To a Steam Roller

Marianne Moore 1887 (Kirkwood) – 1972 (New York City)



The illustration
is nothing to you without the application.
You lack half wit. You crush all the particles down
into close conformity, and then walk back and forth on them.

Sparkling chips of rock
are crushed down to the level of the parent block.
Were not 'impersonal judment in aesthetic
matters, a metaphysical impossibility,' you

might fairly achieve
it. As for butterflies, I can hardly conceive
of one's attending upon you, but to question
the congruence of the complement is vain, if it exists.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 10, 2023

26 sec read
107

Quick analysis:

Scheme AAXX BBXX CCAX
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 500
Words 87
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4

Marianne Moore

Marianne Moore was an American Modernist poet and writer noted for her irony and wit. more…

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