Were It True

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Were It True

Poem

Were it true, the shining ambitions O life,
Those little milestone lapels on breast pinned,
Those faux crowns by commons so desired,
I might have pursued thee through much strife.

Were it true, O life, the bait of thy desire,
That sorry flare leading through marshland,
That cheap lure, a sugar-coated produce ruined,
I would banish doubt and turn thy pursuer.

Were it true, thy affections varied and many,
Those inconstant brief scintillations appearing,
Those comet-moments leaving us remembering,
I would yet forego past excesses for thy company.

But O life even to ignorance most inconstant
Yielding by some weakness for the alien
Bursting into thy body and into thy vein.
Pray why would I yield to thy plea adamant?

Thou and I are possessed by the same infection,
Let us forthwith solicit a higher intervention.