The Growth of Lorraine
I
While I stood listening, discreetly dumb,
Lorraine was having the last word with me:
ВЂњI know, ” she said, “I know it, but you see
Some creatures are born fortunate, and some
Are born to be found out and overcome, —
Born to be slaves, to let the rest go free;
And if I’m one of them (and I must be)
You may as well forget me and go home.
ВЂњYou tell me not to say these things, I know,
But I should never try to be content:
I’ve gone too far; the life would be too slow.
Some could have done it—some girls have the stuff;
But I can’t do it: I don’t know enough.
I’m going to the devil. ”—And she went.
II
I did not half believe her when she said
That I should never hear from her again;
Nor when I found a letter from Lorraine,
Was I surprised or grieved at what I read:
ВЂњDear friend, when you find this, I shall be dead.
You are too far away to make me stop.
They say that one drop—think of it, one drop! —
Will be enough, —but I’ll take five instead.
ВЂњYou do not frown because I call you friend,
For I would have you glad that I still keep
Your memory, and even at the end—
Impenitent, sick, shattered—cannot curse
The love that flings, for better or for worse,
This worn-out, cast-out flesh of mine to sleep. ”
Related poetry:
- Lorraine “ARE you ready for your steeplechase, Lorraine, Lorraine, Lorree? Barum, Barum, Barum, Barum, Barum, Barum, Baree. You’re booked to ride your capping race to-day at Coulterlee, You’re booked to ride Vindictive, for all the world to see, To keep him straight, and keep him first, and win the run for me.” Barum, Barum, Barum, Barum, […]...
- Mohammed Bek Hadjetlache THIS Mohammedan colonel from the Caucasus yells with his voice and wigwags with his arms. The interpreter translates, “I was a friend of Kornilov, he asks me what to do and I tell him. ” A stub of a man, this Mohammedan colonel … a projectile shape … a bald head hammered … ВЂњDoes he […]...
- Growth of Man like Growth of Nature Growth of Man like Growth of Nature Gravitates within Atmosphere, and Sun endorse it Bit it stir alone Each its difficult Ideal Must achieve Itself Through the solitary prowess Of a Silent Life Effort is the sole condition Patience of Itself Patience of opposing forces And intact Belief Looking on is the Department Of its […]...
- The Growth of Love 1 They that in play can do the thing they would, Having an instinct throned in reason’s place, And every perfect action hath the grace Of indolence or thoughtless hardihood These are the best: yet be there workmen good Who lose in earnestness control of face, Or reckon means, and rapt in effort base Reach […]...
- Growth I watched the glory of her childhood change, Half-sorrowful to find the child I knew, (Loved long ago in lily-time), Become a maid, mysterious and strange, With fair, pure eyes – dear eyes, but not the eyes I knew Of old, in the olden time! Till on my doubting soul the ancient good Of her […]...
- GROWTH O’ER field and plain, in childhood’s artless days, Thou sprang’st with me, on many a spring-morn fair. “For such a daughter, with what pleasing care, Would I, as father, happy dwellings raise!” And when thou on the world didst cast thy gaze, Thy joy was then in household toils to share. “Why did I trust […]...
- Power is a familiar growth Power is a familiar growth Not foreign not to be Beside us like a bland Abyss In every company Escape it there is but a chance When consciousness and clay Lean forward for a final glance Disprove that and you may...
- The Rain I hear leaves drinking rain; I hear rich leaves on top Giving the poor beneath Drop after drop; ‘Tis a sweet noise to hear These green leaves drinking near. And when the Sun comes out, After this Rain shall stop, A wondrous Light will fill Each dark, round drop; I hope the Sun shines bright; […]...
- Grace My stock lies dead and no increase Doth my dull husbandry improve: O let thy graces without cease Drop from above! If still the sun should hide his face, Thy house would but a dungeon prove, Thy works, night’s captives: O let grace Drop from above! The dew doth ev’ry morning fall; And shall the […]...
- Music In The Flat When Tom and I were married, we took a little flat; I had a taste for singing and playing and all that. And Tom, who loved to hear me, said he hoped I would not stop All practice, like so many wives who let their Music drop. So I resolved to set apart an hour […]...
- The Corridor It may have been the pride in me for aught I know, or just a patronizing whim; But call it freak of fancy, or what not, I cannot hide the hungry face of him. I keep a scant half-dozen words he said, And every now and then I lose his name; He may be living […]...
- Sonnet 35 – If I leave all for thee, wilt thou exchange If I leave all for thee, wilt thou exchange And be all to me? Shall I never miss Home-talk and blessing and the common kiss That comes to each in turn, nor count it strange, When I look up, to drop on a new range Of walls and floors, another home than this? Nay, wilt […]...
- I Stood With the Dead I Stood with the Dead, so forsaken and still: When dawn was grey I stood with the Dead. And my slow heart said, ‘You must kill, you must kill: ‘Soldier, soldier, morning is red’. On the shapes of the slain in their crumpled disgrace I stared for a while through the thin cold rain… ‘O […]...
- A Cider Song To J. S. M. The wine they drink in Paradise They make in Haute Lorraine; God brought it burning from the sod To be a sign and signal rod That they that drink the blood of God Shall never thirst again. The wine they praise in Paradise They make in Ponterey, The purple wine of […]...
- Still Here I been scared and battered. My hopes the wind done scattered. Snow has friz me, Sun has baked me, Looks like between ’em they done Tried to make me Stop laughin’, stop lovin’, stop livin’ But I don’t care! I’m still here!...
- The Superseded I As newer comers crowd the fore, We drop behind. – We who have laboured long and sore Times out of mind, And keen are yet, must not regret To drop behind. II Yet there are of us some who grieve To go behind; Staunch, strenuous souls who scarce believe Their fires declined, And know […]...
- Window Shopper I stood before a candy shop Which with a Christmas radiance shone; I saw my parents pass and stop To grin at me and then go on. The sweets were heaped in gleamy rows; On each I feasted – what a game! Against the glass with flatted nose, Gulping my spittle as it came; So […]...
- Verse For a Certain Dog Such glorious faith as fills your limpid eyes, Dear little friend of mine, I never knew. All-innocent are you, and yet all-wise. (For Heaven’s sake, stop worrying that shoe!) You look about, and all you see is fair; This mighty globe was made for you alone. Of all the thunderous ages, you’re the heir. (Get […]...
- Modern Love XLV: It Is the Season It is the season of the sweet wild rose, My Lady’s emblem in the heart of me! So golden-crownèd shines she gloriously, And with that softest dream of blood she glows: Mild as an evening heaven round Hesper bright! I pluck the flower, and smell it, and revive The time when in her eyes I […]...
- The New Ergonomics The new ergonomics were delivered Just before lunchtime So we ignored them. Without revealing the particulars Let me just say that Lunch was most satisfying. Jack and Roberta went with The corned beef for a change. Jack believes in alien abduction And Roberta does not, Although she has had Several lost weekends lately And one […]...
- The Burned Child Love has had his way with me. This my heart is torn and maimed Since he took his play with me. Cruel well the bow-boy aimed, Shot, and saw the feathered shaft Dripping bright and bitter red. He that shrugged his wings and laughed- Better had he left me dead. Sweet, why do you plead […]...
- Ape And Coffee Some coffee had gotten on a man’s ape. The man said, Animal did you get on my coffee? No no, whistled the ape, the coffee got on me. You’re sure you didn’t spill on my coffee? said the man. Do I look like a liquid? peeped the ape. Well you sure don’t look human, said […]...
- Traveling Through The Dark Traveling through the dark I found a deer Dead on the edge of the Wilson River road. It is usually best to roll them into the canyon: That road is narrow; to swerve might make more dead. By glow of the tail-light I stumbled back of the car And stood by the heap, a doe, […]...
- The Three Bushes An incident from the ‘Historia mei Temporis’ Of the Abbe Michel de Bourdeille Said lady once to lover, ‘None can rely upon A love that lacks its proper food; And if your love were gone How could you sing those songs of love? I should be blamed, young man. O my dear, O my dear. […]...
- Love The longer I live and the more I see Of the struggle of souls towards the heights above, The stronger this truth comes home to me – That the Universe rests on the shoulders of love, A love so limitless, deep, and broad, That men have re-named it, and called it God. And nothing that […]...
- Stupidity Dearest, forgive that with my clumsy touch I broke and bruised your rose. I hardly could suppose It were a thing so fragile that my clutch Could kill it, thus. It stood so proudly up upon its stem, I knew no thought of fear, And coming very near Fell, overbalanced, to your garment’s hem, Tearing […]...
- The Hour-glass That hour-glass which there you see With water fill’d, sirs, credit me, The humour was, as I have read, But lovers’ tears incrystalled. Which, as they drop by drop do pass From th’ upper to the under-glass, Do in a trickling manner tell, By many a watery syllable, That lovers’ tears in lifetime shed Do […]...
- The Cut Well, what’s the matter? there’s a face What! has it cut a vein? And is it quite a shocking place? Come, let us look again. I see it bleeds, but never mind That tiny little drop; I don’t believe you’ll ever find That crying makes it stop. ‘Tis sad indeed to cry at pain, For […]...
- Hymn 44 part 1 Christ’s dying, rising, and reigning. Luke 23:27,29,44-46; Mt. 27:50,57; 28:6ff. He dies! the friend of sinners dies! Lo! Salem’s daughters weep around; A solemn darkness veils the skies; A sudden trembling shakes the ground. Come, saints, and drop a tear or two For him who groaned beneath your load: He shed a thousand drops for […]...
- With Mercy For The Greedy for my friend Ruth, who urges me to make an Appointment for the Sacrament of Confesson Concerning your letter in which you ask Me to call a priest and in which you ask Me to wear The Cross that you enclose; Your own cross, Your dog-bitten cross, No larger than a thumb, Small and wooden, […]...
- There was a man and a woman i There was a man and a woman Who sinned. Then did the man heap the punishment All upon the head of her, And went away gaily. Ii There was a man and a woman Who sinned. And the man stood with her. As upon her head, so upon his, Fell blow and blow, And […]...
- Dead Man's Dump The plunging limbers over the shattered track Racketed with their rusty freight, Stuck out like many crowns of thorns, And the rusty stakes like sceptres old To stay the flood of brutish men Upon our brothers dear. The wheels lurched over sprawled dead But pained them not, though their bones crunched; Their shut mouths made […]...
- The Goldsmith ‘This job’s the best I’ve done.’ He bent his head Over the golden vessel that he’d wrought. A bird was singing. But the craftsman’s thought Is a forgotten language, lost and dead. He sighed and stretch’d brown arms. His friend came in And stood beside him in the morning sun. The goldwork glitter’d…. ‘That’s the […]...
- Death In Leamington She died in the upstairs bedroom By the light of the ev’ning star That shone through the plate glass window From over Leamington Spa Beside her the lonely crochet Lay patiently and unstirred, But the fingers that would have work’d it Were dead as the spoken word. And Nurse came in with the tea-things Breast […]...
- Sonnet 28 – My letters! all dead paper, mute and white! My letters! all dead paper, mute and white! And yet they seem alive and quivering Against my tremulous hands which loose the string And let them drop down on my knee to-night. This said,-he wished to have me in his sight Once, as a friend: this fixed a day in spring To come and touch […]...
- The Triumph Of Achilles In the story of Patroclus No one survives, not even Achilles Who was nearly a god. Patroclus resembled him; they wore The same armor. Always in these friendships One serves the other, one is less than the other: The hierarchy Is always apparant, though the legends Cannot be trusted Their source is the survivor, The […]...
- A Solemn thing within the Soul A Solemn thing within the Soul To feel itself get ripe And golden hang while farther up The Maker’s Ladders stop And in the Orchard far below You hear a Being drop A Wonderful to feel the Sun Still toiling at the Cheek You thought was finished Cool of eye, and critical of Work He […]...
- To My Little Niece Sally Livingston To my little niece Sally Livingston, on the death of a little serenading wren she admired. Hasty pilgrim stop thy pace Turn a moment to this place Read what pity hath erected To a songster she respected. Little minstrel all is o’er Never will thy chirpings more Soothe the heavy heart of care Or dispel […]...
- A Farewell to the World FALSE world, good night! since thou hast brought That hour upon my morn of age; Henceforth I quit thee from my thought, My part is ended on thy stage. Yes, threaten, do. Alas! I fear As little as I hope from thee: I know thou canst not show nor bear More hatred than thou hast […]...
- The World feels Dusty The World feels Dusty When We stop to Die We want the Dew then Honors taste dry Flags vex a Dying face But the least Fan Stirred by a friend’s Hand Cools like the Rain Mine be the Ministry When they Thirst comes And Hybla Balms Dews of Thessaly, to fetch...