Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


ACCEPTANCE by ETHEL ARNOLD TILDEN

First Line: THIS HOUSE IS UGLY - BUT IT IS THE HOUSE I LIVE IN
Last Line: I'LL SIT LONG IN THE PURPLE DARK -- NOR LIGHT THE CANDLES.
Subject(s): HOUSES; UGLINESS;

This house is ugly -- but it is the house I live in.
Tomorrow I will plant a rose-bush by the door-step
And edge the gravel path with homely scented spice-pinks,
And I will weed the path and rake it smoothly over.
Before my wide-flung door, jesting, I'll spread my prayer-rug;
Before my clean-swept hearth-stone I will lay my hearth-rug.
In summer I will bank the hearth with pungent pine boughs.
And fill my copper lustre-jug with cool blue larkspurs.
In winter I will keep a fire of beech-logs burning,
And put my lustre jug where the firelight will strike it.
And yet, when night blots out this house I live in, often
I'll sit long in the purple dark -- nor light the candles.



Home: PoetryExplorer.net