The Has-been
The Has-been - meaning Summary
Casual Cruelty, Silent Witness
The poem contrasts an ancient, mute monument with a modern child’s casual cruelty. A boy vandalizes the stone face—chipping its nose and splattering its cheek—then leaves laughing, while the statue remains inscrutable. The image suggests themes of time, the persistence of the past, and how contemporary thoughtless acts desecrate or misunderstand earlier civilizations. The poem’s tone is spare and observational, emphasizing silence in the face of wanton behavior.
Read Complete AnalysesA 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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