I made two fights for the people. <br />First I left my party, bearing the gonfalon <br />Of independence, for reform, and was defeated. <br />Next I used my rebel strength <br />To capture the standard of my old party -- <br />And I captured it, but I was defeated. <br />Discredited and discarded, misanthropical, <br />I turned to the solace of gold <br />And I used my remnant of power <br />To fasten myself like a saprophyte <br />Upon the putrescent carcass <br />Of Thomas Rhodes' bankrupt bank, <br />As assignee of the fund. <br />Everyone now turned from me. <br />My hair grew white, <br />My purple lusts grew gray, <br />Tobacco and whisky lost their savor <br />And for years Death ignored me <br />As he does a hog.<br /><br />Edgar Lee Masters<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/hildrup-tubbs/
