Cassandra

Robinson Jeffers 1887 (Allegheny) – 1962 (Carmel-by-the-Sea)



The mad girl with the staring eyes and long white fingers
Hooked in the stones of the wall,
The storm-wrack hair and screeching mouth: does it matter, Cassandra,
Whether the people believe
Your bitter fountain? Truly men hate the truth, they'd liefer
Meet a tiger on the road.
Therefore the poets honey their truth with lying; but religion—
Vendors and political men
Pour from the barrel, new lies on the old, and are praised for kind
Wisdom. Poor bitch be wise.
No: you'll still mumble in a corner a crust of truth, to men
And gods disgusting—you and I, Cassandra.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 28, 2023

31 sec read
202

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABCDEFGHIJHC
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 566
Words 102
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 12

Robinson Jeffers

John Robinson Jeffers was an American poet, known for his work about the central California coast. more…

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