| Harriet Monroe, ed. (1860–1936). Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. 1912–22. | | | | Quatrains | | By Alfred Hitch |
| | GOD SAID GOD said: “The hero’s part, to play it, | |
| The flowers of life, the good of ill, | |
| Are yours if you but say, I will”— | |
| And do you know? I could not say it! | |
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TO THE SPHINX O Spirit of the Changeless Past, | 5 |
| What think’st thou of our present state? | |
| Thou look’st quite through us, and beyond— | |
| The eyes of Death gazing at Fate. | |
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LIBERTY A thousand years ago begun | |
| The fight for liberty, | 10 |
| A thousand battles have been won— | |
| And still we are not free. | |
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LIMITATIONS We look through telescopes to see | |
| Infinity; | |
| And with the blocks of time build up | 15 |
| Eternity. | |
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FEAR Fear gave the antelope its speed, | |
| The bird its wings; | |
| And half the world is saved by flight | |
| And fear of things. | 20 |
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THE FAITHFUL As the kneeling Mussulman | |
| To Mecca turns to pray, | |
| So my heart, dear, turns to thee | |
| And never turns away. | |
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TO KNOW AND NOT TO KNOW Not to know is Hate | 25 |
| That in cruelty wreaks its fears. | |
| To know is Love, | |
| And Pity is Love in tears. | | | | |
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