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Poem by Edgar Lee Masters


Marie Bateson


You observe the carven hand
With the index finger pointing heavenward.
That is the direction, no doubt.
But how shall one follow it?
It is well to abstain from murder and lust,
To forgive, do good to others, worship God
Without graven images.
But these are external means after all
By which you chiefly do good to yourself.
The inner kernel is freedom,
It is light, purity --
I can no more,
Find the goal or lose it, according to your vision.



Edgar Lee Masters


Edgar Lee Masters's other poems:
  1. Paul McNeely
  2. Clarence Fawcett
  3. Jonas Keene
  4. State’s Attorney Fallas
  5. Mabel Osborne


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