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1874–1950

THE QUESTION

Arthur Stringer

Glad with the wine of life, Reeling I go my way, Drunk with the ache of living And mouthing my drunken song!

Then comes the lucid moment And the shadow across the lintel; And I hear the ghostly whisper, And I glimpse with startled eyes

The Door beyond the doorway, And I see the small dark house Where I must sleep. Then song turns sour on my lips,

And the warmth goes out of my blood, And I turn me back to the beaker, And re-draining my cup of dream, I drown the whispering voices,

I banish the ghostly question As to which in the end is true: The wine and the open road? Or the waiting Door?

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THE QUESTION · Arthur Stringer · Poetry Cove