| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900. |
| |
| 1505. A Smiling Demon of Notre Dame |
| | | By Sophie Jewett (“Ellen Burroughs”) |
| |
| |
| QUIET as are the quiet skies | |
| He watches where the city lies | |
| Floating in vision clear or dim | |
| Through sun or rain beneath his eyes; | |
| Her songs, her laughter, and her cries | 5 |
| Hour after hour drift up to him. | |
| |
| Her days of glory or disgrace | |
| He watches with unchanging face; | |
| He knows what midnight crimes are done, | |
| What horrors under summer sun; | 10 |
| And souls that pass in holy death | |
| Sweep by him on the morning’s breath. | |
| |
| Alike to holiness and sin | |
| He feels nor alien nor akin; | |
| Five hundred creeping mortal years | 15 |
| He smiles on human joy and tears, | |
| Man-made, immortal, scorning man; | |
| Serene, grotesque Olympian. | |
| |
|
|
|
