Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY: STATE'S ATTORNEY FALLAS, by EDGAR LEE MASTERS


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SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY: STATE'S ATTORNEY FALLAS, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: I, the scourge-wielder, balance-wrecker
Last Line: The vessels of your hand.


I, THE scourge-wielder, balance-wrecker,
Smiter with whips and swords;
I, hater of the breakers of the law;
I, legalist, inexorable and bitter,
Driving the jury to hang the madman, Barry Holden,
Was made as one dead by light too bright for eyes,
And woke to face a Truth with bloody brow:
Steel forceps fumbled by a doctor's hand
Against my boy's head as he entered life
Made him an idiot.
I turned to books of science
To care for him.
That's how the world of those whose minds are sick
Became my work in life, and all my world.
Poor ruined boy! You were, at last, the potter
And I in all my deeds of charity
The vessels of your hand.





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