John Ballard

Edgar Lee Masters 1868 (Garnett) – 1950 (Elkins Park)



In the lust of my strength
I cursed God, but he paid no attention to me:
I might as well have cursed the stars.
In my last sickness I was in agony, but I was resolute
And I cursed God for my suffering;
Still He paid no attention to me;
He left me alone, as He had always done.
I might as well have cursed the Presbyterian steeple.
Then, as I grew weaker, a terror came over me:
Perhaps I had alienated God by cursing him.
One day Lydia Humphrey brought me a bouquet
And it occurred to me to try to make friends with God,
So I tried to make friends with Him;
But I might as well have tried to make friends with the bouquet.
Now I was very close to the secret,
For I really could make friends with the bouquet
By holding close to me the love in me for the bouquet
And so I was creeping upon the secret, but --

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

50 sec read
52

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABCDEBFGBHIJHIKIIK
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 798
Words 168
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 18

Edgar Lee Masters

Edgar Lee Masters was an American poet, biographer, and dramatist. more…

All Edgar Lee Masters poems | Edgar Lee Masters Books

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