| Harriet Monroe, ed. (1860–1936). The New Poetry: An Anthology. 1917. |
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| 332. Scherzo |
| | | By Clara Shanafelt |
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| THE ELDER’S bridal in July, | |
| Bright as a cloud! | |
| A ripe blonde girl, | |
| Billowing to the ground in foamy petticoats, | |
| With breasts full-blown | 5 |
| Swelling her bodice. | |
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| But later | |
| When the small black-ruddy berries | |
| Tempt the birds to strip the stems, | |
| And the leaves begin to yellow and fall off | 10 |
| While late summer’s still in its green, | |
| Then you look lank and used up, | |
| Elder; | |
| Your big bones stick out, | |
| You’re the kind of woman | 15 |
| Wears bleak at forty. | |
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| I’ll take my constant pleasure | |
| In a willow-tree that ripples silver | |
| All the summer. | |
| And when the winter comes in greasy rags | 20 |
| Like a half-naked beggar, | |
| Lets out the plaited splendor | |
| Of her bright and glancing hair. | |
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