Suppose you stood just five feet two,
And had worked your way as a grocery clerk ,
Studying law by candle light
Until you became an attorney at law ?
And then suppose through your diligence,
And regular church attendance,
You became attorney for Thomas Rhodes,
Collecting notes and mortgages,
And representing all the widows
In the Probate Court ? And through it all
They jeered at your size, and laughed at your clothes
And your polished boots ? And then suppose
You became the County Judge ?
And Jefferson Howard and Kinsey Keene,
– And Harmon Whitney, and all the giants
Who had sneered at you, were forced to stand
Before the bar and say “ Your Honor”
Well, don’t you think it was natural
That I made it hard for them ?
Spoon River AnthologyA website version of the book of poems, Spoon River Anthology, by Edgar Lee Masters