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Voltaire Johnson

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



Why did you bruise me with your rough places
If you did not want me to tell you about them?
And stifle me with your stupidities,
If you did not want me to expose them?
And nail me with the nails of cruelty,
If you did not want me to pluck the nails forth
And fling them in your faces?
And starve me because I refused to obey you,
If you did not want me to undermine your tyranny?
I might have been as soul serene
As William Wordsworth except for you!
But what a coward you are, Spoon River,
When you drove me to stand in a magic circle
By the sword of Truth described!
And then to whine and curse your burns,
And curse my power who stood and laughed
Amid ironical lightning!

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

41 sec read
65

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABABCDAECFEGHIJKL
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 666
Words 137
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 17

Edgar Lee Masters

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

All Edgar Lee Masters poems | Edgar Lee Masters Books

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    "Voltaire Johnson" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2023. Web. 25 Mar. 2023. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/8735/voltaire-johnson>.

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