WHEN I died, the circulating library Which I built up for Spoon River, And managed for the good of inquiring minds, Was sold at auction on the public square, As if to destroy the last vestige Of my memory and influence. For those of you who could not see the virtue Of knowing Volney's "Ruins" as well as Butler's "Analogy" And "Faust" as well as "Evangeline," Were really the power in the village, And often you asked me, "What is the use of knowing the evil in the world?" I am out of your way now, Spoon River, Choose your own good and call it good. For I could never make you see That no one knows what is good Who knows not what is evil; And no one knows what is true Who knows not what is false. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...COWSLIPS AND LARKS by WILLIAM HENRY DAVIES OFF THE GROUND by WALTER JOHN DE LA MARE THE BELLS OF HEAVEN by RALPH HODGSON GRENADIER by ALFRED EDWARD HOUSMAN THE HOUSE OF LIFE: 57. TRUE WOMAN, HER LOVE by DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI THE GRAVE OF HOMER by ALCAEUS OF MESSENE |