When I Was an Editor

Stephan Stephansson 1853 (Stefán Guðmundur Guðmundsson Skagafjörður) – 1927



So maudlin, with pity and pathos I stood
If someone who erred got the lashes;
If hanged, I'd weep over the ashes.
With vocal dispraise such injustice I viewed

But somehow as soon as the war-craze ensued,
When slaughter en masse was the popular mood
And corpses all over the planet were strewed,
With dumb indecision I stood.

For there was the problem of friendships and food
- One's sympathies nobody cashes.
To dampen my conscience-clashes
The cracks in my honor I artfully glued
With unctuous lies that I hastily brewed
- And cheered just as loud as I could.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

31 sec read
110

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABXC CCAA CBBCCA
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 555
Words 102
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 6

Stephan Stephansson

Stephan G. Stephansson was a Western Icelander, poet, and farmer. more…

All Stephan Stephansson poems | Stephan Stephansson Books

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