Classic and Contemporary Poetry
SOCIETY, by WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS Poet's Biography First Line: I looked and saw a splendid pageantry Last Line: The revellers above them thronged and prest. Alternate Author Name(s): Howells, W. D. Subject(s): Justice | ||||||||
I looked and saw a splendid pageantry Of beautiful women and lordly men, Taking their pleasure in a flowery plain, Where poppies and red anemone, And many another leaf of cramoisy, Flickered about their feet, and gave their stain To heels of iron or satin, and the grain Of silken garments floating far and free, As in the dance they wove themselves, or strayed By twos together, or lightly smiled and bowed, Or curtseyed to each other, or else played At games of mirth and pastime, unafraid In their delight; and all so high and proud They seemed scarce of the earth whereupon they trod. II I looked again and saw that flowery space Stirring, as if alive, beneath the tread That rested now upon an old man's head And now upon a baby's gasping face, Or mother's bosom, or the rounded grace Of a girls' throat; and what had seemed the red Of flowers was blood, in gouts and gushes shed From hearts that broke under that frolic pace. And now and then from out the dreadful floor An arm or brow was lifted from the rest, As if to strike in madness, or implore For mercy; and anon some suffering breast Heaved from the mass and sank; and as before The revellers above them thronged and prest. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE TRUTH ABOUT GOD: GOD'S JUSTICE by ANNE CARSON CREDO by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON THE YOUNG WARRIOR by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON TO HORACE BUMSTEAD by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON CONSCRIPTS OF THE DREAM by EDWIN MARKHAM THE MAN UNDER THE STONE by EDWIN MARKHAM |
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