THE APPARITIONS
 
 BECAUSE there is safety in derision
 I talked about an apparition,
 I took no trouble to convince,
 Or seem plausible to a man of sense.
 Distrustful of thar popular eye
 Whether it be bold or sly.
 Fifteen apparitions have I seen;
 The worst a coat upon a coat-hanger.
 
 I have found nothing half so good
 As my long-planned half solitude,
 Where I can sit up half the night
 With some friend that has the wit
 Not to allow his looks to tell
 When I am unintelligible.
 Fifteen apparitions have I seen;
 The worst a coat upon a coat-hanger.
 
 When a man grows old his joy
 Grows more deep day after day,
 His empty heart is full at length,
 But he has need of all that strength
 Because of the increasing Night
 That opens her mystery and fright.
 Fifteen apparitions have I seen;
 The worst a coat upon a coat-hanger.