Two Men by Edwin Arlington Robinson
The speaker is haunted by two obscure men whose identities and lives cannot be fully discovered. Melchizedek is known to have praised the Lord and given wine to Abraham, yet the speaker wonders what more he did. Ucalegon is known only for losing his house when Agamemnon came to Troy, and the speaker wishes him joy despite not knowing who he was. Their unanswered histories follow the speaker everywhere.
By Edwin Arlington Robinson · First published 1920 · Genre: Lyric Poetry, Reflective Poetry, Philosophical Poetry · 127 words
First lines
THERE be two men of all mankind
That I should like to know about; / But search and question where I will, / I cannot ever find them out.
Melchizedek, he praised the Lord,
And gave some wine to Abraham; / But who can tell what else he did
What this Textopian page supports
Two Men is listed on Textopian as a poem by Edwin Arlington Robinson, dated 1920 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: 1920 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Lyric Poetry, Reflective Poetry, Philosophical Poetry, Allusive Poetry, Narrative Poetry
- Length: 127 words
- Structure: 1 section, 13 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
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- Work identity for Two Men by Edwin Arlington Robinson
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Genres
- Lyric Poetry — A short, personal, musical poem centered on the speaker's recurring curiosity about two obscure historical and mythological figures.
- Reflective Poetry — The poem meditates on the limits of historical knowledge and on the enduring fascination of unanswered questions.
- Philosophical Poetry — Its treatment of unknowable identities and incomplete records implicitly considers uncertainty, memory, and human ignorance.
- Allusive Poetry — The work relies on biblical and classical references, especially Melchizedek from Genesis and Ucalegon from accounts of Troy.
Tags
poetry · American literature · narrative verse · character study · psychological insight · human relationships · isolation · alienation · melancholy · mortality · disillusionment · social observation