Armies in the Fire

Robert Louis Stevenson 1850 (Edinburgh) – 1894 (Vailima, Samoa)



The lamps now glitter down the street;
Faintly sound the falling feet;
And the blue even slowly falls
About the garden trees and walls.

Now in the falling of the gloom
The red fire paints the empty room:
And warmly on the roof it looks,
And flickers on the back of books.

Armies march by tower and spire
Of cities blazing, in the fire;--
Till as I gaze with staring eyes,
The armies fall, the lustre dies.

Then once again the glow returns;
Again the phantom city burns;
And down the red-hot valley, lo!
The phantom armies marching go!

Blinking embers, tell me true
Where are those armies marching to,
And what the burning city is
That crumbles in your furnaces!

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

37 sec read
158

Quick analysis:

Scheme AABB CCDD XXEE FFGG HHII
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 669
Words 124
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

Robert Louis Stevenson

Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist, and travel writer. more…

All Robert Louis Stevenson poems | Robert Louis Stevenson Books

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