| Harriet Monroe, ed. (1860–1936). Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. 1912–22. | | | | Te Deum | | By David Osborne Hamilton |
| | From “Hoofs and Haloes”
OUT in the hot sun I saw Satan stand: | |
| He stroked the peaches with his finger-tips, | |
| And burst the melons open in his hand, | |
| And squirted the fat grapes between his lips. | |
| He cracked an apple, and deep in the rift | 5 |
| Of snowy meat his yellow teeth he thrust. | |
| A daisy from the grass he plucked and sniffed— | |
| His fiery breath soon charred it into dust. | |
| He pinched the purple plums, and playfully | |
| Took up his tail and twirled it round and round | 10 |
| To lash the gold leaves from a maple-tree, | |
| And laughed—the birds fled screaming at the sound. | |
| He swung the boughs, and with his sharp horns pricked | |
| The pears as they went swinging through the air, | |
| And drove his hoof into the ground, and kicked, | 15 |
| Stirring the damp earth through the grasses there; | |
| Then tore the tangled undergrowth apart | |
| Till in its shadow he was deftly placed, | |
| And stretched and said: “I marvel at God’s art! | |
| The earth could not be formed more to my taste.” | 20 | | | |
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