In my Spanish cloak,
And old slouch hat,
And overshoes of felt,
And Tyke, my faithful dog,
And my knotted hickory cane,
I slipped about with a bull’s-eye lantern
From door to door on the square,
As the midnight stars wheeled round,
And the bell in the steeple murmured
From the blowing of the wind;
And the weary steps of old Doc Hill
Sounded like one who walks in sleep,
And a far-off rooster crew.
And now another is watching Spoon River
As others watched before me.
And here we lie, Doc Hill and I
Where none breaks through and steals,
And no eye needs to guard.

Analysis, meaning and summary of Edgar Lee Masters's poem Andy the Night-Watch

3 Comments

  1. denise says:

    Thank you for being kind and understanding with LJ. At
    least she read the poem. Most 13 year olds are too self-absorbed to read anything but Harry Potter (or maybe they would just wait for the movie). text-messages from their friends are about the limit of their literary exposure. I must say I’m not much better. I have just discovered Edgar Lee Masters. I can almost see, feel, taste, and smell the way he descirbes life in his poetry. I will keep reading ELM.

  2. Mitch says:

    Mr. L.J.,
    When you post comments about a poem by a master like Edgar Lee Masters, please look at some of his other works and check your spelling. I mean no offense to you, but this is just one poem from a big anthology called the “Spoon River Anthology” about a small town. Also, poems do NOT always have to rhyme. The poems from this anthology are mostly about people’s lives from a small town, so it makes more sense to their lives to NOT rhyme. Once, again no offense. A few years ago I was your age, and I felt the same way about poetry. There is probably no chance that you or any other person will ever read this, but I read your comment, being the only one, and felt rather offended (possibly not the best word…) so I felt compelled to post this. Before I end: I am wondering how you happened to come across this without having known Masters’s work (an assumption) and having not read any of the other Spoon River Anthology. If you see this, post it, if I ever check this again, it would be intresting to know.

    Keep knowledge-seaching! “Latter!!!!!!”

  3. L.J says:

    that peom was all off to me. it didm’t ryme or feeling. I think that a peom should ryme but, if it doen’t ryme it should atleast put you in a sertain mood. like a love peom, it should be deep and inspiring. anyway, I’M just 13 what do I know. Latter!!!!!!

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