Spoon River Anthology - Penn State University
Spoon River Anthology - Penn State University
Spoon River Anthology - Penn State University
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<strong>Spoon</strong> <strong>River</strong> <strong>Anthology</strong><br />
Who frowned not on the cup but loathed the rule<br />
Democracy achieved thereby, the freedom<br />
And lust of life it symbolized.<br />
Now morn with snowy fingers up the sky<br />
Flung like an orange at a festival<br />
The ruddy sun, when from their hasty beds<br />
Poured forth the hostile forces, and the streets<br />
Resounded to the rattle of the wheels<br />
That drove this way and that to gather in<br />
The tardy voters, and the cries of chieftains<br />
Who manned the battle. But at ten o’clock<br />
The liberals bellowed fraud, and at the polls<br />
The rival candidates growled and came to blows.<br />
Then proved the idiot’s tale of yester-eve<br />
A word of warning. Suddenly on the streets<br />
Walked hog-eyed Allen, terror of the hills<br />
That looked on Bernadotte ten miles removed.<br />
No man of this degenerate day could lift<br />
The boulders which he threw, and when he spoke<br />
The windows rattled, and beneath his brows<br />
Thatched like a shed with bristling hair of black,<br />
His small eyes glistened like a maddened boar.<br />
And as he walked the boards creaked, as he walked<br />
A song of menace rumbled. Thus he came,<br />
The champion of A. D. Blood, commissioned<br />
To terrify the liberals. Many fled<br />
As when a hawk soars o’er the chicken yard.<br />
He passed the polls and with a playful hand<br />
Touched Brown, the giant, and he fell against,<br />
As though he were a child, the wall; so strong<br />
Was hog-eyed Allen. But the liberals smiled.<br />
For soon as hog-eyed Allen reached the walk,<br />
Close on his steps paced Bengal Mike, brought in<br />
By Kinsey Keene, the subtle-witted one,<br />
To match the hog-eyed Allen. He was scarce<br />
Three-fourths the other’s bulk, but steel his arms,<br />
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