Song of the Break of Day
I am tired and very old—just the muscles of my arms still alive.Cunning little muscles, betraying, not caring how very old and tired I am.Did you think, O my beloved, I was young? Did my laughing face and laughing eyes tell you lies?In Chicago many faces, drifting, perplexing, confusing, destroying, betraying, confounding.Now stop—little love warm and still—try to think.Nod your head. Sway! Wait! Try to believe.Stronger, deeper, stronger—good arms, sweep them forth—over the land—wide—wide—over the land—break—break—come to life.Ninety, a thousand, a million, a nation. Corn in long fields and slender young wheat. See my young strength how it grows. I am casting you forth.Buried away in the mines in the hills—strong arm, long arm. Gripping the gold and the ashes of ages. Did you think I was old and too tired to find love?Love,I awake.
About this text
Song of the Break of Day 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 Break of Day, in Mid-American Chants (1918), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/anderson-mid-american-chants/song-of-the-break-of-day.html, id L29456.
About this section
Song of the Break of Day is prose, printed in 1 paragraph. 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.
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.