by Edgar Lee Masters (1868 - 1950)
Language: English
Have you seen walking through the village A man with downcast eyes and haggard face? That is my husband who, by secret cruelty Never to be told, robbed me of my youth and my beauty; Till at last, wrinkled and with yellow teeth, And with broken pride and shameful humility, I sank into the grave. But what think you gnaws at my husband's heart? The face of what I was, the face of what he made me! These are driving him to the place where I lie. In death, therefore, I am avenged.
Confirmed with Edgar Lee Masters, Spoon River Anthology, New York: The Macmillan Company, 1921, page 4.
Composition:
- Set to music by Andrew Downes (1950 - 2023), "Ollie McGee", 1986, from Songs from Spoon River, no. 1
Text Authorship:
- by Edgar Lee Masters (1868 - 1950), "Ollie McGee", appears in Spoon River Anthology, first published 1916
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Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 11
Word count: 93