C.D. Warner, et al., comp.
The Library of the World’s Best Literature. An Anthology in Thirty Volumes. 1917.
Burton Egbert Stevenson (1872–1962)
After the Play
M
With a mimic crowd bowing low at his feet,
In crown and sceptre of gilt bedight,
And a poor robe falling in fold and pleat,
He stalks on the stage and takes a seat.
Ah well, let him prosper while he may:
The curtain’s soon down, for the hours are fleet,
And the king’s but a beggar after the play.
In his borrowed plumage, poor shallow cheat,
He struts the stage with a strange conceit;
But let him prosper while he may,
The king’s but a beggar after the play.