Ashurnatsirpal III

Carl Sandburg 1878 (Galesburg) – 1967 (Flat Rock)



Three walls around the town of Tela when I came.
They expected everything of those walls;
Nobody in the town came out to kiss my feet.

I knocked the walls down, killed three thousand soldiers,
Took away cattle and sheep, took all the loot in sight,
And burned special captives.

Some of the soldiers—I cut off hands and feet.
Others—I cut off ears and fingers.
Some—I put out the eyes.
I made a pyramid of heads.
I strung heads on trees circling the town.

When I got through with it
There wasn’t much left of the town of Tela.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

30 sec read
64

Quick analysis:

Scheme XXA BXX ABXXX XX
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 529
Words 101
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 3, 3, 5, 2

Carl Sandburg

Carl Sandburg was an American writer and editor best known for poetry. more…

All Carl Sandburg poems | Carl Sandburg Books

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