Charlie French (by Edgar Lee Masters)
Charlie French
by Edgar Lee Masters
from Spoon River Anthology [1915]
Did you ever find out
Which one of the O'Brien boys it was
Who snapped the toy pistol against my hand?
There when the flags were red and white
In the breeze and "Bucky" Estil
Was firing the cannon brought to Spoon River
From Vicksburg by Captain Harris;
And the lemonade stands were running
And the band was playing,
To have it all spoiled
By a piece of a cap shot under the skin of my hand,
And the boys all crowding about me saying:
"You'll die of lock-jaw, Charlie, sure."
Oh, dear! oh, dear!
What chum of mine could have done it?
Posted by Jesus Crisis at 11/27/2009 3:53 PM 
Categories: Masters (Edgar Lee),Poetry,1900s,American
Tags: Spoon River Anthology 1915 Edgar Lee Masters American Poetry American Literature
Categories: Masters (Edgar Lee),Poetry,1900s,American
Tags: Spoon River Anthology 1915 Edgar Lee Masters American Poetry American Literature
God, I love what he's doing in these poems. He's so far ahead of everyone else, all the fancy poets -- telling stories about people and about the way life is. Pound and Eliot had no idea.
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Thanks for turning me on to him, Mike. I never read Spoon River til you listed it as one your ten desert island poetry books on the Cleveland Poetics blog.
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