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1849–1916

AN ASSASSIN

James Whitcomb Riley

Cat-like he creeps along where ways are dim, From covert unto covert's secrecy; His shadow in the moonlight shrinks from him And crouches warily.

He hugs strange envies to his breast, and nurses Wild hatreds, till the murderous hand he grips Falls, quivering with the tension of the curses He launches from his lips.

Drenched in his victim's blood he holds high revel; He mocks at justice, and in all men's eyes Insults his God — and no one but the devil Is sorry when he dies.

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AN ASSASSIN · James Whitcomb Riley · Poetry Cove