Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, LEGAL MURDER, by EDNA DEAN PROCTOR


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

LEGAL MURDER, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Away with legal murder! Must the man
Last Line: This legal murder — crime of crimes to-day!
Alternate Author Name(s): Dean
Subject(s): Death; Justice; Murder; Dead, The


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!





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