I’m pardoned out. Again the stars <br /> Shine on me with their myriad eyes. <br />So long I’ve peered ‘twixt iron bars, <br /> I’m awed by this expanse of skies. <br />The world is wider than I thought, <br /> And yet ‘tis not so wide, I know, <br />But into its remotest spot <br /> My tale of shame can go. <br /> <br />I’m pardoned out. Old Father Time <br /> Who seemed to halt in horror, when <br />I strained my manhood by a crime, <br /> With steady step moves on again, <br />And through the black appalling night, <br /> That walled me in a gloom accurst, <br />The wonder of the morning light <br /> In sudden glory burst. <br /> <br />I’m pardoned out. I shall be knows <br /> No more by number, but by name. <br />And yet each whispering wind has blown <br /> Abroad the story of my shame. <br />I dread to see men shrink away <br /> With startled looks of scorn or fear, <br />When in life’s crowded marts some day, <br /> That name falls on their ear. <br /> <br />I’m pardoned out, ah God! to roam <br /> Like some whipped dog among my kind. <br />I have no friends, I have no home, <br /> Save these bleak walls I leave behind. <br />How can I face the world of men, <br /> My comrades in the days of yore? <br />Oh! hide me in my cell again, <br />And, warden lock the door.<br /><br />Ella Wheeler Wilcox<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/pardoned-out/
