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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


OLD GLASS FACTORY by ISABEL FISKE CONANT

First Line: THERE'S NOT A VILLAGER NOW LEFT TO SHOW
Last Line: HOLDS UP FOR BIDS; A CURIO FROM THAT YEAR.
Subject(s): FACTORIES; GLASS & GLASSBLOWERS; GLAZIERS;

There's not a villager now left to show
Where it was once, although they make a feint;
But call their bluff, and one will have to paint
A neighbor's house that day; another go
"Down-street," which means to the next town, you know,
Four or five muddy, rutted miles away,
Where wagons take their load to market day
And ungroomed horses droop, tied in a row.

But once, hid in the woods from prying Tory,
Spy for a king who's fuming for the tax,
This little hive could tell another story
Whose few survivals now are bric-a-bracs --
A pale, blurred bottle that some auctioneer
Holds up for bids; a curio from that year.



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