Delmore Schwartz
I DID NOT KNOW THE SPOILS OF JOY
When that I was and
.a
little tiny boy,
With a hey ho, the wind and the rain,
I did not know the truth of joy,
I thought all sadness strange and vain.
But when I came to thought and art,
Shame made my naive flowers wilt,
I glowed disgusted with my heart,
As
cynicism salved my guilt.
When youthful hopes proved true and false,
As
hard-earned riches fool or pall,
I thought the mind lied like a waltz
Which chants love as a brilliant ball.
And when I followed where sleep fled,
I woke amid the mixing dream,
Myself or others hurt my head,
Making the silly Furies scream.
And when I left this damned estate,
I drove the quickest car to bliss,
With drunken fools I struck at fate,
Charmed at the falls of consciousness.
A great while ago the world began,
With a ho, ho, the fog and the mist,
The Pharaohs are enthroned again,
The endless wind and rain insist
