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'Tis true my form is something odd,
But blaming me is blaming God;
Could I create myself anew
I would not fail in pleasing you.
If I could reach from pole to pole
Or grasp the ocean with a span,
I would be measured by the soul;
The mind's the standard of the man.

(Poem used by John Merrick in a pamphlet accompanying his freak show, and later when he wrote to thank people for their generosity in caring for him.)

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The Elephant Man


© Mike Hartmann
mhartman@mail.uni-freiburg.de