The Past
Ralph Waldo Emerson
1803 to 1882
Track 1
Reconstruct the poem by dragging each line into its correct position. Your goal is to reassemble the original poem as accurately as possible. As you move the lines, you'll see whether your arrangement is correct, helping you explore the poem's flow and meaning. You can also print out the jumbled poem to cut up and reassemble in the classroom. Either way, take your time, enjoy the process, and discover how the poet's words come together to create something truly beautiful.
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No Satan with a royal trick
Bolted down forevermore.
Steal in by window, chink, or hole,
Sweet is death forevermore.
The Furies laid,
Not the gods can shake the Past;
All fortunes made;
Nor murdering hate, can enter in.
Alter or mend eternal Fact.
All is now secure and fast;
No thief so politic,
Flies-to the adamantine door
Nor haughty hope, nor swart chagrin,
The plague is stayed.
New-face or finish what is packed,
The verdict said,
The debt is paid,
Insert a leaf, or forge a name,
To bind or unbind, add what lacked,
None can reënter there,—
Turn the key and bolt the door,