Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY: THE TOWN MARSHAL, by EDGAR LEE MASTERS


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SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY: THE TOWN MARSHAL, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: The prohibitionists made me town marshal
Last Line: Fourteen years were enough for killing me.


THE Prohibitionists made me Town Marshal
When the saloons were voted out,
Because when I was a drinking man,
Before I joined the church, I killed a Swede
At the saw-mill near Maple Grove.
And they wanted a terrible man,
Grim, righteous, strong, courageous,
And a hater of saloons and drinkers,
To keep law and order in the village.
And they presented me with a loaded cane
With which I struck Jack McGuire
Before he drew the gun with which he killed me.
The Prohibitionists spent their money in vain
To hang him, for in a dream
I appeared to one of the twelve jurymen
And told him the whole secret story.
Fourteen years were enough for killing me.





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