Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, A PAIR, by LAURA RIDING


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

A PAIR, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Those two had sewed themselves a dignity
Last Line: Even had they encompassed a success.
Alternate Author Name(s): Jackson, Laura Riding
Subject(s): Togetherness


Those two had sewed themselves a dignity
From all the patches of failure they had cut
From the success of others. And their heads
Were high in an austerity of grief
For what they had not been. I cannot say
They loved, for they only lived
In profile to each other,
Looking on life as it were a relief
Against eternity. And when they spoke
Their voices left no echo for they pricked
The surface of silence lightly as a thought.
And oh! how cruelly neat their house! There were
No kindly folds in curtains, no idle chair
Pulled carelessly askew for gossiping,
But everything was crucified on walls.
Even the sun was a severity.
They never had a child, for it would be
A sign of some prosperity.
And had they yet, I'm sure it would have been
A shadow, for these two were
Ephemeral as two may be and live.
And I have come to know that all they have
Was all they could ever come upon
Even had they encompassed a success.





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