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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


ARRAIGNMENT by LIZETTE WOODWORTH REESE

Poet Analysis

First Line: WHAT WAGE, WHAT GUERDON, LIFE, ASKED I OF YOU?
Last Line: I THINK IT WOULD BE BEST IF I WERE DEAD.
Subject(s): APRIL;

What wage, what guerdon, Life, asked I of you?
Brooches; old houses; yellow trees in fall;
A gust of daffodils by a gray wall;
Books; small lads' laughter; song at drip of dew?
Or said I, "Make me April. I would go,
Night-long, day-long, down the gay little grass,
And therein see myself as in a glass;
There is none other weather I would know?"
Content was I to live like any flower,
Sweetly and humbly; dream each season round
The blossomy things that serve a girl for bread,
Inviolate against the bitter hour.
You poured my dreams like water on the ground:
I think it would be best if I were dead.



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