Classic and Contemporary Poetry
SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY: CARL HAMBLIN, by EDGAR LEE MASTERS Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: The press of the spoon river clarion was wrecked Last Line: "but the multitude saw why she wore the bandage." Subject(s): Chicago; Haymarket Square Riot; Newspapers; Social Protest; Journalism; Journalists | ||||||||
THE press of the Spoon River Clarion was wrecked, And I was tarred and feathered, For publishing this on the day the Anarchists were hanged in Chicago: "I saw a beautiful woman with bandaged eyes Standing on the steps of a marble temple. Great multitudes passed in front of her, Lifting their faces to her imploringly. In her left hand she held a sword. She was brandishing the sword, Sometimes striking a child, again a laborer, Again a slinking woman, again a lunatic. In her right hand she held a scale; Into the scale pieces of gold were tossed By those who dodged the strokes of the sword. A man in a black gown read from a manuscript: 'She is no respecter of persons.' Then a youth wearing a red cap Leaped to her side and snatched away the bandage. And lo, the lashes had been eaten away From the oozy eye-lids; The eye-balls were seared with a milky mucus; The madness of a dying soul Was written on her face -- But the multitude saw why she wore the bandage." | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE CIRCULATION OF NEWSPAPERS RISES GREATLY IN TIME OF WAR by EVE MERRIAM IT IS DANGEROUS TO READ NEWSPAPERS by MARGARET ATWOOD METAMORPHOSES: 3. THE RE-BIRTH OF VENUS by GEOFFREY HILL THE INTERVIEW by DAVID IGNATOW THE MORNING STAR by PRIMUS ST. JOHN SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY: ALEXANDER THROCKMORTON by EDGAR LEE MASTERS |
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