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Edgar Allan Poe
Lines on Joe Locke
Written during Poe’s brief and turbulent stint at West Point (1830–1831), this two-stanza epigram targets a military officer known for zealously reporting cadets’ infractions. Poe builds the joke on the contrast between the philosopher John Locke’s fame for truth-seeking and the officer Joe Locke’s fame for reporting — with an added pun on “ie to report” (military parlance).
As for Locke, he is all in my eye,
May the d—l right soon for his soul call.
He never was known to lie —
In bed at a reveillé roll-call.
John Locke was a notable name;
Joe Locke is a greater: in short,
The former was well known to fame,
But the latter’s well known “to report.”
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