She lived below the tracks in squalor's clutch While sheltered women lifted haughty chins. Magnolia petal, tarnished by a touch, Was like her face, defeated by her sins. For she was one whose scarlet candle light Betrayed the beast in those who came her way, And men were baubles on her chain at night Who walked the paths of righteousness by day. A man lived in a mansion on the hill, He ruled our little town and rules it still. Yet where the woods had formed a sheltered glade He met and quenched his passion with this maid. I wondered then and still am wondering why The town should worship him and pass her by. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY: AMI GREEN by EDGAR LEE MASTERS THEOLOGY by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR THE WOLF AND THE DOG by JEAN DE LA FONTAINE THE BABY, FR. AT THE BACK OF THE NORTH WIND by GEORGE MACDONALD SONNETS TO LAURA IN LIFE: 109 by PETRARCH |