When I hear laughter from a tavern door, When I see crowds agape and in the rain Watching on tiptoe and with stifled roar To see a rocket fired or a bull slain, When misers handle gold, when orators Touch strong men's hearts with glory till they weep, When cities deck their streets for barren wars Which have laid waste their youth, and when I keep Calmly the count of my own life and see On what poor stuff my manhood's dreams were fed Till I too learned what dole of vanity Will serve a human soul for daily bread, -- Then I remember that I once was young And lived wit Esther the world's gods among. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE WOMEN WITH FABLED HAIR by MADELINE DEFREES FOR OUR BETTER GRACES by JAMES GALVIN LET ME NOT HATE by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON FRAGMENT by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON MORNING, NOON AND NIGHT by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON A HYMN OF HATE by DOROTHY PARKER IMPRESSIONS OF FRANCOIS-MARIE AROUET (DE VOLTAIRE) by EZRA POUND |