The False Gods by Edwin Arlington Robinson
In “The False Gods,” the speakers declare themselves deceptive, temporary idols, made of fragile matter and destined to fail those who worship them. They warn that service to them brings only “ashes,” that claims of their strength are false, and that admiration for them will not last. Those who seek their true faces will discover their confusion and mortality, for the False Gods exist to be recognized and destroyed by their worshippers. They also caution against an artificial, endlessly changeable Art, whose newest achievement may soon lie neglected like an abandoned shrine. However original modern modes, temples, and passions may seem, they remain distant from older standards associated with Athens and Troy. When the False Gods promise impossible fulfillment and make people feel unusually alive, their followers should remember that false calculations produce inevitable grief. The speakers finally confess the falsity of their own composition and invoke the True Gods, asking that they attend those who doubt the False Gods and forget the impostors when they depart.
By Edwin Arlington Robinson · First published 1916 · Genre: Poetry, Philosophical Poetry, Satirical Poetry · 406 words
First lines
"WE are false and evanescent, and aware of our deceit, / From the straw that is our vitals to the clay that is our feet.
You may serve us if you must, and you shall have your wage of ashes, -
What this Textopian page supports
The False Gods is listed on Textopian as a poem by Edwin Arlington Robinson, dated 1916 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: Edwin Arlington Robinson
- Date: 1916 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Poetry, Philosophical Poetry, Satirical Poetry, Allegorical Poetry, Religious and Spiritual Poetry
- Length: 406 words
- Structure: 1 section, 18 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for The False Gods by Edwin Arlington Robinson
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
- Readability and classroom-planning context
- Passage-specific claims should cite the exact /read/ URL for the relevant chapter or paragraph
Similar titles
- Caput Mortuum by Edwin Arlington Robinson
- Discovery by Edwin Arlington Robinson
- The Old Kings New Jester by Edwin Arlington Robinson
- Afterthoughts by Edwin Arlington Robinson
- Late Summer by Edwin Arlington Robinson
- London Bridge by Edwin Arlington Robinson
Genres
- Poetry — The work is a formal, rhymed poem composed in regular stanzas, using compressed imagery, figurative language, and a collective speaking voice.
- Philosophical Poetry — It meditates on mortality, deception, worship, artistic creation, historical change, and the distinction between false and true values.
- Satirical Poetry — The poem sharply critiques fashionable idols, hollow public admiration, artificial art, and grand promises that cannot be fulfilled.
- Allegorical Poetry — The 'False Gods' function as personified symbols of transient cultural idols, fraudulent ideals, and human-made objects of worship.
Tags
poetry · American literature · modernism · early twentieth century · lyric poetry · philosophical · melancholy · disillusionment · spiritual doubt · mortality · human nature · isolation