Shelley by Moonlight

The moon shone bright over Portland, Ore. and a young man named Thomas Kelly sat on a campus bench reading Shelley by the light of the moon. To the cops who saw him there, this seemed highly suspicious conduct. Kelly didn't think his conduct needed any defense or explanation and he couldn't produce a draft card. So they jugged him. Said one policeman: "See if you can take that, Lord Byron."

Twelve hours later Kelly was turned loose. The cops had checked up: he was just a Reed College student, a veteran of the Aleutians campaign and a man who likes to read Shelley by lamplight or moonlight.

Next night 20 Reed undergrads, each armed with a volume of poetry, gathered on a downtown Portland street corner by moonlight and solemnly read Shelley together. A police car passed; but no arrests were made.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.