Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


POET AND MERCHANT by ISABEL FISKE CONANT

First Line: THE POET GOES RAGGED
Last Line: "OF THE MERCHANT, ""HE IS DEAD."
Subject(s): ART & ARTISTS; FAME; MONEY; REPUTATION;

The poet goes ragged;
The merchant wears silk;
He eats patties
While the poet drinks milk.

One cuts coupons,
And one splits hope;
One hawks sonnets,
And one sells soap.

They lie long time
Under a white spread;
I heard them say, "The poet lives";
Of the merchant, "He is dead."



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