A REVOLVER
Here is a revolver.
It has an amazing language all its own.
It delivers unmistakable ultimatums.
It is the last word.
A simple, little human forefinger can tell a terrible story with it.
Hunger, fear, revenge, robbery, hide behind it.
It is the claw of the jungle made quick and powerful.
It is the club of the savage turned to magnificent precision.
It is more rapid than any judge or court of law.
It is less subtle and treacherous than any one lawyer or ten.
When it has spoken, the case can not be appealed to the supreme
court, nor any mandamus nor any injunction nor any stay of ex-
ecution come in and interfere with the original purpose.
And nothing in human philosophy persists more strangely than the
old belief that God is always on the side of those who have the
most revolvers.
It has an amazing language all its own.
It delivers unmistakable ultimatums.
It is the last word.
A simple, little human forefinger can tell a terrible story with it.
Hunger, fear, revenge, robbery, hide behind it.
It is the claw of the jungle made quick and powerful.
It is the club of the savage turned to magnificent precision.
It is more rapid than any judge or court of law.
It is less subtle and treacherous than any one lawyer or ten.
When it has spoken, the case can not be appealed to the supreme
court, nor any mandamus nor any injunction nor any stay of ex-
ecution come in and interfere with the original purpose.
And nothing in human philosophy persists more strangely than the
old belief that God is always on the side of those who have the
most revolvers.
Laci, we've been through this. You're months out of date.
ReplyDeletehttp://englreadingandwriting.wordpress.com/2013/01/22/carl-sandburg-rises-from-the-grave/
The short version? It's a fake.
So says the Ivy League expert in English Lit.
DeleteRead my analysis of this "find." Do you see anything wrong with my argument?
DeleteI think it’s so interesting that Sandburg says poetically what we all know about guns: that they are the final word,” [Valerie] Hotchkiss said. “But he takes the idea one step forward to meditate on the effect of guns on freedom of speech – how the First Amendment is watered down by the Second Amendment. If somebody has a gun to your head, you can’t speak freely.”
ReplyDeleteHow very true Laci. And let's not forget that the amendments are intended to be a list of limitations on government.
Very cool.
ReplyDeleteLaci, did they let you take your bar exam in crayon?
ReplyDeleteGreetings from under the bridge.
If Mike blocks my above comment (or this one) on the nature of Laci's chronic and utterly unjustified snobbery, he (Mike) signifies that we should take our thoughts elsewhere. If Mike allows the internet to run it's course, than he deserves a rare kind of respect for openness that "liberals" supposedly profess, but seldom heed, and Mike shows moral superiority to some other blogs (who are pro-gun) but are (unfortunately) are echo chambers which no argument may blossom, no ideas may spread, and which are barren of entertainment value.
ReplyDeleteIf Laci is deserving of his self adorned praise, then he can defend his own statements after he defecates everywhere he pleases like the sacred cow that he is treated as.
Think about that before you click.
Oh, and ditto on all the people (Greg) who note that this has been posted on this blog previously.
ReplyDeleteWhile the "Sanburg" poem beats the Charybdis of dadaism that today's literati find themselves mired in, the question arises, after observing the piece in question; wouldn't a rational person who observes the problems illustrated in the poem bestow oneself with the almighty revolver?
Charybdis--now who has mentioned that before...
Deletehttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/13/taxpayers-gun-violence_n_3915434.html
ReplyDeleteThanks, posted. You know, you could send me these suggestions by e-mail.
Delete