Marsden Hartley. Local Boys and Girls, Small Town Stuff. Alfred Kreymborg, ed. 1920. Others for 1919

Alfred Kreymborg, ed. Others for 1919. 1920.

Local Boys and Girls, Small Town Stuff

By Marsden Hartley


A PANTHER sprang at the feet
Of the young deer in the grey wood.
It was the lady who had sworn
To love him,
That rose, wraithlike	5
From the flow of his blood.
He swooned with her devotions.

There was never one
More jolly and boyish
Than he was, in the great beginning.	10
Once his slippers were fastened
With domesticity,
He settled down
Like a worn jaguar
Weary with staring through bars.	15
The caresses that were poured
Over his person
Staled on him.
Love had grown rancid.
Have you emptied the garbage	20
John?
Prometheus fire
Never can worship
The smell of hams and hocks
Issuing from the smokehouse.	25
The odours of the street
Hold enticements
That bear entertaining.
There is at least
The tincture of virility	30
Present.