"Albert Schirding" by Edgar Lee Masters

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend February 9, 2019   Albert Schirding   Edgar Lee Masters

Jonas Keene thought his lot a hard one Because his children were all failures. But I know of a fate more trying than that: It is to be a failure while your children are successes. For I raised a brood of eagles Who flew away at last, leaving me A crow on the abandoned bough. Then, with the ambition to prefix Honorable to my name, And thus to win my children's admiration, I ran for County Superintendent of Schools, Spending my accumulations to win—and lost. That fall my daughter received first prize in Paris For her picture, entitled, "The Old Mill"— (It was of the water mill before Henry Wilkin put in steam.) The feeling that I was not worthy of her finished me.            This poem is in the public domain. About This Poem   "Albert Schirding" was published in Spoon River Anthology (Macmillan, 1916).   Edgar Lee Masters was born in Garnett, Kansas, on August 23, 1868. He was a recipient of an Academy of American Poets Fellowship and is the author of several books, including Spoon River Anthology (Macmillan, 1916) and Songs and Sonnets (The Rooks Press, 1910). He died on March 5, 1950, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.   Poetry by Masters   Spoon River Anthology (Barnes & Noble, 2007) "To My Daughter" by Hyam Plutzik "Letters from a Father" by Mona Van Duyn "From" by A. Van Jordan February Guest Editor: Clint Smith   Thanks to Clint Smith, author of Counting Descent (Write Bloody Publishing, 2016), who curated Poem-a-Day for this month's weekdays. Read a Q&A with Smith about his curatorial approach this month and find out more about our guest editors for the year. Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit Poets.org.   You are receiving this e-mail because you elected to subscribe to our mailing list. If you would like to unsubscribe, please click here.   © Academy of American Poets 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038