A Dirge (Apologies to Wordsworth)
by F. Scott Fitzgerald
It lay among the untrodden ways,
'Twas very small in size;
A bar whom there were none to praise,
And few to patronize.
But when the drought had well begun
One winked a wicked eye!
-'Twas like a star when only one
Is shining in the sky!
It served unknown and few could know
The wink that fixed the tea;
But now it too is closed, and, oh,
The difference to me!
Now, please, be seriuous!
Lucy
by William Wordsworth
II
She dwelt among the untrodden ways
Beside the springs of Dove,
A Maid whom there were none to praise
And very few to love:
A violet by a mossy stone
Half hidden from the eye!
Fair as a star, when only one
Is shining in the sky.
She lived unknown, and few could know
When Lucy ceased to be;
But she is in her grave, and oh,
The difference to me!
Published in Judge magazine (20 December 1919).
Not illustrated.