Death & Dying

Sam Hookey

by Edgar Lee Masters 1868–1950

From Spoon River Anthology (1916)

Death & Dying

I ran away from home with the circus,
Having fallen in love with Mademoiselle Estralada,
The lion tamer.
One time, having starved the lions
For more than a day,
I entered the cage and began to beat Brutus
And Leo and Gypsy.
Whereupon Brutus sprang upon me,
And killed me.
On entering these regions
I met a shadow who cursed me,
And said it served me right. . . .
It was Robespierre!

MLA

Masters, Edgar Lee. “Sam Hookey.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/masters/57/.

Chicago

Masters, Edgar Lee. “Sam Hookey.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/masters/57/.

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