Wars
In the old wars drum of hoofs and the beat of shod feet.In the new wars hum of motors and the tread of rubber tires.In the wars to come silent wheels and whirr of rods not yet dreamed out in the heads of men.
In the old wars clutches of short swords and jabs into faces with spears.In the new wars long range guns and smashed walls, guns running a spit of metal and men falling in tens and twenties.In the wars to come new silent deaths, new silent hurlers not yet dreamed out in the heads of men.
In the old wars kings quarreling and thousands of men following.In the new wars kings quarreling and millions of men following.In the wars to come kings kicked under the dust and millions of men following great causes not yet dreamed out in the heads of men.
Words in this poem
- whirr v. i.
- To whirl round, or revolve, with a whizzing noise; to fly or more quickly with a buzzing or whizzing sound; to whiz.
- quarreling a.
- Engaged in a quarrel; apt or disposed to quarrel; as, quarreling factions; a quarreling mood.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Wars 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, Wars, in Chicago Poems (1916), text of Wikisource, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/sandburg-chicago-poems/wars.html, id L28926.
Form and metre
Wars is 9 lines in 3 stanzas of 3 lines each.
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.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 3 AA- followingA · followingA · men
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 |
|---|---|---|
| In the old wars drum of hoofs and the beat of shod feet. | 13 | ············· |
| In the new wars hum of motors and the tread of rubber tires. | 16 | ······/˘····/˘/˘ |
| In the wars to come silent wheels and whirr of rods not yet dreamed out in the heads of men. | 21 | ·····/˘·············· |
| In the old wars clutches of short swords and jabs into faces with spears. | 17 | ····/˘·······/˘·· |
| In the new wars long range guns and smashed walls, guns running a spit of metal and men falling in tens and twenties. | 27 | ···········/˘···/˘··/˘···/˘ |
| In the wars to come new silent deaths, new silent hurlers not yet dreamed out in the heads of men. | 23 | ······/˘··/˘··········· |
| In the old wars kings quarreling and thousands of men following. | 16 | ·····/˘˘·/˘··/˘˘ |
| In the new wars kings quarreling and millions of men following. | 16 | ·····/˘˘·/˘··/˘˘ |
| In the wars to come kings kicked under the dust and millions of men following great causes not yet dreamed out in the heads of men. | 31 | ············/˘··/˘˘·/˘········· |
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.