Way-Station

Archibald MacLeish 1892 (Glencoe) – 1982 (Boston)



The incoherent rushing of the train
Dulls like a drugged pain

Numbs
To an ether throbbing of inaudible drums

Unfolds
Hush within hush until the night withholds

Only its darkness.
From the deep
Dark a voice calls like a voice in sleep

Slowly a strange name in a strange tongue.

Among

The sleeping listeners a sound
As leaves stir faintly on the ground

When snow falls from a windless sky—
A stir A sigh

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 24, 2023

22 sec read
306

Quick analysis:

Scheme AA BB BB BCC X DD EE
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 411
Words 76
Stanzas 7
Stanza Lengths 2, 2, 2, 3, 1, 2, 2

Archibald MacLeish

Archibald MacLeish was an American poet, writer, and the Librarian of Congress. more…

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    "Way-Station" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/3775/way-station>.

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