Spell of the Yukon and Other Verses, The

<p><SPAN name="link2H_4_0031" id="link2H_4_0031"></SPAN></p> <h2> The Harpy </h2> <p>There was a woman, and she was wise; woefully wise was she;<br/> She was old, so old, yet her years all told were but a score and three;<br/> And she knew by heart, from finish to start, the Book of Iniquity.<br/> <br/> There is no hope for such as I on earth, nor yet in Heaven;<br/> Unloved I live, unloved I die, unpitied, unforgiven;<br/> A loathed jade, I ply my trade, unhallowed and unshriven.<br/> <br/> I paint my cheeks, for they are white, and cheeks of chalk men hate;<br/> Mine eyes with wine I make them shine, that man may seek and sate;<br/> With overhead a lamp of red I sit me down and wait<br/> <br/> Until they come, the nightly scum, with drunken eyes aflame;<br/> Your sweethearts, sons, ye scornful ones &mdash; 'tis I who know their shame.<br/> The gods, ye see, are brutes to me &mdash; and so I play my game.<br/> <br/> For life is not the thing we thought, and not the thing we plan;<br/> And Woman in a bitter world must do the best she can &mdash;<br/> Must yield the stroke, and bear the yoke, and serve the will of man;<br/> <br/> Must serve his need and ever feed the flame of his desire,<br/> Though be she loved for love alone, or be she loved for hire;<br/> For every man since life began is tainted with the mire.<br/> <br/> And though you know he love you so and set you on love's throne;<br/> Yet let your eyes but mock his sighs, and let your heart be stone,<br/> Lest you be left (as I was left) attainted and alone.<br/> <br/> From love's close kiss to hell's abyss is one sheer flight, I trow,<br/> And wedding ring and bridal bell are will-o'-wisps of woe,<br/> And 'tis not wise to love too well, and this all women know.<br/> <br/> Wherefore, the wolf-pack having gorged upon the lamb, their prey,<br/> With siren smile and serpent guile I make the wolf-pack pay &mdash;<br/> With velvet paws and flensing claws, a tigress roused to slay.<br/> <br/> One who in youth sought truest truth and found a devil's lies;<br/> A symbol of the sin of man, a human sacrifice.<br/> Yet shall I blame on man the shame? Could it be otherwise?<br/> <br/> Was I not born to walk in scorn where others walk in pride?<br/> The Maker marred, and, evil-starred, I drift upon His tide;<br/> And He alone shall judge His own, so I His judgment bide.<br/> <br/> Fate has written a tragedy; its name is "The Human Heart".<br/> The Theatre is the House of Life, Woman the mummer's part;<br/> The Devil enters the prompter's box and the play is ready to start.<br/></p> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />