Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, IRRADIATIONS: 25, by JOHN GOULD FLETCHER



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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

IRRADIATIONS: 25, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: As I wandered over the city through the night
Last Line: When all the rest were but puppets of the night.


As I wandered over the city through the night,
I saw many strange things:
But I have forgotten all
Except one painted face.
Gaudy, shameless night-orchid,
Heavy, flushed, sticky with narcotic perfume,
There was something in you which made me prefer you
Above all the feeble forget-me-nots of the world.
You were neither burnt out nor pallid,
There was plain, coarse, vulgar meaning in every line of you
And no make-believe:
You were at least alive,
When all the rest were but puppets of the night.





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