The Child on the Curbstone
Elinor Morton Wylie 1885 (Somerville, New Jersey) – 1928 (New York City, New York)
The headlights raced; the moon, death-faced,
Stared down on that golden river.
I saw through the smoke the scarlet cloak
Of a boy who could not shiver.
His father's hand forced him to stand,
The traffic thundered slaughter;
One foot he thrust in the whirling dust
As it were running water.
As in a dream I saw the stream
Scatter in drops that glistened;
They flamed, they flashed, his brow they splashed,
And danger's son was christened.
The portent passed; his fate was cast,
Sea-farer, desert-ranger.
Tearless I smiled on that fearless child
Dipping his foot in Danger.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 30 sec read
- 100 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | XAXA XAXA XBXB XAXA |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 576 |
Words | 100 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4 |
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"The Child on the Curbstone" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 4 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/10173/the-child-on-the-curbstone>.
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