Judge Somers

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



How does it happen, tell me,
That I who was the most erudite of lawyers,
Who knew Blackstone and Coke
Almost by heart, who made the greatest speech
The court-house ever heard, and wrote
A brief that won the praise of Justice Breese--
How does it happen, tell me,
That I lie here unmarked, forgotten,
While Chase Henry, the town drunkard,
Has a marble block, topped by an urn,
Wherein Nature, in a mood ironical,
Has sown a flowering seed?

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 23, 2023

24 sec read
411

Quick analysis:

Scheme AbcdefAghijk
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 446
Words 82
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 12

Edgar Lee Masters

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

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