Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, LADY WITH A CAREER, by NORMA JEAN BUNTING


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

LADY WITH A CAREER, by                    
First Line: Camille, the cool, the crisp, the competent
Last Line: Camille, in ermine and a sequin gown!
Subject(s): Women


Camille, the cool, the crisp, the competent,
Held mediocrity in such high scorn
That from their junior days Will went forlorn
In the wake of her ambition. Heaven bent
To plead for William! but his deliberate ways,
Yoked to the tedium of small-town days
So irked endurance that when critics' praise
Dared her to dream, the stumbling courtship ceased
And William married Judy -- littlest -- least --
But smiling! If a faint foreboding creased
Camilla's brow, no leniency in her bent
For compromise... no girlish mood forlorn
Dared voice a protest to her gay young scorn --
Camille, the cool, the crisp, the competent!

Camille, in ermine and a sequin gown
Gifted and gracious, may afford to pity
Plump, placid Judy, neither gay nor witty.
The glamour of two continents' renown
Is on Camille, and if her lips be set
Inflexibly against a faint regret,
Who shall remark it? If her eyes be wet
At candle-lighting time, for growing old
With trash for treasure, where is any bold
Or brutal enough to murmur? Let her scold
Her little maid to tears for this renown
That must be scintillating -- brilliant -- witty,
Though the heart break...! Camille, that none shall pity!
Camille, in ermine and a sequin gown!





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