There’s nothing very beautiful and nothing very gay
About the rush of faces in the town by day;
But a light tan cow in a pale green mead,
That is very beautiful, beautiful indeed ...
And the soft March wind and the low March mist
Are better than kisses in a dark street kissed ...
The fragrance of the forest when it wakes at dawn,
The fragrance of a trim green village lawn,
The hearing of the murmur of the rain at play—
These things are beautiful, beautiful as day!
And I shan’t stand waiting for love or scorn
When the feast is laid for a day new-born
Oh, better let the little things I loved when little
Return when the heart finds the great things brittle;
And better is a temple made of bark and thong
Than a tall stone temple that may stand too long.
_Margaret Widdemer_
Margaret Widdemer was born at Doylestown, Pennsylvania, and began
writing in her childhood. After graduating from Drexel Institute
Library School in 1909, she became a contributor of poems and short
stories to various magazines—her first published poem (“The
Factories”) being widely quoted. She married Robert Haven
Schauffler, the author, in August, 1919.
Miss Widdemer’s poetic work has two distinct phases. In the one
mood, she is the protesting poet, the champion of the down-trodden,
the lyricist on fire with angry passion. In the other, she is the
writer of well-made, polite and popular sentimental verse. Her
finest poems are in _Factories with Other Lyrics_ (1915), although
several of her best songs are in _The Old Road to Paradise_ (1918),
which divided, with Sandburg’s _Cornhuskers_, the Columbia Poetry
Prize in 1918.
Miss Widdemer is also the author of two books of short stories, four
novels and several books for girls.