AWAY with legal murder! must the man Or woman in such fateful shadow born That soul is lost in sense, brute instincts ban All better thoughts, must these bear also scorn, Loathing and shame until we snatch their breath — The ancient, barbarous law — in bitterest death? Justice is hundred-eyed, with righteous care For slain and slayer both, though vengeance rave: Not ours to hurl them down to black despair, A death of horror and a sunless grave! By our own hope of mercy let us stay This legal murder — crime of crimes to-day! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...TO W.P.: 3 by GEORGE SANTAYANA IN JANUARY by GORDON BOTTOMLEY THE FALLEN STAR by GEORGE DARLEY AN ENGLISH MOTHER by ROBERT UNDERWOOD JOHNSON THE NEWLY WEDDED by WINTHROP MACKWORTH PRAED PILGRIMAGE by ELIZABETH WILCOX BEASLEY |