For an Unsuccessful Sinner
I boasted my sins were sure to sink me
Out of all sound and sight of glory;
And the most I've won for all my pains
Is a century of purgatory.
This poem is in the public domain.
Once riding in old Baltimore,
Heart-filled, head-filled with glee,
I saw a Baltimorean
Keep looking straight at me.
(For Carl Van Vechten)
I have a rendezvous with Life,
In days I hope will come,
Ere youth has sped, and strength of mind,
Ere voices sweet grow dumb.
I have a rendezvous with Life,
When Spring's first heralds hum.
Sure some would cry it's better far
To crown their days with sleep