The Angry Man
— by Phyllis McGinley

The other day I chanced to meet
An angry man upon the street —
A man of wrath, a man of war,
A man who truculently bore
Over his shoulder, like a lance,
A banner labeled “Tolerance.”

And when I asked him why he strode
Thus scowling down the human road,
Scowling, he answered, “I am he
Who champions total liberty —
Intolerance being, ma’am, a state
No tolerant man can tolerate.

“When I meet rogues,” he cried, “who choose
To cherish oppositional views,
Lady, like this, and in this manner,
I lay about me with my banner
Till they cry mercy, ma’am.” His blows
Rained proudly on prospective foes.

Fearful, I turned and left him there
Still muttering, as he thrashed the air,
“Let the Intolerant beware!”

— Comments —

Kathy G. writes:

This poem reminds me of a time I took my kids and their friends to the movies to see a Star Wars Movie. I don’t follow those films at all, so I can’t say which one it was, but there was a scene where Obi-wan is fighting a young Darth Vader-Anakin and Obi-wan yells “Only the Sith deal in absolutes!”. I looked around, waiting for someone to laugh, but it was mostly kids, and went unnoticed. I drove home and explained to my kids that I must be a Sith,as I deal in absolutes, but that Obi-wan was, too.

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