Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900.
By LucyRobinson1510 The Fire i’ the Flint
T
Of man or woman. Caesar, with his cry
Of anguish,—Pilate, putting justice by,—
Into three words a human soul compressed;
Three broke from Galileo’s brooding breast;
And Desdemona, instant to reply
“Nobody—I myself,” is by that lie
In all her purity made manifest.
But Tito, Tito, standing so secure,—
Tito, the idol of the market-place,
Who muttering to himself, “Some madman, sure!”
Could look his stricken father in the face,
From a yet deeper well his falsehood drew,
And lived more base than that young wife died true.