VAIN EXCUSE

Be patient, Life, when Love is at the gate,

And when he enters let him be at home.

Think of the roads that he has had to roam,

Think of the years that he has had to wait.

But if I let Love in I shall be late.

Another has come first, there is no room;

And I am busy at the thoughtful loom;

Let Love be patient, the importunate.

O Life, be idle, and let Love come in,

And give thy dreamy hair that Love may spin.

But Love himself is idle with his song.

Let Love come last, and then may Love last long.

Be patient, Life, for Love is not the last;

Be patient now with Death, for Love has passed.

_The Trend_ _Walter Conrad Arensberg_

Anthology of Magazine Verse for 1914 · 第 64 / 149 题