Broken Promise

Archibald MacLeish 1892 (Glencoe) – 1982 (Boston)



THAT was by the door
Leafy evening in the apple trees
And you would not forget this anymore
And even if you died there would be these
Touchings remembered
and you would return
From any bourne from any shore
To find the evening in these leaves
To find my arms beside this door...
I think O my not now Ophelia
There are not always (like a moon)
Rememberings afterward
(I think there are
Sometimes a few strange stars upon the sky.)

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

25 sec read
421

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABABCDAEAFGCHI
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 424
Words 84
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14

Archibald MacLeish

Archibald MacLeish was an American poet, writer, and the Librarian of Congress. more…

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