| Harriet Monroe, ed. (1860–1936). Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. 1912–22. | | | | Readers | | By Robert Gilbert Welsh |
| | | IN the reading room of the public library | |
| A queer group gathers about the table. | |
| The tired man at one end | |
| Has been called by some persons a tramp. | |
| He merely pretends to read | 5 |
| So that he may stay here | |
| Safe in the warmth, | |
| Shut away from the wind and the rain. | |
| His eyelids are not merely lowered, | |
| They are actually closed; | 10 |
| And he is sleeping lightly as a cat. | |
| |
| The old woman near the other end | |
| Slipped away from her cheerless hall-room, | |
| And came here because she likes the lights | |
| And the changing human faces. | 15 |
| She has her supper hidden in her pocket; | |
| She slips a bite into her mouth | |
| When none is looking, | |
| And pretends that she is reading the Outlook. | |
| |
| The tall thin boy with the exciting mauve shirt | 20 |
| Is reading the chapters of a lurid serial, | |
| Just to fill in the hour | |
| Until the burlesquers begin | |
| In the theatre on the next block. | |
| |
| And in the shelves behind them all, | 25 |
| The masters of the world, | |
| In reserve and silence, | |
| Await the coming of a sympathetic friend. | | | | |
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