Poems (Piatt)/Volume 1/The Fancy Ball
DRAMATIC PERSONS AND MOODS.
THE FANCY BALL.
As Morning you 'd have me rise On that shining world of art;You forget: I have too much dark in my eyes— And too much dark in my heart.
"Then go as the Night—in June: Pass, dreamily, by the crowd,With jewels to mock the stars and moon, And shadowy robes like cloud.
"Or as Spring, with a spray in your hair Of blossoms a8 yet unblown;It will suit you well, for our youth should wear The bloom in the bud alone.
"Or drift from the outer gloom With the soft white silence of Snow:"I should melt myself with the warm, close room— Or my own life's burning. No.
"Then fly through the glitter and mirth As a Bird of Paradise:"Nay, the waters I drink have touched the earth; I breathe no summer of spice.
"Then———"Hush: if I go at all, (It will make them stare and shrink,It will look so strange at a Fancy Ball) I will go as———Myself, I think!