I belonged to the church,
And to the party of prohibition;
And the villagers thought I died of eating watermelon.
In truth I had cirrhosis of the liver,
For every noon for thirty years,
I slipped behind the prescription partition
In Trainor’s drug store
And poured a generous drink
From the bottle marked
“Spiritus frumenti.”
Deacon Taylor
Analysis, meaning and summary of Edgar Lee Masters's poem Deacon Taylor
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I plan to use this poem as an example for my students in learning the character traits of abstinence and temperate; as well as their opposing character flaws gluttony and excessive.