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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


IN THE SUBWAY by LOUIS UNTERMEYER

Poet Analysis

First Line: CHAOS IS TAMED AND ORDERED AS WE RIDE
Last Line: READING THEIR PAPERS CALMLY, LEISURELY.
Subject(s): CHAOS; INSANITY; SOCIAL PROTEST; MADNESS; MENTAL ILLNESS;

CHAOS is tamed and ordered as we ride;
The rock is rent, the darkness flung aside
And all the horrors of the deep defied.

A coil of wires, a throb, a sudden spark—
And on a screaming meteor we embark
That hurls us past the cold and breathless dark.

The centuries disclose their secret graves—
Riding in splendor through a world of waves
The ancient elements become our slaves.

Uncanny fancies whisper to and fro;
Terror and Night surround us here below,
And through the house of Death we come and go...

And here, oh wildest glimpse of all, I see
The score of men and women facing me
Reading their papers calmly, leisurely.



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