Famous Single Poems
HOW OFTEN
They stood on the bridge at midnight,
In a park not far from town;
They stood on the bridge at midnight
Because they didn’t sit down.
The moon rose o’er the city
Behind the dark church spire;
The moon rose o’er the city
And kept on rising higher.
How often, oh! how often
They whispered words so soft;
How often, oh! how often,
How often, oh! how oft.
The second exception is the first two quatrains of “The Pessimist:”
Nothing to do but work,
Nothing to eat but food,
Nothing to wear but clothes
To keep one from going nude.
Nothing to breathe but air,
Quick as a flash ’tis gone;
Nowhere to fall but off,
Nowhere to stand but on.
These represent the sum of Ben King’s achievement—the best that was in him.
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