Franklin P. Adams - The Ballad of Justifiable Homicide lyrics

They brought to me his mangled corpse And I feared lest I should swing. "O tell me, tell me,--and make it brief-- Why hast thou done this thing? "Had this man robbed the starving poor Or lived a gunman's life, Had he set fire to cottages, Or run off with thy wife?" "He hath not robbed the starving poor Or lived a gunman's life; He hath set fire to no cottage, Nor run off with my wife. "Ye ask me such a question that It now my lips unlocks: I learned he was the man who planned The second balcony box." The jury pondered never an hour, They thought not even a little, But handed in unanimously A verdict of acquittal.