 | New poems by Madison Cawein |  |
201
THE SHERIFF
Night and the mountain road: a crag where burnsWhat seems a star, low down: three men that glide
From tree and rock towards it: one a guide
For him who never from his purpose turns,
Who stands for law among these mountain kerns.
At last the torchlit cave, along whose side
The still is seen, and men who have defied
The law so long—law, who the threshold spurns
With levelled weapons now. ... Wolves in a den
Fight not more fiercely than these fought; wild fear
In every face, and rage and pale surprise.
The smoke thins off, and in the cave four men
Lie dead or dying: one that mountaineer,
And one the sheriff with the fearless eyes.
| New poems by Madison Cawein | |