Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, IN A HOTEL WRITING-ROOM, by JOHN COWPER POWYS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

IN A HOTEL WRITING-ROOM, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: We artists have strange nerves!
Last Line: We had met before this scene.
Subject(s): Art & Artists; Faces; Friendship; Hate; Hotels; Summer; Inns; Innskeepers; Motels; Boarding Houses


We artists have strange nerves!
That man in front of me,
I had been hating him
Implacably,
Just for the lines and curves
Of his unconscious face,
Lines that brought no disgrace
Upon humanity.
But when that same man spoke,
And with a grunt and wheeze
Asked me how many cs
Had the word "Necessity,"
The cord of my hatred broke.
"For how's a beggar to tell"
He said; -- and I loved him for it --
"With a word as long as hell,
If no wise blighter tells us?"
-- "You are right, my friend. We may score it
Over and over with c;
But at last it is not we
Who spell 'Necessity,'
But Necessity who spells us!"
He smiled. I smiled. And between
Your artist and your drummer
Swept, on a breeze of summer,
A wave of sympathy;
And we even came to wonder
Where -- in the name of thunder --
We had met before this scene.





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