Originally Posted by issodhos
Behold, the grave of a wicked man,
And near it, a stern spirit.

There came a drooping maid with violets,
But the spirit grasped her arm.
"No flowers for him," he said.
The maid wept:
"Ah, I loved him."
But the spirit, grim and frowning:
"No flowers for him."

Now, this is it --
If the spirit was just,
Why did the maid weep?
-- Stephen Crane (1871-1900)

I would say that the maid was weeping because the spirit was not "just", for it was she, an apparent innocent, not the wicked dead man, who was actually being punished. And to what end?
Yours,
Issodhos

"When all has been said that can be said, and all has been done that can be done, there will be poetry";-) -- Issodhos