| Jessie B. Rittenhouse, ed. (1869–1948). The Second Book of Modern Verse. 1922. |
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| Little Things |
| | | Orrick Johns |
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| 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 | 5 |
| 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! | 10 |
| 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 | 15 |
| Than a tall stone temple that may stand too long. | |
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