Poor Earth

Elinor Morton Wylie 1885 (Somerville, New Jersey) – 1928 (New York City, New York)



It is not heaven: bitter seed
Leavens its entrails with despair
It is a star where dragons breed:
Devils have a footing there.

The sky has bent it out of shape;
The sun has strapped it to his wheel;
Its course is crooked to escape
Traps and gins of stone and steel.

It balances on air, and spins
Snared by strong transparent space;
I forgive it all its sins;
I kiss the scars upon its face.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 14, 2023

23 sec read
65

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 396
Words 78
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4

Elinor Morton Wylie

Elinor Morton Wylie was an American poet and novelist popular in the 1920s and 1930s. "She was famous during her life almost as much for her ethereal beauty and personality as for her melodious, sensuous poetry." more…

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    "Poor Earth" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 31 Oct. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/10163/poor-earth>.

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