| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900. |
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| 885. The Condemned |
| | | By Edward Howland |
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| READ me no moral, priest, upon my life,— | |
| Reserve that for your flock. | |
| A few short hours will end my mortal strife, | |
| Upon the gallows block. | |
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| Before the gaping crowd, who come to see | 5 |
| A fellow mortal die, | |
| Preach if you choose, and take your text from me,— | |
| To them I cannot lie. | |
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| And still the less can I, a finite man, | |
| Pretend to cheat my God: | 10 |
| By him the workings of his mighty plan | |
| Are clearly understood. | |
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| Conceived in lust, brought up in sordid sin, | |
| How could I hope to be | |
| Aught but the outcast I have ever been, | 15 |
| Fruit for the gallows tree? | |
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| Go teach the children swarming through the town, | |
| To-day exposed to all | |
| The poverty and vice that drew me down,— | |
| Save them before they fall. | 20 |
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| But as for me, I die as I have lived, | |
| As all men must, | |
| Believing as I always have believed | |
| That God is just. | |
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