Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY: EZRA BARTLETT, by EDGAR LEE MASTERS


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY: EZRA BARTLETT, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: A chaplain in the army
Last Line: By resting upon itself.


A CHAPLAIN in the army,
A chaplain in the prisons,
An exhorter in Spoon River,
Drunk with divinity, Spoon River --
Yet bringing poor Eliza Johnson to shame,
And myself to scorn and wretchedness.
But why will you never see that love of women,
And even love of wine,
Are the stimulants by which the soul, hungering for divinity,
Reaches the ecstatic vision
And sees the celestial outposts?
Only after many trials for strength,
Only when all stimulants fail,
Does the aspiring soul
By its own sheer power
Find the divine
By resting upon itself.





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net