Widow Fortelka Poem Rhyme Scheme

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Edgar Lee Masters

Widow Fortelka Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

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Marie Fortelka widow mother of Josef	A
Now seventeen an invalid at home	B
In a house in Halstead Street his running side	C
Aching with broken ribs read in the Times	D
Of Lowell's death the editor dressed herself	E
To call on William Rummler legal mind	F
For Lowell and the Times	D
	-
It was a day	G
When fog hung over the city and she thought	H
Of fogs in Germany whence she came and thought	H
Of hard conditions there when she was young	I
Then as her boy this Josef coughed she looked	J
And felt a pang at heart a rise of wrath	K
And heard him moan for broken ribs and lungs	L
That had been bruised or mashed America	M
Oh yes America she said to self	E
How is it different from the land I left	N
And then her husband's memory came to mind	F
How he had fled his country to be free	O
And come to Philadelphia with the thrill	P
Of new life found looked at the famous Hall	Q
Which gave the Declaration cried and laughed	R
And said The country's free and I am here	S
I am free now a man no more a slave	T
What did he find A job but prices high	U
Wages decreased in winter then a strike	V
He joined the union found himself in jail	W
For passing hand bills which announced the strike	V
And asked the public to take note and punish	X
The corporation not to trade with it	Y
For its injustice toward the laborers	Z
And in the court he heard the judge decide	C
Free speech cannot be used to gain the ends	A2
Of ruin by conspiracy like this	B2
Against a business Men from foreign lands	C2
Of despot rule and poverty who come	D2
For liberty and means of life among us	E2
Must learn that liberty is ordered liberty	O
And is not license freedom to commit	Y
Injury to another	F2
	-
So in jail	W
He lay his thirty days out went to work	G2
Where he could find it found the union smashed	H2
Himself compelled to take what job he could	I2
What wages he was offered And his children	J2
Kept coming year by year till there were eight	K2
And Josef was but ten And then he died	C
And left this helpless family and the boy	L2
Sold papers on the street ten years of age	M2
The widow washed	N2
	-
And first he sold the Times	D
And helped to spread the doctrines of the Times	D
Of ordered liberty and epicene	J2
Reforms of this or that But when the Star	O2
With millions back of it broke in the field	P2
He changed and sold the Star too bad for him	Q2
Discovered something	R2
	-
Josef did not know	J2
The corners of the street are free to all	Q
Or free to none where newsboys stood and sold	S2
And kept their stands or rather where the powers	Z
That kept the great conspiracy of the press	T2
Controlled the stands and to prevent the Star	O2
From gaining foot hold Not upon this corner	F2
Nor on that corner any corner in short	U2
Shall newsboys sell the Star But Josef felt	V2
Being a boy indifferent to the rules	W2
Well founded true or false that all the corners	Z
Were free to all and for his daring strength	X2
Had been selected picked to sell the Star	O2
And break the ground gain place upon the stands	C2
He had been warned from corners chased and boxed	Y2
By heavy fists from corners more than once	Z2
Before the day they felled him On that day	G
A monster bully once a pugilist	A3
Came on him selling the Star and knocked him down	J2
Kicked in his ribs and broke a leg and cracked	B3
His little skull	C3
	-
And so they took him home	B
To Widow Fortelka and the sisters brothers	Z
Whose bread he earned And there he lay and moaned	D3
And when he sat up had a little cough	E3
Was short of breath	F3
	-
And on this foggy day	G
When Widow Fortelka reads in the Times	D
That Lowell the editor is dead he sits	G3
With feet wrapped in a quilt and gets his breath	F3
With open mouth his face is brightly flushed	H3
A fetid sweetness fills the air of the room	I3
That from his open mouth comes Josef lingers	Z
A few weeks yet he has tuberculosis	B2
And so his mother looks at him resolves	J3
To call this day on William Rummler see	O
If Lowell's death has changed the state of things	K3
And if the legal mind will not relent	L3
Now that the mind that fed it lies in death	F3
It's true enough she thinks I was dismissed	A3
And sent away for good but never mind	F
It can't be true this pugilist went farther	F2
Than the authority of his hiring that's	M3
The talk this lawyer gave her used a word	N3
She could not keep in mind the lawyer said	O3
Respondeat superior in this case	P3
Was not in point and if it could be proved	Q3
This pugilist was hired by the Times	D
No one could prove the Times had hired him	Q2
To beat a boy commit a crime Well then	J2
What was he hired for the widow asked	R3
And then she talked with newsboys and they said	O3
The papers had their sluggers all of them	S3
Even the Star and that was just a move	T3
In getting circulation keeping it	Y
And all these sluggers watched the stands and drove	U3
The newsboys selling Stars away	G
	-
No matter	F2
She could not argue with this lawyer Rummler	F2
Who said You must excuse me go away	G
I'm sorry but there's nothing I can do	V3
	-
Now Widow Fortelka had never heard	N3
Of Elenor Murray had not read a line	J2
Of Elenor Murray's death beside the river	F2
She was as ignorant of the interview	V3
Between the coroner and this editor	F2
Who died next morning fearing Merival	C3
Would dig up Mrs Lowell and expose	W3
Her suicide as conferences of spirits	G3
Directing matters in another world	X3
Her thought was moulded no less by the riffles	G3
That spread from Elenor Murray and her death	F3
And she resolved to see this lawyer Rummler	F2
And try again to get a settlement	Y3
To help her dying boy And so she went	L3
	-
That morning Rummler coming into town	J2
Had met a cynic friend upon the train	J2
Who used his tongue as freely as his mood	Z3
Moved him to use it So he said to Rummler	F2
I see your client died a hell of a life	A4
That fellow lived a critic in our midst	B4
Both hated and caressed And I suppose	G3
You drew his will and know it I will bet	C4
If he left anything to charity	O
Or to the city it is some narcotic	D4
To keep things as they are the ailing body	O
To dull and bring forgetfulness of pain	J2
He was a fine albino of the soul	C3
No pigment in his genesis to give	E4
Color to hair or eyes he had no gonads	G3
And William Rummler laughed and said You'll see	O
What Lowell did when I probate the will	C3
	-
Then William Rummler thought that very moment	Y3
Of plans whereby his legal mind could thrive	F4
Upon the building of the big hotel	C3
To Lowell's memory for perpetual use	G3
Of the Y M C A the seminary too	V3
In Moody's memory for an orthodox	G3
Instruction in the bible	C3
	-
With such things	G3
In mind this William Rummler opened the door	F2
And stepped into his office got a shock	G4
From seeing Widow Fortelka on the bench	H4
Where clients waited waiting there for him	Q2
She rose and greeted him and William Rummler	F2
Who in a stronger moment might have said	O3
You must excuse me I have told you madam	D2
I can do nothing for you let her follow	C3
Into his private office and sit down	J2
And there renew her suit	I4
	-
She said to him	Q2
My boy is dying now I think his ribs	G3
Were driven in his lungs and punctured them	S3
He coughs the worst stuff up you ever saw	G3
And has an awful fever sweats his clothes	G3
Right through is breathless cannot live a month	J4
And I know you can help me Mr Lowell	C3
So you told me refused a settlement	Y3
Because this pugilist was never hired	N3
To beat my boy or any boy for fear	F2
It would be an admission and be talked of	K4
And lead another to demand some money	O
But now he's dead and surely you are free	O
To help me some so that this month or two	V3
While my boy Joe is dying he can have	L4
What milk he wants and food and when he dies	G3
A decent coffin burial Then perhaps	G3
There will be something left to help me with	M4
I wash to feed the children as you know	C3
	-
And William Rummler looked at her and thought	H
For one brief moment with his lawyer mind	F
About this horror while the widow wept	N4
And as she wept a culprit mood was his	G3
For thinking of the truth for well he knew	V3
This slugger had been hired for such deeds	G3
And here was one result And in his pain	J2
The cynic words his friend had said to him	Q2
Upon the train began to stir and then	J2
He felt a rush of feeling blood and thought	H
Of clause thirteen in Lowell's will which gave	T
The trustees power and he was chief trustee	O
To give some worthy charity once a year	F2
Not to exceed a thousand dollars So	C3
He thought to self This is a charity	O
I will advance the money get it back	O4
As soon as I probate the will	C3
	-
At last	P4
He broke this moment's musing and spoke up	Q4
Your case appeals to me You may step out	R4
And wait till I prepare the papers then	J2
I'll have a check made for a thousand dollars	G3
	-
Widow Fortelka rose up and took	S4
The crucifix she wore and kissed it wept	N4
And left the room	I3
	-
	-
	-
Now here's the case of Percy Ferguson	J2
You'd think his life was safe from Elenor Murray	O
No preacher ever ran a prettier boat	T4
Than Percy Ferguson all painted white	U4
With polished railings flying at the fore	F2
The red and white and blue Such little waves	G3
Set dancing by the death of Elenor Murray	O
To sink so fine a boat and leave the Reverend	V4
To swim to shore he couldn't walk the waves	G3