A Dead Statesman
by Rudyard Kipling — a poem card from Justes Mots
A scathing epitaph for a politician who lied to gain power and now faces judgment from those he harmed. Kipling's six lines deliver harsh moral reckoning without sentimentality. Suitable for memorials exploring accountability and legacy, or for those seeking uncompromising reflections on dishonesty and its consequences.
I could not dig; I dared not rob:
Therefore I lied to please the mob.
Now all my lies are proved untrue
And I must face the men I slew.
What tale shall serve me here among
Mine angry and defrauded young?…