Poem by Alice Meynell

The Newer Vainglory

Two men went up to pray; and one gave thanks,
        Not with himself—aloud,
With proclamation, calling on the ranks
        Of an attentive crowd.

"Thank God, I clap not my own humble breast,
        But other ruffians' backs,
Imputing crime—such is my tolerant haste—
        To any man that lacks.

"For I am tolerant, generous, keep no rules,
        And the age honours me.
Thank God, I am not as these rigid fools,
        Even as this Pharisee."

1. To the Body
2. The Laws of Verse
3. At Night
4. In Portugal, 1912
5. The Watershed (for R. T.)

Print

1566 Views

Last Poems

To Russian version