Street Light
John Crowe Ransom 1888 (Pulaski) – 1974 (Gambier)
The shine of many city streets
Confuses any countryman;
It flickers here and flashes there,
It goes as soon as it began,
It beckons many ways at once
For him to follow if he can.
Under the lamp a woman stands,
The lamps are shining equal well,
But in her eyes are other lights,
And lights plus other lights will tell:
He loves the brightness of that street
Which is the shining street to hell.
There's light enough, and strong enough,
To lighten every pleasant park;
I'm sorry lights are held so cheap,
I'd rather there were not a spark
Than choose those shining ways for joy
And have them lead me into dark.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 02, 2023
- 35 sec read
- 146 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | XXXAXA XBXBXB XCXCXC |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 601 |
Words | 116 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6 |
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"Street Light" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 10 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/22408/street-light>.
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