If a man could bite the giant hand <br />That catches and destroys him, <br />As I was bitten by a rat <br />While demonstrating my patent trap, <br />In my hardware store that day. <br />But a man can never avenge himself <br />On the monstrous ogre Life. <br />You enter the room--that's being born; <br />And then you must live--work out your soul, <br />Aha! the bait that you crave is in view: <br />A woman with money you want to marry, <br />Prestige, place, or power in the world. <br />But there's work to do and things to conquer-- <br />Oh, yes! the wires that screen the bait. <br />At last you get in--but you hear a step: <br />The ogre, Life, comes into the room, <br />(He was waiting and heard the clang of the spring) <br />To watch you nibble the wondrous cheese, <br />And stare with his burning eyes at you, <br />And scowl and laugh, and mock and curse you, <br />Running up and down in the trap, <br />Until your misery bores him.<br /><br />Edgar Lee Masters<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/robert-fulton-tanner/
