Contemporary Verse Anthology; Favorite Poems Selected from the Magazine "Contemporary Verse" 1916-1920

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: DEFEAT BY GLENN WAKD DRESBACH npHERE is defeat where death gives anodyne A And all desires of the battle wane In deep forgetfulness, and the one slain Lies with his face turned toward the firing-line. There is defeat where flesh fails the design Of Spirit, and the groping, tortured brain Sees glories lost it cannot win again. And wears itself out like effect of wine. But no defeat is quite so imminent To common ways as the defeat Success Turns into when it puts aside the dreams That made it be, and, somehow, grows content With what it is, forever giving less Until it is not, and no longer seems. THE TWO DRINKERS (Translated from the French of Charles Vildrac.) BY WITTER BYNNER THEY have sat down together for a little drink; They are leaning with all their weight on their elbows; Their words are meeting and their eyes And their cheeks and voices and eyes are laughing across the table, And O what good ones they're telling! They are really happy, for the moment; They are really happy to be together; And yetl . . . And yet, If tomorrow they have to hurry through a door Not wide enough for two Where one must pass after the other They will pause before it With an ugly change in their faces, With an ugly look at each other, And a slanting look toward the door. As dogs, with a bone between them, Growl, warning each other off, So may these two become tomorrow, or tonight, These two who now are friends because of little drink . . . The Two Drinkers ?That is true enough and it's sad too But that's not the way to say itl This is the way to say it: These two men who are laughing Might be fighting for no reason: They might find a thousand reasons To be fighting; There are reasons a-plenty ! ...