Classic Poem

I gaze on the people about me,
The crowd of many faces,
And suddenly I become detached,
I stand apart,
Watching the mimic masquerade of life;
I hear laughter,
I see grimaces of joy,
And I wonder silently
Which one is himself, naked and unashamed,
Which one dares the despair of beauty,
Which one is other than an actor in a puppet-show?
And a longing comes to me for something sublime—
Some stellar flight of loveliness,
Some impassioned utterance,
A lover who perished on the bosom of his sweetheart—
Some sudden swing of the pendulum
That shall shatter this hollow carnival!

I gaze on the faces of the people about me
And I know that all is unreal—
All is mist and skimming shadow,
Passing, passing into nothingness.
Sometime it must end
This hollow carnival . . . .
And I stand awaiting the great hour
When they will have to doff their masks. . . .