Contents -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

Harriet Monroe, ed. (1860–1936). The New Poetry: An Anthology. 1917.

The Heart Knoweth Its Own Bitterness

Aline Kilmer

THE HEART knoweth? If this be true indeed,

Then the thing that I bear in my bosom is not a heart,

For it knows no more than a hollow, whispering reed

That answers to every wind.

I am sick of the thing. I think we had better part.

My heart would come to any piper’s calling—

A fool in motley that dances for any king;

But my body knows, and its tears unbidden falling

Say that my heart has sinned.

You would have my heart? You may. I am sick of the thing.