Aztec
You came from the AztecsWith a copper on your fore-armsTawnier than a sunsetSaying good-by to an even river.
And I said, you remember,Those fore-arms of yoursWere finer than bronzesAnd you were glad.
It was tearsAnd a path westand a home-goingwhen I askedWhy there were scars of worn goldWhere a man's ring was fixed onceOn your third finger.And I call youTo come backbefore the days are longer.
About this text
Aztec is in the public domain. This text is taken from Chicago Poems, Wikisource; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Carl Sandburg, Aztec, in Chicago Poems (1916), text of Wikisource, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/sandburg-chicago-poems/aztec.html, id L28944.
Form and metre
Aztec is 18 lines in 3 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 78%).
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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. Read against iambic trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| You came from the Aztecs | 6 | ····/· |
| With a copper on your fore-arms | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Tawnier than a sunset | 6 | ····/· |
| Saying good-by to an even river. | 10 | /˘····/˘/˘ |
| And I said, you remember, | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| Those fore-arms of yours | 5 | ····· |
| Were finer than bronzes | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| And you were glad. | 4 | ···· |
| It was tears | 3 | ··· |
| And a path west | 4 | ···· |
| and a home-going | 5 | ···/˘ |
| when I asked | 3 | ··· |
| Why there were scars of worn gold | 7 | ······· |
| Where a man's ring was fixed once | 7 | ······· |
| On your third finger. | 5 | ···/˘ |
| And I call you | 4 | ···· |
| To come back | 3 | ··· |
| before the days are longer. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
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.