Death & Dying

Dippold the Optician

by Edgar Lee Masters 1868–1950

From Spoon River Anthology (1916)

Death & Dying

What do you see now?
Globes of red, yellow, purple.
Just a moment! And now?
My father and mother and sisters.
Yes! And now?
Knights at arms, beautiful women, kind faces.
Try this.
A field of grain—a city.
Very good! And now?
A young woman with angels bending over her.
A heavier lens! And now?
Many women with bright eyes and open lips.
Try this.
Just a goblet on a table.
Oh I see! Try this lens!
Just an open space—I see nothing in particular.
Well, now!
Pine trees, a lake, a summer sky.
That’s better. And now?
A book.
Read a page for me.
I can’t. My eyes are carried beyond the page.
Try this lens.
Depths of air.
Excellent! And now!
Light, just light making everything below it a toy world.
Very well, we’ll make the glasses accordingly.

MLA

Masters, Edgar Lee. “Dippold the Optician.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/masters/177/.

Chicago

Masters, Edgar Lee. “Dippold the Optician.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/masters/177/.

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