| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900. |
| |
| 698. Quatrains |
| | | By Thomas Bailey Aldrich |
| |
| |
MASKS
BLACK Tragedy lets slip her grim disguise | |
| And shows you laughing lips and roguish eyes; | |
| But when, unmasked, gay Comedy appears, | |
| How wan her cheeks are, and what heavy tears! | |
| |
MEMORIES
TWO things there are with Memory will abide, | 5 |
| Whatever else befall, while life flows by: | |
| That soft cold hand-touch at the altar side; | |
| The thrill that shook you at your child’s first cry. | |
| |
CIRCUMSTANCE
LINKED to a clod, harassed, and sad | |
| With sordid cares, she knew not life was sweet | 10 |
| Who should have moved in marble halls, and had | |
| Kings and crown-princes at her feet. | |
| |
ON READING ——
GREAT thoughts in crude, unshapely verse set forth | |
| Lose half their preciousness, and ever must. | |
| Unless the diamond with its own rich dust | 15 |
| Be cut and polished, it seems little worth. | |
| |
QUITS
IF my best wines mislike thy taste, | |
| And my best service win thy frown, | |
| Then tarry not, I bid thee haste; | |
| There ’s many another Inn in town. | 20 |
| |
|
|
|
