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Home  »  Poetry: A Magazine of Verse  »  Helen Hoyt

Harriet Monroe, ed. (1860–1936). The New Poetry: An Anthology. 1917.

Happiness Betrays Me

Helen Hoyt

From “The Harp”

HAPPINESS betrays me—

Happiness slays me!

Sorrow was kind and loneliness was my sweet companion,

Denial gave me good gifts.

Now freedom is a bondage upon me

And smoothness slackens my feet.

I will find my way back to the thorns;

I will find my way back again to the good thorns and steepness.

Happiness betrays me—

Happiness slays me.