Classic and Contemporary Poetry
MABEL, by WILFRID WILSON GIBSON Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: When nigger dick and hell-for-women slouched Last Line: Shaking the darkness from his shaggy coat. | ||||||||
When Nigger Dick and Hell-for-Women slouched Into the taproom of the "Duck and De'il," The three Dalmatian pups slunk in at heel And down among the slushy saw-dust crouched; But Mabel would not leave the windy street For any gaudy tavern's reek and heat -- Not she! for Mabel was no spotted dog To crawl among the steaming muddy feet Beneath a bench, and slumber like a log. And so she set her hoofs, and stayed outside, Though Hell-for-Women pushed the swing-door wide, And "Mabel, darling! Mabel, darling!" cried, And Nigger Dick thrust out his head and cursed Until his tongue burned with so hot a thirst, He turned and swore that he'd not split his throat To save the soul of any giddy goat. And then they left her, stubborn, wild and white, Snuffing the wet air of the windy night: And as she stood beneath a cold blue star That pierced the narrow strip of midnight sky Between the sleeping houses black and high, The glare and glitter of the reeking bar, And all the filth and squalor of the street Were blotted out... And she was lost between The beetling crags of some deep, dark ravine In Andalusian solitudes of stone, A trembling, young, bewildered nanny-goat Within the cold blue heart of night alone... Until her ears pricked, tingling to a bleat, As, far above her, on a naked scar, The dews of morning dripping from his beard, Rejoicing in his strength the herd-king reared, Shaking the darkness from his shaggy coat. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...BETWEEN THE LINES by WILFRID WILSON GIBSON BREAKFAST by WILFRID WILSON GIBSON FLANNAN ISLE by WILFRID WILSON GIBSON FOR G. by WILFRID WILSON GIBSON GERANIUMS by WILFRID WILSON GIBSON LAMENT by WILFRID WILSON GIBSON RETREAT by WILFRID WILSON GIBSON RUPERT BROOKE by WILFRID WILSON GIBSON THE GORSE by WILFRID WILSON GIBSON THE ICE by WILFRID WILSON GIBSON |
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