Page:Main Street and other poems, Kilmer, 1917.djvu/62

MAIN STREET AND OTHER POEMS THE BIG TOP

HE boom and blare of the big brass band is cheering to my heart

And I like the smell of the trampled grass and elephants and hay.

I take off my hat to the acrobat with his delicate, strong art,

And the motley mirth of the chalk-faced clown drives all my care away.

I wish I could feel as they must feel, these players brave and fair,

Who nonchalantly juggle death before a staring throng.

It must be fine to walk a line of silver in the air

And to cleave a hundred feet of space with a gesture like a song.

Sir Henry Irving never knew a keener, sweeter thrill

Than that which stirs the breast of him who turns his painted face [ 56 ]