The Unconquered Air, and Other Poems (1912)/Base-Born

by Florence Earle Coates

For other versions of this work, see Base-Born.

BASE-BORN

My parents had great joy, I wis,
Of their young days of love.
In thought they were as deathless gods,
Mere human laws above:
As deathless gods! But I?—alas!
Of joy what can I tell?
Who am but as a broken vase
Beside a brimming well.

My parents in each other's eyes
Beheld the heavenly stars,
And found in one another's arms
The bliss that heaven unbars:
They vowed when pleasure brimmed the cup
None should resist its spell:
They quaffed,—and emptied me of joy,
Beside life's brimming well!