Page:Collected poems Robinson, Edwin Arlington.djvu/27

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COLLECTED POEMS

If most men are as you are—We'll all be mad some day.Be calm—and let me finish;There's more for you to know.I'll talk while you diminish,And listen while you grow.
"There was a man who marriedBecause he couldn't see;And all his days he carriedThe mark of his degree.But you—you came clear-sighted,And found truth in my eyes;And all my wrongs you've rightedWith lies, and lies, and lies.
"You've killed the last assuranceThat once would have me striveTo rouse an old enduranceThat is no more alive.It makes two people chillyTo say what we have said,But you—you'll not be sillyAnd wrangle for the dead.
"You don't? You never wrangle?Why scold then,—or complain?More words will only mangleWhat you've already slain.Your pride you can't surrender?My name—for that you fear?Since when were men so tender,And honor so severe?
"No more—I'll never bear it.I'm going. I'm like ice.

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