| Jessie B. Rittenhouse, ed. (1869–1948). The Second Book of Modern Verse. 1922. |
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| Compensation |
| | | William Ellery Leonard (1876–1944) |
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| I KNOW the sorrows of the last abyss: | |
| I walked the cold black pools without a star; | |
| I lay on rock of unseen flint and spar; | |
| I heard the execrable serpent hiss; | |
| I dreamed of sun, fruit-tree, and virgin’s kiss; | 5 |
| I woke alone with midnight near and far, | |
| And everlasting hunger, keen to mar; | |
| But I arose, and my reward is this: | |
| I am no more one more amid the throng: | |
| Though name be naught, and lips forever weak, | 10 |
| I seem to know at last of mighty song; | |
| And with no blush, no tremor on the cheek, | |
| I do claim consort with the great and strong | |
| Who suffered ill and had the gift to speak. | |
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