Aner Clute

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



Over and over they used to ask me,
While buying the wine or the beer,
In Peoria first, and later in Chicago,
Denver, Frisco, New York, wherever I lived,
How I happened to lead the life,
And what was the start of it.
Well, I told them a silk dress,
And a promise of marriage from a rich man --
(It was Lucius Atherton).
But that was not really it at all.
Suppose a boy steals an apple
From the tray at the grocery store,
And they all begin to call him a thief,
The editor, minister, judge, and all the people --
"A thief," "a thief," "a thief," wherever he goes.
And he can't get work, and he can't get bread
Without stealing it, why, the boy will steal.
It's the way the people regard the theft of the apple
That makes the boy what he is.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 16, 2023

45 sec read
70

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABCDEFGHIJKLMKNOPKQ
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 728
Words 153
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 19

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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