This is that theater the muse loves best. All dramas ever dreamed are acted here. The roles are done in earnest, not in jest; Hero and dupe and villain all appear. Her falsehood skulks behind an honest mask, And witless truth lets fall a saving word, As the blind goddess tends her patient task And in the hush the shears of fate are heard. Here the slow-shod avengers keep their date; Here innocence uncoils her snow-white bloom; From here the untrapped swindler walks elate, And stolid murderer goes to meet his doom. O stage more stark than ever Shakespeare knew, What peacock playhouse will contend with you? | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...MOTHER (MARGERY CARRUTH, 1896-1981) by HAYDEN CARRUTH MOUNTAIN VALLEY by MALCOLM COWLEY THE WAR THAT ISN'T WHAT YOU THINK by JAMES GALVIN DOWN BY THE CARIB SEA: 1. SUNRISE IN THE TROPICS by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON SURFACES AND MASKS; 3 by CLARENCE MAJOR AT SAGAMORE HILL by EDGAR LEE MASTERS |