State's Attorney Fallas

Edgar Lee Masters 1868 (Garnett) – 1950 (Elkins Park)



I, the scourge-wielder, balance-wrecker,
Smiter with whips and swords;
I, hater of the breakers of the law;
I, legalist, inexorable and bitter,
Driving the jury to hang the madman, Barry Holden,
Was made as one dead by light too bright for eyes,
And woke to face a Truth with bloody brow:
Steel forceps fumbled by a doctor's hand
Against my boy's head as he entered life
Made him an idiot.
I turned to books of science
To care for him.
That's how the world of those whose minds are sick
Became my work in life, and all my world.
Poor ruined boy! You were, at last, the potter
And I and all my deeds of charity
The vessels of your hand.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

37 sec read
54

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABCADEFGHIJKLMANG
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 627
Words 123
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 17

Edgar Lee Masters

Edgar Lee Masters was an American poet, biographer, and dramatist. more…

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