Friday, June 5, 2009

Green Eggs And Copyright Infringement


I love introducing people to great poetry--that's my goal here on Poetry Fridays. A couple of weeks ago I posted an excerpt from a Dr. Seuss poem--a popular one that is normally read at graduation ceremonies. And then I got an email full of words like 'allegedly', 'liability', 'legal counsel', 'copyright infringement', and my favorite 'counter notification pursuant to sections 512(g)(2) and (3)'. I sure hope that all that means is "TAKE IT DOWN!", because that's what I did. It's gone, Dr. S, I promise. So now I'm sticking only to posting poems that are in the public domain. A life of crime is just not for me.

So please enjoy this poem by Edgar Lee Masters that was published BEFORE 1923, thank you very much!

The Circuit Judge by Edgar Lee Masters


Take note, passers-by, of the sharp erosions
Eaten in my head-stone by the wind and rain —
Almost as if an intangible Nemesis or hatred
Were marking scores against me,
But to destroy, and not preserve, my memory.
I in life was the Circuit Judge, a maker of notches,
Deciding cases on the points the lawyers scored,
Not on the right of the matter.
O wind and rain, leave my head-stone alone!
For worse than the anger of the wronged,
The curses of the poor,
Was to lie speechless, yet with vision clear,
Seeing that even Hod Putt, the murderer,
Hanged by my sentence,
Was innocent in soul compared with me.

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13 comments:

  1. Who knew Dr. Seuss was such a bleeping bleep?! I thought your disclaimer at the bottom of your blog took care of this sort of thing. Oh, wells.

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  2. Sorry...I bet that woke you up!

    Liked the new poem :)

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  3. Good grief! Don't they have anything else to do? Sorry to hear about Dr. S's people. I'm sure we all know the poem very well.
    Hope you have a great weekend.

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  4. Well, doesn't that make you feel good about how IMPORTANT your fabulous blog is! :)
    (Somewhere there's a Dr. Suess joke in there, along the lines of, "I would not post it on my blog, I would not post it in a fog, I would not steal your poem straight from you, I would not could not please don't sue!")
    Happy Friday!

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  5. Wow! That's harsh! This is one of the reasons why I cringe at the thought of using other peoples pictures for my posts and just end up using my own :)

    Anyway, I left you some bloggy Aloha here. Go check it out.

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  6. WOW! That's used in ceremonies everywhere, you'd think they'd WANT the publicity.

    That's the last Dr. Seuss book I buy. (lol, my kids are all in high school...ha ha ha.) Actually, in Middle School, at their graduation, their teacher presented them all with the 'Places You'll Go " Book.

    What a bunch of jerks.
    I do not like that
    I do not like that in a boat,
    I do not like that on a float.
    HA. (sorry.)

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  7. So there's a blog police know? Good grief!

    Anyway, great poem choice.

    Hugs and Mocha,
    Stesha

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  8. Oh, wow! That must've been a startling email to get! Here's hoping the long arm of the law is satisfied and won't be coming after you anymore!

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  9. oh that is terrible, Dr. Seuss is a bleeping bleep just like Angie said!

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  10. when ryhmes with plauge wrote about neat words, showing off, i said the onlt words i needed were cat and hat....he got mad and din't reply

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  11. I haven't visited you in awhile and I sooooo missed your poetry Fridays!! Great stuff, once again!

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  12. I'm sure Dr. S can rest much easier now. Sheesh!

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Thanks for commenting!