Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

CONCERNING EMPERORS: 2. A COLLOQUIAL REPLY - TO ANY NEWSBOY by NICHOLAS VACHEL LINDSAY

Poet Analysis

First Line: IF YOU LAY FOR IAGO AT THE STAGE DOOR WITH A BRICK
Last Line: YET I CHASE THE THING HE STANDS FOR WITH A BRICKBAT IN MY HAND.
Subject(s): COURTS & COURTIERS; WORLD WAR I; ROYAL COURT LIFE; ROYALTY; KINGS; QUEENS; FIRST WORLD WAR;
If you lay for Iago at the stage door with a brick
You have missed the moral of the play.
He will have a midnight supper with Othello and his wife.
They will chirp together and be gay.
But the things Iago stands for must go down into the dust:

Lying and suspicion and conspiracy and lust.
And I cannot hate the Kaiser (I hope you understand.)
Yet I chase the thing he stands for with a brickbat in my hand.






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