Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

CONSCIENTIOUS JUDGE by HELEN W. FOWLER

First Line: UPON THE BENCH I HEAR ALL DAY
Last Line: JAIL HIM WHO STOLE A LOAF OR TWO.
Subject(s): CRIME & CRIMINALS; JUDGES;
Upon the bench I hear all day
The lean and spare, the sleek and fat,
Men who toil and those who play,
Banker's clerk and plutocrat.

History proves that rich and poor
Were from the first ordained to be.
This natural law must still endure;
To question it were wrong of me.

So I assist the ancient rule,
Giving to wealth and want its due;
Excuse the big thief as a fool,
Jail him who stole a loaf or two.



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