Lights Out
Henry Van Dyke 1852 (Germantown, Pennsylvania) – 1933 (Princeton, New Jersey)
"Lights out" along the land,
"Lights out" upon the sea.
The night must put her hiding hand
O'er peaceful towns where children sleep,
And peaceful ships that darkly creep
Across the waves, as if they were not free.
The dragons of the air,
The hell-hounds of the deep,
Lurking and prowling everywhere,
Go forth to seek their helpless prey,
Not knowing whom they maim or slay--
Mad harvesters, who care not what they reap.
Out with the tranquil lights,
Out with the lights that burn
For love and law and human rights!
Set back the clock a thousand years:
All they have gained now disappears,
And the dark ages suddenly return.
Kaiser who loosed wild death,
And terror in the night--
God grant you draw no quiet breath,
Until the madness you began
Is ended, and long-suffering man,
Set free from war lords, cries, "Let there be Light."
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 01, 2023
- 45 sec read
- 107 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABACCB DCDEEC FGFHHG IJIKKJ |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 820 |
Words | 151 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6 |
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"Lights Out" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/18344/lights-out>.
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