Song of the Beginning of Courage
I am come with infinite slowness into my kingship. At night I lay down by the window. The little flat bands that bind my body were tense. I am the first to come into the new kingship.
By the long aisles of the corn you must go, little brothers, narrow and long the way. The corn in its struggle whispers and sways. Courage—always new courage.
In—deeper in—far from the stars—let the wide soft corn leaves whisper to you.
Crush and trample, brother, brother—crush and trample 'til you die.Do not hold thy hand from strangling—crush and trample 'til you die.
Back of the corn—back of the corn—bold and free my kingdoms lie.Ninety men upon the bridges ninety swift hawks in the sky.
I am come to the face of the gods through the cornfields. Back to the womb of my mother I go.Ache—ache—ache and behold me. Lay thy hot hands on my thigh.
Crush and trample, brother, brother—crush and trample 'til you die.Do not hold thy hand from strangling—crush and trample 'til you die.
Words in this poem
- kingship n.
- The state, office, or dignity of a king; royalty. Landor.
- womb n.
- The belly; the abdomen. [OE. wombe, wambe, AS. wamb, womb; akin to D. wam belly, OS. & OHG. wamba, G. wamme, wampe, Icel. vömb, Sw. v&mb, Dan. vom, Goth. wamba.]
- ache n.
- A name given to several species of plants; as, smallage, wild celery, parsley. Holland. [F. ache, L. apium parsley.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Song of the Beginning of Courage is in the public domain. This text is taken from Mid-American Chants (New York: John Lane Company; London: John Lane, The Bodley Head, 1918), Internet Archive; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Sherwood Anderson, Song of the Beginning of Courage, in Mid-American Chants (1918), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/anderson-mid-american-chants/song-of-the-beginning-of-courage.html, id L29457.
About this section
Song of the Beginning of Courage is prose, printed in 7 paragraphs. It is part of the edition and is kept for reading, but nothing here is measured: the line breaks are the printer's, so no metre, rhyme scheme or scansion is stated.
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