Julia Miller


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This poem was included in the original 1915 edition.

WE quarreled that morning,
For he was sixty--five, and I was thirty,
And I was nervous and heavy with the child
Whose birth I dreaded.
I thought over the last letter written me
By that estranged young soul
Whose betrayal of me I had concealed
By marrying the old man.
Then I took morphine and sat down to read.
Across the blackness that came over my eyes
I see the flickering light of these words even now:
"And Jesus said unto him, Verily
I say unto thee, To-day thou shalt
Be with me in paradise."
 

Comments


Dreamer , 9 months ago

To explain this one a little:
Julia dreads the birth of her baby because it does not belong to her husband, but to the "estranged young soul." She married the old man so that the baby would have a legit father, but when the baby is borh her husband will see that the baby doesn't look anything like him. The Bible quote is significant because it is what Jesus said to the robber on the cross next to him who admitted that he deserved to be crucified because he was guilty. Because he confessed, he was forgiven. Julia wishes to confess to her husband that the baby isn't his, but she overdoses on morphine before she has a chance.

 

Jay Bushman , 8 months ago

Who is Julia's husband, and who is the father of her child? Are they known characters with their own epitaphs?

 
 

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