The Door

    This is the room that thou wast ushered in.
    Wouldst thou, perchance, a larger freedom win?
    Wouldst thou escape for deeper or no breath?
    There is no door but death.

    Do shadows crouch within the mocking light?
    Stand thou! but if thy terrored heart takes flight
    Facing maimed Hope and wide-eyed Nevermore,
    There is no less one door.

    Dost thou bewail love's end and friendship's doom,
    The dying fire, drained cup, and gathering gloom?
    Explore the walls, if thy soul ventureth,
    There is no door but death.

    There is no window. Heaven hangs aloof
    Above the rents within the stairless roof.
    Hence, soul, be brave across the ruined floor,
    Who knocks? Unbolt the door!

Edgar Lee Masters

Edgar Lee Masters was an American poet, biographer, and dramatist. Born in Kansas and raised in Illinois, Masters is best known for his collection of poems entitled "Spoon River Anthology" (1915), which is a series of epitaphs of residents of the fictional small town of Spoon River. His works reflect the everyday lives and frustrations of middle America. Masters also practiced law and wrote biographies for historical figures such as Abraham Lincoln and Mark Twain.

Edgar Lee Masters

Johnny Appleseed

Edgar Lee Masters, Simple Poetry

Willie Metcalf

Edgar Lee Masters, Simple Poetry

Ippolit Konovaloff

Edgar Lee Masters, Simple Poetry

Willie Pennington

Edgar Lee Masters, Simple Poetry

English

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The Creaking Door

Come in, old Ghost of all that used to be!
You find me old,
And love grown cold,
And fortune fled to younger company:
Departed, as the glory of the day,
With friends! And you, it seems, have come to stay.
'T is time to pray.

Come; sit with me, here at Life's creaking door,
All comfortless.
Think, nay! then, guess,
What was the one thing, eh? that made me poor?
The love of beauty, that I could not bind?
My dream of truth? or faith in humankind?
But, never mind!

All are departed now, with love and youth,
Whose stay was brief;
And left but grief
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    I leaned against the mantel, sick, sick,
    Thinking of my failure, looking into the abysm,
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Terminus

    Terminus shows the ways and says,
    "All things must have an end."
    Oh, bitter thought we hid away
    When first you were my friend.

    We hid it in the darkest place
    Our hearts had place to hide,
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    For neither life nor the wide world
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    The thought that runs through hands and eyes
    And fills the silences.

    There is a void the agéd world
    Throws over the spent heart;
    When Life has given all she has,
    And Terminus says depart.

    When we must sit with folded hands,
    And see with inward eye
    A void rise like an arctic breath
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The Open Door

O Mystery of life,
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    I would I had thrust my hands of flesh
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