Talk:Poems (Coates 1916)/Volume I/Dearth

Another stanza in August 1908 Smart Set issue (p. 62)

DEARTH

By Florence Earle Coates

AS one who thirsting waits, while mocking him
The waves o'erleap his shattered vessel's brink;
And, drifting on, life's cup but once to brim,
Fain to sheer depths would sink—
So everywhere beholding love neglected,
Carelessly set aside, despised, rejected,
I faint for a pure draught not mine to drink.

As one who faring o'er a desert plain
Sees fountains clear in the mirage arise,
And, parchèd, longs the nectar sweet to gain
Which still before him flies—
So, wistfully, half doubting, half-believing,
Scornful of hope—yet hopeful, self-deceiving,
I thirst for love, which wastes before my eyes.