The Conservative (Lovecraft)/January 1916/The Poet
The Poet
The poet is Protean, and is pleas'd
To venture forth as other than himself;
For in the character of fay, or elf,
Or what not, pray, his heart is greatly eas'd.
Therefore look not for self-disclosures true
In all he says and does in variant mood.
Is he Jack Robinson or Robin Hood
Because he wakes the glen with loud halloo?
So would you sense a black streak in his heart
Because he knows all motives to all sin?
Judgment in inferences is akin
To purposes of low Satanic art:
The poet quickly feels the heat of strife,
Yet knows that life is love and love is life.
James T. Pyke.