576
ROBIN
ROBERT lOWELL
Say more about my kinsman, Father.
You said he was your friend and patron.
CLERGYMAN
ROBIN
Poor Molineux! he served the clergy
somewhat better than this city.
He had a special pew, you know.
He used to set a grand example.
He used to! You speak as
if
he were dead!
CLERGYMAN
ROBIN
Men blamed me, but I liked to watch
his red coat blazing like the sunset
at Sunday morning service here.
He was an easy-going fellow,
a lover of life, no Puritan.
He had invention, used to send
two six foot privates here to help
with the collection. Yes, I had
to like him. He had
his
flaws, of course.
A red coat blazing like the sunrise,
that's how the Major was in Deerfield;
the gold lion of England shone
on his gilded carriage. He had a little
white scar like a question mark
on his right cheek. He got it killing
Frenchmen. He seemed to hold the world
like a gold ball in the palm of
his
hand.
Ours for the asking! All! We are
his
last relations in the world!
CLERGYMAN
ROBIN
No one will dispute your claim.
He had tea ships, soldiers, and a palace
with a woodbin full of bullion, peacocks
and nigger servants on the lawn.
The Major said he was the King's
intelligence in Massachusetts.
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