IV

Two full hours before the dawn,

Dotard Parrot cocks an ear

To the sleeper's moan, long-drawn,

To her slurring tale of fear.

Parrot hears Delilah tell

Who lies dead below the stair;

How he shuddered, stumbled, fell;

In whose cause she laid him there.

The knife bit, thus: thus, the blood spread!

Connoisseur of fo'c'stle speeches

Parrot tilts his bald, sly head,

Learns the spicy yarn she teaches.

Soon, when sunlight warms his cage,

He plots to cheer the passers-by

With burlesque of murderous rage,

Acting how his victims die:

Thus, he stabs 'em; there, they lie.


POETRY BY THE SAME AUTHOR

1916 Over the Brazier Poetry Bookshop.
(New edition with slight alterations, 1920.)
1917 Fairies and Fusiliers William Heinemann.
American edition, 1918. Alfred Knopf.
1920 Country Sentiment Martin Secker.
American edition, 1920. Alfred Knopf.
Contributions to Georgian Poetry, 1915-1917 and 1918-19.


MARTIN SECKER'S
BOOKS

MCMXXI


NOTE

The prices indicated
in this catalogue are
in every case net

NUMBER FIVE JOHN STREET
ADELPHI LONDON


General Literature

Verse

Drama

Fiction

The Tales of Henry James

The Art and Craft of Letters

Martin Seeker's Series of Critical Studies