Analysis of In Praise of Songs that Die

Vachel Lindsay 1879 (Springfield) – 1931 (Springfield)



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Ah, they are passing, passing by,
Wonderful songs, but born to die!
Cries from the infinite human seas,
Waves thrice-winged with harmonies.
Here I stand on a pier in the foam
Seeing the songs to the beach go home,
Dying in sand while the tide flows back,
As it flowed of old in its fated track.
Oh, hurrying tide that will not hear
Your own foam children dying near
Is there no refuge-house of song,
No home, no haven where songs belong?
Oh, precious hymns that come and go!
You perish, and I love you so!


Scheme X AABBCCDDXXEEFF
Poetic Form
Metre 1010101111101000010010 11110101 10011111 110100101 1111100 111101001 100110111 100110111 1111101101 110011111 11110101 11110111 111101101 11011101 11001111
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 585
Words 113
Sentences 7
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 1, 14
Lines Amount 15
Letters per line (avg) 31
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 231
Words per stanza (avg) 56
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

33 sec read
101

Vachel Lindsay

Nicholas Vachel Lindsay was an American poet. more…

All Vachel Lindsay poems | Vachel Lindsay Books

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