The Legion of Iron
They pass through the great iron gates--Men with eyes gravely discerning,Skilled to appraise the tunnage of cranesOr split an inch into thousandths--Men tempered by fire as the ore isAnd planned to resistanceLike steel that has cooled in the trough;Silent of purpose, inflexible, set to fulfilment--To conquer, withstand, overthrow...Men mannered to large undertakings,Knowing force as a brotherAnd power as something to play with,Seeing blood as a slip of the iron,To be wiped from the toolsLest they rust.
But what if they stood aside,Who hold the earth so careless in the crook of their arms?
What of the flamboyant citiesAnd the lights guttering out like candles in a wind...And the armies halted...And the train mid-way on the mountainAnd idle men chaffing across the trenches...And the cursing and lamentationAnd the clamor for grain shut in the mills of the world?What if they stayed apart,Inscrutably smiling,Leaving the ground encumbered with dead wireAnd the sea to row-boatsAnd the lands marooned--Till Time should like a paralytic sit,A mildewed hulk above the nations squatting?
Words in this poem
- gravely adv.
- In a grave manner.
- mannered a.
- Having a certain way, esp a. polite way, of carrying and conducting one's self.
- flamboyant a.
- Characterized by waving or flamelike curves, as in the tracery of windows, etc.; -- said of the later (15th century) French Gothic style. [F.]
- chaffing n.
- The use of light, frivolous language by way of fun or ridicule; raillery; banter.
- stayed a.
- Staid; fixed; settled; sober; -- now written staid. See Staid.
- inscrutably adv.
- In an inscrutable manner.
- paralytic a.
- Of or pertaining to paralysis; resembling paralysis. [L. paralyticus, Gr. paralytique.]
- hulk n.
- The body of a ship or decked vessel of any kind; esp., the body of an old vessel laid by as unfit for service. [OE. hulke a heavy ship, AS. hulc a light, swift ship; akin to D. hulk a ship of burden, G. holk, OHG. holcho; perh. fr. LL. holcas, Gr. Wolf, Holcad.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Legion of Iron is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Ghetto, and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #4332; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Lola Ridge, The Legion of Iron, in The Ghetto, and Other Poems (1918), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #4332, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/ridge-ghetto/the-legion-of-iron.html, id L20889.
Form and metre
The Legion of Iron is 31 lines in 3 stanzas.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| They pass through the great iron gates-- | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Men with eyes gravely discerning, | 8 | ···/˘˘/˘ |
| Skilled to appraise the tunnage of cranes | 9 | ··˘/·/˘·· |
| Or split an inch into thousandths-- | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Men tempered by fire as the ore is | 10 | ·/˘·/˘···· |
| And planned to resistance | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| Like steel that has cooled in the trough; | 8 | ········ |
| Silent of purpose, inflexible, set to fulfilment-- | 14 | /˘·/˘˘/˘˘····· |
| To conquer, withstand, overthrow... | 8 | ·/˘˘//˘· |
| Men mannered to large undertakings, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘·˘ |
| Knowing force as a brother | 7 | /˘···/˘ |
| And power as something to play with, | 9 | ·/˘·/˘··· |
| Seeing blood as a slip of the iron, | 10 | /˘······/˘ |
| To be wiped from the tools | 6 | ······ |
| Lest they rust. | 3 | ··· |
| But what if they stood aside, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Who hold the earth so careless in the crook of their arms? | 13 | ·····/˘······ |
| What of the flamboyant cities | 8 | ···˘/˘/˘ |
| And the lights guttering out like candles in a wind... | 13 | ···/˘˘··/˘··· |
| And the armies halted... | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| And the train mid-way on the mountain | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| And idle men chaffing across the trenches... | 11 | ·/˘·/˘˘/·/˘ |
| And the cursing and lamentation | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| And the clamor for grain shut in the mills of the world? | 13 | ··/˘········· |
| What if they stayed apart, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Inscrutably smiling, | 6 | ˘/˘˘/˘ |
| Leaving the ground encumbered with dead wire | 11 | /˘··˘/˘··/˘ |
| And the sea to row-boats | 6 | ······ |
| And the lands marooned-- | 5 | ···˘/ |
| Till Time should like a paralytic sit, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| A mildewed hulk above the nations squatting? | 11 | ·/·····/˘/˘ |
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.