The Too-Late Born

Archibald MacLeish 1892 (Glencoe) – 1982 (Boston)



We too, we too, descending once again
The hills of our own land, we too have heard
Far off --- Ah, que ce cor a longue haleine ---
The horn of Roland in the passages of Spain,
The first, the second blast, the failing third,
And with the third turned back and climbed once more
The steep road southward, and heard faint the sound
Of swords, of horses, the disastrous war,
And crossed the dark defile at last, and found
At Roncevaux upon the darkening plain
The dead against the dead and on the silent ground
The silent slain---

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 12, 2023

30 sec read
67

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABACBDEDECEC
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 523
Words 101
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 12

Archibald MacLeish

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

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