The Crooked Stick
Elinor Morton Wylie 1885 (Somerville, New Jersey) – 1928 (New York City, New York)
First Traveller: What's that lying in the dust?
Second Traveller: A crooked stick.
First Traveller: What's it worth, if you can trust to arithmetic?
Second Traveller: Isn't this a riddle?
First Traveller: No, a trick.
Second Traveller:It's worthless, leave it where it lies.
First Traveller: Wait; count ten;
Rub a little dust upon your eyes;
Now, look again.
Second Traveller: Well, and what the devil is it, then?
First Traveller: It's the sort of crooked stick that shepherds know.
Second Traveller: Someone's loss!
First Traveller: Bend it, and you make of it a bow.
Break it, a cross.
Second Traveller: But it's all grown over with moss!
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 35 sec read
- 56 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABBCBDEDEEFGHGG |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 650 |
Words | 110 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 15 |
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"The Crooked Stick" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/10175/the-crooked-stick>.
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