Fletcher McGee
by Edgar Lee Masters
She took my strength by minutes,
She took my life by hours, She drained me like a fevered moon
That saps the spinning world.
The days went by like shadows,
The minutes wheeled like stars.
She took the pity from my heart,
And made it into smiles.
She was a hunk of sculptor's clay,
My secret thoughts were fingers:
They flew behind her pensive brow
And lined it deep with pain.
They set the lips, and sagged the cheeks,
And drooped the eyes with sorrow.
My soul had entered in the clay,
Fighting like seven devils.
It was not mine, it was not hers;
She held it, but its struggles
Modeled a face she hated,
And a face I feared to see.
I beat the windows, shook the bolts.
I hid me in a corner--
And then she died and haunted me,
And hunted me for life.
After reading this poem we acknowledge the relationship that some of these women had with addiction to drugs. I think that the “She” at the beginning of the poem can be interpreted as the drug. There is a lot of imagery, including the descriptions “fevered moon” and “spinning world” if you interpret the speaker talking about her drug addiction. Master’s also uses similes, such as “minutes wheeled like stars” to help highlight the emotion within this relationship.
