Reality

Archibald Lampman 1861 (Upper Canada) – 1899 (Ottawa, Canada)



I stand at noon upon the heated flags
  At the bleached crossing of two streets, and dream
  With brain scarce conscious now the hurrying stream
  Of noonday passengers is done. Two hags
  Stand at an open doorway piled with bags
  And jabber hideously. Just at their feet
  A small, half-naked child screams in the street,
  A blind man yonder, a mere hunch of rags,
  Keeps the scant shadow of the eaves, and scowls,
  Counting his coppers. Through the open glare
  Thunders an empty wagon, from whose trail
  A lean dog shoots into the startled square,
  Wildly revolves and soothes his hapless tail,
  Piercing the noon with intermittent howls.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

33 sec read
81

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABBAACCAADEDEF
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 656
Words 110
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14

Archibald Lampman

Archibald Lampman FRSC was a Canadian poet. "He has been described as 'the Canadian Keats;' and he is perhaps the most outstanding exponent of the Canadian school of nature poets." The Canadian Encyclopedia says that he is "generally considered the finest of Canada's late 19th-century poets in English." Lampman is classed as one of Canada's Confederation Poets, a group which also includes Charles G.D. Roberts, Bliss Carman, and Duncan Campbell Scott. more…

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