And So To-day Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCDE FGHI JKLMNOLLLPALGLLGQ RL STLLU ABCDE VLLE TWXYZWA2LLA2 AB2PLA2E A2C2A2C2A2 LTD2D2 E2LF2G2OA2 AH2SI2OL LLLLLJ2A2K2A2 C2L2LM2C2Q SN2O2SD2 B2A2F2P2B2Q2 RR2 LXLS2OT2LM2Q U2P2 V2L2W2CLX2 CCVF2B2L CCLLLG2 LYL LLL LLCL LLYCLY2LYAL Z2YLLGLC2LM2LYAnd so to day they lay him away | A |
the boy nobody knows the name of | B |
the buck private the unknown soldier | C |
the doughboy who dug under and died | D |
when they told him to that's him | E |
- | |
Down Pennsylvania Avenue to day the riders go | F |
men and boys riding horses roses in their teeth | G |
stems of roses rose leaf stalks rose dark leaves | H |
the line of the green ends in a red rose flash | I |
- | |
Skeleton men and boys riding skeleton horses | J |
the rib bones shine the rib bones curve | K |
shine with savage elegant curves | L |
a jawbone runs with a long white slant | M |
a skull dome runs with a long white arch | N |
bone triangles click and rattle | O |
elbows ankles white line slants | L |
shining in the sun past the White House | L |
past the Treasury Building Army and Navy Buildings | L |
on to the mystic white Capitol Dome | P |
so they go down Pennsylvania Avenue to day | A |
skeleton men and boys riding skeleton horses | L |
stems of roses in their teeth | G |
rose dark leaves at their white jaw slants | L |
and a horse laugh question nickers and whinnies | L |
moans with a whistle out of horse head teeth | G |
why who where | Q |
- | |
'The big fish eat the little fish | R |
the little fish eat the shrimps | L |
and the shrimps eat mud ' | - |
said a cadaverous man with a black umbrella | S |
spotted with white polka dots with a missing | T |
ear with a missing foot and arms | L |
with a missing sheath of muscles | L |
singing to the silver sashes of the sun | U |
- | |
And so to day they lay him away | A |
the boy nobody knows the name of | B |
the buck private the unknown soldier | C |
the doughboy who dug under and died | D |
when they told him to that's him | E |
- | |
If he picked himself and said 'I am ready to die ' | - |
if he gave his name and said 'My country take me ' | - |
then the baskets of roses to day are for the Boy | V |
the flowers the songs the steamboat whistles | L |
the proclamations of the honorable orators | L |
they are all for the Boy that's him | E |
- | |
If the government of the Republic picked him saying | T |
'You are wanted your country takes you' | W |
if the Republic put a stethoscope to his heart | X |
and looked at his teeth and tested his eyes and said | Y |
'You are a citizen of the Republic and a sound | Z |
animal in all parts and functions the Republic takes you' | W |
then to day the baskets of flowers are all for the Republic | A2 |
the roses the songs the steamboat whistles | L |
the proclamations of the honorable orators | L |
they are all for the Republic | A2 |
- | |
And so to day they lay him away | A |
and an understanding goes his long sleep shall be | B2 |
under arms and arches near the Capitol Dome | P |
there is an authorization he shall have tomb companions | L |
the martyred presidents of the Republic | A2 |
the buck private the unknown soldier that's him | E |
- | |
The man who was war commander of the armies of the Republic | A2 |
rides down Pennsylvania Avenue | C2 |
The man who is peace commander of the armies of the Republic | A2 |
rides down Pennsylvania Avenue | C2 |
for the sake of the Boy for the sake of the Republic | A2 |
- | |
And the hoofs of the skeleton horses | L |
all drum soft on the asphalt footing | T |
so soft is the drumming so soft the roll call | D2 |
of the grinning sergeants calling the roll call | D2 |
so soft is it all a camera man murmurs 'Moonshine ' | - |
- | |
Look who salutes the coffin | E2 |
lays a wreath of remembrance | L |
on the box where a buck private | F2 |
sleeps a clean dry sleep at last | G2 |
look it is the highest ranking general | O |
of the officers of the armies of the Republic | A2 |
- | |
Among pigeon corners of the Congressional Library they | A |
file documents quietly casually all in a day's work | H2 |
this human document the buck private nobody knows the | S |
name of they file away in granite and steel with music | I2 |
and roses salutes proclamations of the honorable | O |
orators | L |
- | |
Across the country between two ocean shore lines | L |
where cities cling to rail and water routes | L |
there people and horses stop in their foot tracks | L |
cars and wagons stop in their wheel tracks | L |
faces at street crossings shine with a silence | L |
of eggs laid in a row on a pantry shelf | J2 |
among the ways and paths of the flow of the Republic | A2 |
faces come to a standstill sixty clockticks count | K2 |
in the name of the Boy in the name of the Republic | A2 |
- | |
A million faces a thousand miles from Pennsylvania Avenue | C2 |
stay frozen with a look a clocktick a moment | L2 |
skeleton riders on skeleton horses the nickering high horse | L |
laugh | M2 |
the whinny and the howl up Pennsylvania Avenue | C2 |
who why where | Q |
- | |
So people far from the asphalt footing of Pennsylvania | S |
Avenue look wonder mumble the riding white jaw | N2 |
phantoms ride hi eeee hi eeee hi yi hi yi hi eeee | O2 |
the proclamations of the honorable orators mix with the | S |
top sergeants whistling the roll call | D2 |
- | |
If when the clockticks counted sixty | B2 |
when the heartbeats of the Republic | A2 |
came to a stop for a minute | F2 |
if the Boy had happened to sit up | P2 |
happening to sit up as Lazarus sat up in the story | B2 |
then the first shivering language to drip off his mouth | Q2 |
might have come as 'Thank God ' or 'Am I dreaming ' | - |
or 'What the hell' or 'When do we eat ' | - |
or 'Kill 'em kill 'em the ' | - |
or 'Was that a rat ran over my face ' | - |
or 'For Christ's sake gimme water gimme water ' | - |
or 'Blub blub bloo bloo ' | - |
or any bubbles of shell shock gibberish | R |
from the gashes of No Man's Land | R2 |
- | |
Maybe some buddy knows | L |
some sister mother sweetheart | X |
maybe some girl who sat with him once | L |
when a two horn silver moon | S2 |
slid on the peak of a house roof gable | O |
and promises lived in the air of the night | T2 |
when the air was filled with promises | L |
when any little slip shoe lovey | M2 |
could pick a promise out of the air | Q |
- | |
'Feed it to 'em | U2 |
they lap it up | P2 |
bull bull bull ' | - |
Said a movie news reel camera man | V2 |
Said a Washington newspaper correspondent | L2 |
Said a baggage handler lugging a trunk | W2 |
Said a two a day vaudeville juggler | C |
Said a hanky pank selling jumping jacks | L |
'Hokum they lap it up ' said the bunch | X2 |
- | |
And a tall scar face ball player | C |
Played out as a ball player | C |
Made a speech of his own for the hero boy | V |
Sent an earful of his own to the dead buck private | F2 |
'It's all safe now buddy | B2 |
Safe when you say yes | L |
Safe for the yes men ' | - |
- | |
He was a tall scar face battler | C |
With his face in a newspaper | C |
Reading want ads reading jokes | L |
Reading love murder politics | L |
Jumping from jokes back to the want ads | L |
Reading the want ads first and last | G2 |
The letters of the word JOB 'J O B ' | - |
Burnt like a shot of bootleg booze | L |
In the bones of his head | Y |
In the wish of his scar face eyes | L |
- | |
The honorable orators | L |
Always the honorable orators | L |
Buttoning the buttons on their prinz alberts | L |
Pronouncing the syllables 'sac ri fice ' | - |
Juggling those bitter salt soaked syllables | L |
Do they ever gag with hot ashes in their mouths | L |
Do their tongues ever shrivel with a pain of fire | C |
Across those simple syllables 'sac ri fice' | L |
- | |
There was one orator people far off saw | L |
He had on a gunnysack shirt over his bones | L |
And he lifted an elbow socket over his head | Y |
And he lifted a skinny signal finger | C |
And he had nothing to say nothing easy | L |
He mentioned ten million men mentioned them as having gone west | Y2 |
mentioned them as shoving up the daisies | L |
We could write it all on a postage stamp what he said | Y |
He said it and quit and faded away | A |
A gunnysack shirt on his bones | L |
- | |
Stars of the night sky | Z2 |
did you see that phantom fadeout | Y |
did you see those phantom riders | L |
skeleton riders on skeleton horses | L |
stems of roses in their teeth | G |
rose leaves red on white jaw slants | L |
grinning along on Pennsylvania Avenue | C2 |
the top sergeants calling roll calls | L |
did their horses nicker a horse laugh | M2 |
did the ghosts of the boney battalions | L |
move out and on up the Pot | Y |
Carl Sandburg
(1)
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