Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, VERSES FOR A GUEST ROOM, by FRANKLIN PIERCE ADAMS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

VERSES FOR A GUEST ROOM, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: I have no pomp to offer thee
Last Line: I really must get back to town.
Alternate Author Name(s): F. P. A.
Subject(s): Hospitality


I HAVE no pomp to offer thee;
Just my heart's hospitality—
A little beam, but one to light
The lodging of an anchorite.

A slumber deep, a dreamless rest,
To thee within this room, dear guest!
'Tis sweet to me that thou and I
This night beneath one roof shall lie;
For this I deem most dear, my guest,
In all the world, or east or west,
Where'er thy tarrying may be,
Blessed is the roof that shelters thee!
—Anne Arrabin in The Century.

No pompous couch, no trappings grand,
Do I, a weary guest, demand.
Your hospitality of heart
Compels my gratitude, in part.

In part, because I find the guest
Gets hardly any dreamless rest;
The kitchen always is below
His room; at half-past five or so
He hears (pretending not to mind her)
Your Katie at the coffee-grinder;
Again he tries to sleep, but can't
Because the covers are too scant.

I know it's wrong, or north or south,
To look a gift room in the mouth;
But if it's all the same to you,
I'll take the 11:32
Don't bother, please, to take me down—
I really must get back to town.





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