Contents -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

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

Dingy Street

Marjorie Allen Seiffert

IT is twilight by the dreary edge of town,

And the December air

Is harsh and bitter. All the trees are bare,

The leaves are scattered and trodden down

To pulp; and every house is brown.

There is no trace of beauty anywhere.

Night comes slowly, the houses hide in the gloom;

But toward the muddy street

One by one their shabby windows bloom

Like golden flowers, to shine and greet

The bundled effigies on sodden feet

Trudging toward welcome in the hidden room.

There is a magic in it. There once more,

Body and spirit, they are warmed and fed.

There, as a thousand times before,

The ancient feast is spread—

The simple miracles of love and bread.

They stumble into beauty at the door.