Spoon River Anthology - Penn State University
Spoon River Anthology - Penn State University
Spoon River Anthology - Penn State University
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And with a tiger’s heart. Two men he killed<br />
And many wounded in the days before,<br />
And no one feared.<br />
But when the hog-eyed one<br />
Saw Bengal Mike his countenance grew dark,<br />
The bristles o’er his red eyes twitched with rage,<br />
The song he rumbled lowered. Round and round<br />
The court-house paced he, followed stealthily<br />
By Bengal Mike, who jeered him every step:<br />
“Come, elephant, and fight! Come, hog-eyed coward!<br />
Come, face about and fight me, lumbering sneak!<br />
Come, beefy bully, hit me, if you can!<br />
Take out your gun, you duffer, give me reason<br />
To draw and kill you. Take your billy out.<br />
I’ll crack your boar’s head with a piece of brick!”<br />
But never a word the hog-eyed one returned<br />
But trod about the court-house, followed both<br />
By troops of boys and watched by all the men.<br />
All day, they walked the square. But when Apollo<br />
Stood with reluctant look above the hills<br />
As fain to see the end, and all the votes<br />
Were cast, and closed the polls, before the door<br />
Of Trainor’s drug store Bengal Mike, in tones<br />
That echoed through the village, bawled the taunt:<br />
“Who was your mother, hog—eyed?” In a trice<br />
As when a wild boar turns upon the hound<br />
That through the brakes upon an August day<br />
Has gashed him with its teeth, the hog- one<br />
Rushed with his giant arms on Bengal Mike<br />
And grabbed him by the throat. Then rose to heaven<br />
The frightened cries of boys, and yells of men<br />
Forth rushing to the street. And Bengal Mike<br />
Moved this way and now that, drew in his head<br />
As if his neck to shorten, and bent down<br />
To break the death grip of the hog-eyed one;<br />
‘Twixt guttural wrath and fast-expiring strength<br />
Striking his fists against the invulnerable chest<br />
Edgar Lee Masters<br />
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