Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE HAS-BEEN by CARL SANDBURG

Poet Analysis

First Line: A STONE FACE HIGHER THAN SIX HORSES STOOD FIVE THOUSAND
Last Line: CLUTCH A SECRET.
Subject(s): STATUES;
A STONE face higher than six horses stood five thousand years gazing at the world seeming to clutch
a secret.
A boy passes and throws a niggerhead that chips off the end of the nose from the stone face; he
lets fly a mud ball that spatters the right eye and cheek of the old looker-on.
The boy laughs and goes whistling "ee-ee-ee ee-ee-ee." The stone face stands silent, seeming to
clutch a secret.



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