You have become a forge of snow-wh… A crucible of molten steel, O Fra… Your sons are stars who cluster to… And fade in light for you, O glor… They pass through meteor changes w…

I have known the silence of the st… And the silence of the city when i… And the silence of a man and a mai… And the silence of the sick When their eyes roam about the roo…

I was among multitudes of children Dancing at the foot of a mountain. A breeze blew out of the east and… Driving some up the slopes.... Al… Here were flying lights, and mysti…

Both for the country and for the m… And for a country as well as a man… ’Tis better to be feared than love… And if this country would rather p… With the friendship of every natio…

Why was I not devoured by self-co… And rotted down by indifference And impotent revolt like Indignat… Why, with all of my errant steps Did I miss the fate of Willard F…

They would have lynched me Had I not been secretly hurried a… To the jail at Peoria. And yet I was going peacefully ho… Carrying my jug, a little drunk,

I was sixteen, and I had the most… And specks before my eyes, and ner… And I couldn’t remember the books… Like Frank Drummer who memorized… And my back was weak, and I worri…

They got me into the Sunday-schoo… In Spoon River And tried to get me to drop Confu… I could have been no worse off If I had tried to get them to dro…

Why are you running so fast hither… Chasing midges or butterflies? Some of you are standing solemnly… Some of you are waiting for corn t… This is life, is it?

To this generation I would say: Memorize some bit of verse of trut… It may serve a turn in your life. My husband had nothing to do With the fall of the bank—he was o…

I know that he told how I snared… With a snare which bled him to dea… And all the men loved him, And most of the women pitied him. But suppose you are really a lady,…

My parents thought that I would b… As great as Edison or greater: For as a boy I made balloons And wondrous kites and toys with c… And little engines with tracks to…

There by the window in the old hou… Perched on the bluff, overlooking… My days of labor closed, sitting o… Day by day did I look in my memor… As one who gazes in an enchantress…

Ye aspiring ones, listen to the st… Who lies here with no stone to mar… As a boy reckless and wanton, Wandering with gun in hand through… Near the mansion of Aaron Hatfiel…

Their spirits beat upon mine Like the wings of a thousand butte… I closed my eyes and felt their sp… I closed my eyes, yet I knew when… Fringed their cheeks from downcast…