McCrae, MD was a Canadian poet, physician, author, artist and soldier during World War I, and a surgeon during the Second Battle of Ypres, in Belgium. more…

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