Hellene and Roman bred this race;
Unconsciously these drying rags
Make of the squalid market-place
A conqueror’s city hung with flags!
HAIR-DRESSING
There in the littered street she sits and chats with passing friends,
While a deft neighbor combs her hair, pins close the sleek black ends;
She holds her gushing nipple to the child upon her knee,
Plucks vermin from its curls and sells her oranges to me.
STREET OF STEPS