Contents -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

Harriet Monroe, ed. (1860–1936). The New Poetry: An Anthology. 1917.

Provincial

Clara Shanafelt

THE DUNKARD ladies ride to town

Demure in the wagon behind their men:

Each wears a black bonnet tied under her chin,

And a green or scarlet gown.

I saw three stand in an awning’s shade,

Where golden fruits were in prim rows laid—

Plump girls, like rabbits, with dough-white skin.

One sucked at a fig as at secret sin.

Half-scared, half-stolid, they eye the crowd,

Blink at shop-windows, gape toward the sky.

A sharp Italian, chattering loud,

Regards them—her glance is comedy!