| Publication information |
|
Source: Atlanta Constitution Source type: newspaper Document type: poem Document title: “At the Fair” Author(s): Stoddard, Richard Henry City of publication: Atlanta, Georgia Date of publication: 22 September 1901 Volume number: 34 Issue number: none Part/Section: 1 Pagination: 7 |
| Citation |
| Stoddard, Richard Henry. “At the Fair.” Atlanta Constitution 22 Sept. 1901 v34: part 1, p. 7. |
| Transcription |
| full text |
| Keywords |
| McKinley assassination (poetry). |
| Named persons |
| none. |
| Document |
At the Fair
The devil’s best tools
Are the fingers of fools.
All pious, good people
Who live in a steeple,
Over spire and gilt vane
Whirling round, round again,
Like joy behind sorrow, or ease after pain,
But the worst, most accursed,
Is prim and sedate,
He stands up straight,
So lowly elate,
But creeps through the gate
Into rooms of the great,
And cowers in the chamber of state.
Let him learn, if he can,
The first lesson of Man,
The last, for he must,
He shall learn, and discern
The fire of live coals in our urn.