To The Stone-Cutters

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



Stone-cutters fighting time with marble, you foredefeated
Challengers of oblivion
Eat cynical earnings, knowing rock splits, records fall down,
The square-limbed Roman letters
Scale in the thaws, wear in the rain. The poet as well
Builds his monument mockingly;
For man will be blotted out, the blithe earth die, the brave sun
Die blind and blacken to the heart:
Yet stones have stood for a thousand years, and pained thoughts found
The honey of peace in old poems.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 03, 2023

24 sec read
366

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABCDEEBAAF
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 464
Words 80
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 10

Robinson Jeffers

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

All Robinson Jeffers poems | Robinson Jeffers Books

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