Page:Anthology of Magazine Verse (1921).djvu/189
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Gasp of the breath, eye's blur,
Blunder of mortal fingers, words too thick to say,
Slight motions underneath the grey
Faces of cloud
And caroling, caroling, caroling loud,
To keep the cold away.
Blunder of mortal fingers, words too thick to say,
Slight motions underneath the grey
Faces of cloud
And caroling, caroling, caroling loud,
To keep the cold away.
Some will slouch,
Lazy, brave,
Others crouch,
In a hidden cave,
Hearing near and hearing far,
Heavy steps from feet of stone,
Tread the warping fields alone,
Hearing far and hearing near
The wind's hiss in earth's ear,
Feel
Ground fall, and ground reel,
Brittle footsteps steal
Up the hill and down the cliff,
Touching, snapping, making stiff,
While granite footsteps, grinding numb
Up the little hollow come.
Lazy, brave,
Others crouch,
In a hidden cave,
Hearing near and hearing far,
Heavy steps from feet of stone,
Tread the warping fields alone,
Hearing far and hearing near
The wind's hiss in earth's ear,
Feel
Ground fall, and ground reel,
Brittle footsteps steal
Up the hill and down the cliff,
Touching, snapping, making stiff,
While granite footsteps, grinding numb
Up the little hollow come.
Not to give in
Men will go on
Trying to sin, making vague love, kissing wan
Faces. Trying to make
Children with women,
Trying to wake
Hints of old hunger, bitterly break
Flesh that turns marble-hard, trying to take
Life in their arms for their small comfort's sake.
Men will go on
Trying to sin, making vague love, kissing wan
Faces. Trying to make
Children with women,
Trying to wake
Hints of old hunger, bitterly break
Flesh that turns marble-hard, trying to take
Life in their arms for their small comfort's sake.
Women will not move as move
Those confident of love.
Hurt like a torpid snake,
Agony drags and stirs but cannot wake,
Those confident of love.
Hurt like a torpid snake,
Agony drags and stirs but cannot wake,
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