Page:Anthology of Magazine Verse (1921).djvu/39
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WHOLESOME HELL
If praying to the saints could comfort,
Bribing with candle or with vow,
They might ensconce my soul in some fort
More sure and safe than I know now.
Bribing with candle or with vow,
They might ensconce my soul in some fort
More sure and safe than I know now.
To kneel before a tawdry altar,
Propitiate a wooden Christ—
If this could strengthen hopes that falter,
My pride were fitly sacrificed.
Propitiate a wooden Christ—
If this could strengthen hopes that falter,
My pride were fitly sacrificed.
But heathen god and Roman martyr
And Calvin's Trinity as well
Have wholly forfeited their charter.—
I yearn at times for wholesome hell.
And Calvin's Trinity as well
Have wholly forfeited their charter.—
I yearn at times for wholesome hell.
Contemporary VerseGamaliel Bradford
WARNING
Ask me nothing now, my dear—
The stars are all too large and near;
At dusk the peepers in the pool
Make my pulses play the fool;
Robins with morning winds awake
And in my spirit barriers break;
The willows are too golden green,
The grasses are too young and clean,
The little brooks too loud and swift;
Too red a crest the maples lift.
The heart of life beats high and glad—
Can we keep wise when earth goes mad?
Do not ask me anything
Lest misfortune fall.
I am in love with Love and Spring
And not with you at all!
The stars are all too large and near;
At dusk the peepers in the pool
Make my pulses play the fool;
Robins with morning winds awake
And in my spirit barriers break;
The willows are too golden green,
The grasses are too young and clean,
The little brooks too loud and swift;
Too red a crest the maples lift.
The heart of life beats high and glad—
Can we keep wise when earth goes mad?
Do not ask me anything
Lest misfortune fall.
I am in love with Love and Spring
And not with you at all!
The OutlookAmelia Josephine Burr
24