 | Poems |  |
124
MARGARITAS ANTE PORCOS.
See how they crowd and snort below,
And fight for husks all brown and dry;
While at their feet, like beads of snow,
The pearls you threw to feed them lie.
And fight for husks all brown and dry;
While at their feet, like beads of snow,
The pearls you threw to feed them lie.
Tears that the bruised and breaking heart
Hides in its shell, to jewels turn;
They have their value in the mart,
They glitter—when they cease to burn.
Hides in its shell, to jewels turn;
They have their value in the mart,
They glitter—when they cease to burn.
Go, take them to the smiling bride,
Your life that lives in frozen tears;
They crown her dark hair's odorous pride,
The heart-beats swing them in her ears.
Your life that lives in frozen tears;
They crown her dark hair's odorous pride,
The heart-beats swing them in her ears.
Oh, fool! to fling them to the swine,
That tramp and snatch and rend below;
You pour away your life divine,
And think to reap the grain you sow!
That tramp and snatch and rend below;
You pour away your life divine,
And think to reap the grain you sow!
Know, then, that all your waste is vain—
Vainly these precious gems are thrown;
The snuffling herds that crowd the plain
Are hungry beasts, and beasts alone.
Vainly these precious gems are thrown;
The snuffling herds that crowd the plain
Are hungry beasts, and beasts alone.
125
Alas! what dream of fond despair,
What lavish love, hath power divine
To work an answer to your prayer,
To make you angels out of swine?
What lavish love, hath power divine
To work an answer to your prayer,
To make you angels out of swine?
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