When I died, the circulating library <br />Which I built up for Spoon River, <br />And managed for the good of inquiring minds, <br />Was sold at auction on the public square, <br />As if to destroy the last vestige <br />Of my memory and influence. <br />For those of you who could not see the virtue <br />Of knowing Volney's "Ruins" as well as Butler's "Analogy" <br />And "Faust" as well as "Evangeline," <br />Were really the power in the village, <br />And often you asked me, <br />"What is the use of knowing the evil in the world?" <br />I am out of your way now, Spoon River, <br />Choose your own good and call it good. <br />For I could never make you see <br />That no one knows what is good <br />Who knows not what is evil; <br />And no one knows what is true <br />Who knows not what is false.<br /><br />Edgar Lee Masters<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/seth-compton/
