Classic and Contemporary Poetry
SQUIRE BOWLING GREEN, by EDGAR LEE MASTERS Poet's Biography First Line: You missed it - case all over! Lincoln's gone Last Line: Ten dollars, I believe, and went to springfield. Subject(s): Lincoln, Abraham (1809-1865); Presidents, United States | ||||||||
You missed it -- case all over! Lincoln's gone. He's just had time about to reach the mill. He couldn't wait until the stage arrived. Had business in the courts of Springfield -- well, You can believe he has become a lawyer. He borrowed Mentor Graham's horse to ride. John Yoakum is in Springfield and to-morrow Will bring it back. Who won the case? Why, Abe. He won it by his horse-sense and his wit. You must have met the jury down the road. What were they laughing at? About the case. We started yesterday on the evidence And finished up this morning. An appeal? The verdict satisfies both parties, and My judgment stands. Abe is a natural lawyer, Knows things that can't be found in books, although He knows the books. And why not? You recall When he was boarding with me how he studied? It's just four years ago or so, that he Came home one night with Blackstone. Well, I've noticed A man attracts what's his, just like a magnet Draws bits of steel. You can't make me believe That Blackstone came to him unless 'twas meant That he should be a lawyer. Don't you know? He read this Blackstone in his store all day And half the night as well. He said to me Not Volney's "Ruins," Shakespeare, Burns, had taken His interest like this Blackstone. Yes, he took it When he went fishing with Jack Kelso, read, And let Jack row the boat and bait the hooks.... I think he knows this Blackstone all by heart. But anyway, he knows the human heart. Well, now here is the case: Here is a colt. George Cameron says the colt is his -- John Spears Says no, the colt is mine, and Cameron sues, And Spears defends, and sixty witnesses Come here to testify, on my word it's true, On my judicial oath it is the fact. The thirty swear the colt is Cameron's; And thirty swear the colt belongs to Spears; And not a man impeached, these witnesses Are everyone good men, and most of them I know as I know you. Well, what's to do? The scales are balanced. And besides all this, Here's Cameron who swears the colt is his, And Spears who swears the opposite, and both Are credible, I know them both. So I Sit like a fellow trying to decide What happens when a thing impenetrable Is struck by something irresistible -- I'm stumped, that's all. You see the facts were these: Each of these fellows owns a mare, the mares Look pretty much alike, each had a colt In April. But the other day one colt -- Which colt, that is the question -- strayed away And can't be found. George Cameron has a colt -- These men are neighbors -- but John Spears comes over And sees the colt at Cameron's in the field; And says, "That is my colt." "Not on your life," George Cameron replies, "The colt is mine -- Your colt has strayed, not mine." They come to law. John Spears gets Lincoln, and they come to court With sixty witnesses; and here this noon With all the evidence put in, I sit And eye the jury, know the jury's stumped, As I am stumped. Then Lincoln says: "Your honor, Let's have a trial on view." I'd heard of that, But never sat on such a trial before. "Let's bring the colt, the two mares over here, And let the jury see which mare the colt Resembles, let the jury use their eyes As witnesses use theirs." That seemed fair. And so we sent one fellow for the mares, Another for the colt. For Lincoln said: "Your honor, bring them separate, so the jury Can have the sudden flash of seeing them Separate, to study them." For an hour Abe sat here in the shade and told us stories. And pretty soon we heard the horses whinney, And heard the colt. And Lincoln said, "Your honor, Let's have the mares led past the jury, trotting, Let's see their pace." And so they trotted them. "Now trot the colt," said Lincoln -- we did that. The jury watched to see the look of legs, And movement, if you please, to catch a likeness. But nothing came of this. Then Lincoln said: "Now turn the colt loose" -- and they turned it loose. It galloped to the mare of Spears and sucked! Well, now it's true a colt's a silly thing, And may mistake its mother, but a mare Will never let a colt that's not her own Put under flanks its nose. Of course the jury, And all of us know that -- and so did Abe. The jury yelled and all the witnesses Began to whoop. And when I rapped for order And got things quiet -- Lincoln rose and said, "I rest, your honor." So I entered judgment For Spears. They went to Berry's for the drinks -- There! hear them laughing. Lincoln took his fee, Ten dollars, I believe, and went to Springfield. | Discover our poem explanations - click here!Other Poems of Interest...MARTAL DIPTYCH by GLYN MAXWELL JOHN BROWN'S BODY by STEPHEN VINCENT BENET HISTORICAL REFLECTIONS by JOHN HOLLANDER TO ABRAHAM LINCOLN by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON INAUGURATION DAY: JANUARY 1953 by ROBERT LOWELL LINCOLN TRIUMPHANT by EDWIN MARKHAM YOUNG LINCOLN by EDWIN MARKHAM A MAN CHILD IS BORN (1809) by EDGAR LEE MASTERS AT SAGAMORE HILL by EDGAR LEE MASTERS BRUTUS LIVES AGAIN IN BOOTH by EDGAR LEE MASTERS SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY: ALEXANDER THROCKMORTON by EDGAR LEE MASTERS |
|