Analysis of What the Coal-Heaver Said
Vachel Lindsay 1879 (Springfield) – 1931 (Springfield)
The moon's an open furnace door
Where all can see the blast,
We shovel in our blackest griefs,
Upon that grate are cast
Our aching burdens, loves and fears
And underneath them wait
Paper and tar and pitch and pine
Called strife and blood and hate.
Out of it all there comes a flame,
A splendid widening light.
Sorrow is turned to mystery
And Death into delight.
| Scheme | XABABCXC XDXD |
|---|---|
| Poetic Form | |
| Metre | 01110101 111101 110010101 011111 101010101 00111 10010101 110101 11111101 0101001 10111100 010101 |
| Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
| Characters | 358 |
| Words | 69 |
| Sentences | 4 |
| Stanzas | 2 |
| Stanza Lengths | 8, 4 |
| Lines Amount | 12 |
| Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
| Words per line (avg) | 6 |
| Letters per stanza (avg) | 144 |
| Words per stanza (avg) | 34 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 14, 2023
- 21 sec read
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"What the Coal-Heaver Said" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/37430/what-the-coal-heaver-said>.
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