FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   34   35   36   37   38   39   40   41   42   43   44   >>  
s to my view. It hung like a pall on the wall of the washroom, And gathered the grime of the linotype crew. The sink and the soap and the lye that stood by it Remain; but the towel is gone past recall. O tempora! Also, O mores! Sic transit The time-honored towel that creaked on the wall. The grimy old towel, the slimy old towel, The tacky old towel that hung on the wall. Now hangs in the washroom a huge roll of paper-- The old printer's towel we'll never see more. The new (see directions) is "used like a blotter," And crumpled and scattered in wads on the floor. And often, when drying my hands in this fashion, The tears of remembrance will gather and fall, And I sigh (though I'm not what you'd call sentimental) For the classic old towel that propped up the wall. The sainted old towel, the tainted old towel, The gooey old towel that hung on the wall. UP CULTURE'S HILL (_The confession of a club lady._) The path up Culture's Hill is steep, And weary is the way, With very little time for sleep And none at all for play. She that this toilsome task essays Must never bat an eye, But keep her firm, unwavering gaze Forever fixed on high. For should she ever careless grow, And let her glances stray Down to the shallow vale below, Where Pleasure's Court holds sway-- Lured by the thrice forbidden fruit, She'd lose her equipoise, And like a wayward Pleiad shoot Down to forbidden joys. I've been but short time on the road, My courage still is strong; Yet often have I felt the goad That hurries me along. I've fallen over Maeterlinck, And bumped myself to tears, Burne-Jones's pictures made me blink, And Wagner hurts my ears. I've stumbled over Ibsen humps And over Rembrandt rocks, I've got some fierce Debussy bumps, Some awful Nietsche knocks. I'm wearied by the ceaseless quest, I'm wayworn and footsore. I've Culture till I cannot rest-- Yet still I climb for more. But oh, when all is done and said, Upon some manly breast I'd like to lay my tired head And take a good long rest. THE PASSIONAL NOTE "_The erotic motive is almost entirely absent from American poetry. Even our younger American poets are more prof
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   34   35   36   37   38   39   40   41   42   43   44   >>  



Top keywords:
forbidden
 

Culture

 

American

 

washroom

 

strong

 
courage
 
poetry
 

fallen

 

Maeterlinck

 

bumped


absent

 
hurries
 

Pleasure

 

shallow

 

thrice

 

younger

 

Pleiad

 

wayward

 

equipoise

 

ceaseless


wayworn
 

wearied

 

knocks

 
Nietsche
 
breast
 
footsore
 
erotic
 

stumbled

 

Wagner

 

motive


pictures

 
fierce
 

Debussy

 

PASSIONAL

 

Rembrandt

 
printer
 

directions

 

blotter

 

remembrance

 
fashion

gather

 

drying

 

crumpled

 
scattered
 

linotype

 

gathered

 

Remain

 

transit

 

honored

 
creaked