Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, GEMS, by WALT MASON



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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

GEMS, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: I decked with gems my person fat, they glittered
Last Line: Luck planet.
Subject(s): Jewelry & Jewelers; Sapphires; Stones; Granite; Rocks


I DECKED with gems my person fat, they glittered with exceeding splendor; I had

some rubies on my hat, an emerald on each suspender. Oh, men could see me from
afar, and straightway they grew sore and jealous; I twinkled like the little
star of which the ancient hymn-books tell us. I wore a sapphire on my shirt, my

cummerbund was diamond-fretted; the weight of all my jewels hurt, and long
beneath the load I sweated. And ever as I toiled along, for dining halls or ball

rooms heading, I saw the tired and sad-faced throng that finds this life such
dreary sledding. I saw men push their jaded feet in search of work that always
dodged them, and women turned into the street from squalid rooms that lately
lodged them. I saw them by the souphouse ranked, poor, hopeless skates, all
trodden under; and as I looked my diamonds clanked, and made a noise like
distant thunder. I saw a stiff fished from a brook, some worn-out wife or
wayward sister; and as I took a startled look, my diamonds seemed to scorch and

blister. I've cut out all the precious stones; one can't enjoy that form of
granite, while hearing all the wails and groans that rise from this old hard
luck planet.





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