The young men every night applaud their Gaby's laughing eye,
And Ruth St. Denis had more charm although she had poor luck,
From nineteen hundred nine or ten, Patlova's had the cry,
And there's a player in The States who gathers up her cloak
And flings herself out of the room, when Juliet would be bride,
With all a woman's passion, a child's imperious way;
And there are—but no matter if there are scores beside:
I knew a phoenix in my youth so let them have their day.
There's Margaret and Marjorie and Dorothy and Nan,
A Daphne and a Mary who live in privacy;
One's had her fill of lovers, another's had but one;
Another boasts, "I pick and choose, and have but two or three."
If head and limb have beauty and the instep's high and light
They can spread out what sail they please for all I have to say,
Be but the breakers of men's hearts or engines of delight:
I knew a phoenix in my youth so let them have their day.
There'll be that crowd to make men wild through all the centuries,
And may be there'll be some young belle walk out to make men wild
[225]
