THE IDIOT
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wo children in a gardenShouting for joyWere playing dolls and houses,A girl and boy.I smiled at a neighbor window,And watched them playUnder a budding oak treeOn a wintry day. And then a board half brokenIn the high fenceFell over and there entered,I know not whence,A jailbird face of yellowWith a vacant sulk,His body was a sicklyThing of bulk. His open mouth was slavering,And a green lightTurned disc-like in his eyeballs,Like a dog's at night.His teeth were like a giant's,And far apart;I saw him reel on the childrenWith a stopping heart.He trampled their dolls and ruinedThe house they made;He struck to earth the childrenWith a dirty spade.As a tiger growls with an antelopeAfter the hunt,Over the little facesI heard him grunt. I stood at the window frozen,And short of breath,And then I saw the idiotWas Master Death! A bird in the lilac bushesBegan to sing.The garden colored before meTo the kiss of spring.And the yellow face in a momentWas a mystic white;The matted hair was softenedTo starry light.The ragged coat flowed downwardInto a robe;He carried a sword and a balanceAnd stood on a globe.I watched him from the windowUnder a spell;The idiot was the angelAzrael!
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