Astronomy

Alfred Edward Housman 1859 – 1936



The Wain upon the northern steep
Descends and lifts away.
Oh I will sit me down and weep
For bones in Africa.
  
For pay and medals, name and rank,
Things that he has not found,
He hove the Cross to heaven and sank
The pole-star underground.
  
And now he does not even see
Signs of the nadir roll
At night over the ground where he
Is buried with the pole.
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Submitted on August 03, 2020

Modified on April 26, 2023

21 sec read
219

Quick analysis:

Scheme AXAX BCBC DEDE
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 345
Words 72
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4

Alfred Edward Housman

Alfred Edward Housman, usually known as A. E. Housman, was an English classical scholar and poet, best known to the general public for his cycle of poems A Shropshire Lad.  more…

All Alfred Edward Housman poems | Alfred Edward Housman Books

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1 Comment
  • ethanf.80829
    Does anyone know who contributed to this poem?
    LikeReply1 year ago

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"Astronomy" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 26 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/54670/astronomy>.

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