Lyman King
Lyman King
Original Text
Edgar Lee Masters, Spoon River Anthology,
illustrated by Oliver Herford (London: T. Werner Laurie,
[1916]): 217. 8-NBI Masters New York Public Library
1You may think, passer-by, that Fate
2Is a pit-fall outside of yourself,
3Around which you may walk by the use of foresight
4And wisdom.
5Thus you believe, viewing the lives of other men,
6As one who in God-like fashion bends over an anthill,
7Seeing how their difficulties could be avoided.
8But pass on into life:
9In time you shall see Fate approach you
10In the shape of your own image in the mirror;
11Or you shall sit alone by your own hearth,
12And suddenly the chair by you shall hold a guest,
13And you shall know that guest,
14And read the authentic message of his eyes.
Publication Start Year
1915
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
RPO Edition
2003
Rhyme