Masters, Edgar Lee: Spoon River Anthology - Dippold the Optician

What do you see now?          

Globes of red, yellow, purple.           

Just a moment! And now?     

My father and mother and sisters.     

Yes! And now?          

Knights at arms, beautiful women, kind faces.         

Try this.          

A field of grain – a city.        

Very good! And now?           

A young woman with angels bending over her.

A heavier lens! And now?     

Many women with bright eyes and open lips.           

Try this.          

Just a goblet on a table.          

Oh I see! Try this lens!

Just an open space – I see nothing in particular.       

Well, now!     

Pine trees, a lake, a summer sky.       

That’s better. And now?        

A book.

Read a page for me.   

I can’t. My eyes are carried beyond the page.           

Try this lens.  

Depths of air. 

Excellent! And now?

Light, just light, making everything below it a toy world.      

Very well, we’ll make the glasses accordingly.