Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, A MAN CHILD IS BORN (1839), by EDGAR LEE MASTERS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

A MAN CHILD IS BORN (1839), by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: After such pain this child against my breast!
Last Line: Look at that darling face -- it must be so!
Subject(s): Booth, John Wilkes (1838-1865)


(Mrs. Booth is speaking.)

After such pain this child against my breast!
Oh what a cunning head and little face!
What coal black hair! You have begun to feed!
Look, doctor, how he feeds -- why look at him,
He is a little man! Is not God good
To give me such a baby? Well, I think
You will be something noble in this world,
And something great, you precious little man!
His daddy wants to name him John Wilkes. I
Would name him Junius Brutus to hand down
His father's glory and perhaps his art.
Look, doctor, is it not a miracle
That God performs, this little life from mine,
This beauty out of love! I pray to God
To bless you, little John, if that's your name.
A colored mammy read the coffee grounds,
And says he will be famous, rich and great --
He may be so. I know he will be good.
Look at that darling face -- it must be so!





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