Page:Anthology of Magazine Verse (1921).djvu/53
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PENREB'S TOMB
"Upon these stones Time broke his teeth," you said.
We stood in Penreb's tomb, and stared upon
The hammered blocks that held the royal dead
Whose pomp still stood, altho' his breath was gone.
You said, "Slaves sweated for that narrow room."
Their scattered bones are mixed with desert sand;
But on the high walls, ruddy in the gloom,
The files of the king's servitors yet stand.
We stood in Penreb's tomb, and stared upon
The hammered blocks that held the royal dead
Whose pomp still stood, altho' his breath was gone.
You said, "Slaves sweated for that narrow room."
Their scattered bones are mixed with desert sand;
But on the high walls, ruddy in the gloom,
The files of the king's servitors yet stand.
We shall not rear to death such monuments
With massive marble, nor with crimson chalk.
Nor wrap our withered limbs in cerements
More spicy than our rare ephemeral talk.
So Time, who broke his teeth upon these stones,
Gnaws at our hearts, careless of Penreb's bones.
With massive marble, nor with crimson chalk.
Nor wrap our withered limbs in cerements
More spicy than our rare ephemeral talk.
So Time, who broke his teeth upon these stones,
Gnaws at our hearts, careless of Penreb's bones.
The New RepublicBabette Deutsch
KNOWLEDGE
Now there is no confusion in our love—
For you are there
With the big brow, the cheek of tougher grain,
The rougher greying hair;
And I am here, with a woman's throat and hands.
We are apart and different.
For you are there
With the big brow, the cheek of tougher grain,
The rougher greying hair;
And I am here, with a woman's throat and hands.
We are apart and different.
And there is something difference understands
That peace knows nothing of.
It is the pain in pleasure that we seek
To kill with kisses and revive
With other kisses;
For by our hurt we know we are alive.
That peace knows nothing of.
It is the pain in pleasure that we seek
To kill with kisses and revive
With other kisses;
For by our hurt we know we are alive.
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