Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900.
By SamuelWard339 A Proem
W
Or swarthy man—with tray-beladen head,
Whose smile entreats me, or his visage sad,
To buy the images he moulds for bread,
His Venus and her Boy with plaster dart,
Be, like the Organ-Grinder’s quavering strains,
But farthings in the currency of art,—
Let metals base or precious in them mix:
The painted vellum hallows not the Prayer,
Nor ivory nor gold the Crucifix.