Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


VERSES FOR A GUEST ROOM by FRANKLIN PIERCE ADAMS

Poet Analysis

First Line: I HAVE NO POMP TO OFFER THEE
Last Line: I REALLY MUST GET BACK TO TOWN.
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 @3The Century.@1

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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