Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY: THE CIRCUIT JUDGE, by EDGAR LEE MASTERS


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY: THE CIRCUIT JUDGE, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Take note, passers-by, of the sharp erosions
Last Line: Was innocent in soul compared with me.


TAKE note, passers-by, of the sharp erosions
Eaten in my head-stone by the wind and rain --
Almost as if an intangible Nemesis or hatred
Were marking scores against me,
But to destroy, and not preserve, my memory.
I in life was the Circuit Judge, a maker of notches,
Deciding cases on the points the lawyers scored,
Not on the right of the matter.
O wind and rain, leave my head-stone alone!
For worse than the anger of the wronged,
The curses of the poor,
Was to lie speechless, yet with vision clear,
Seeing that even Hod Putt, the murderer,
Hanged by my sentence,
Was innocent in soul compared with me.





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


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