Stella Benson

“ She gave him five smooth stones to make him wise.
The first stone is love, and that shall fail you.
The second stone is hate, and that shall fail you.
The third stone is knowledge, and that shall fail you.
The fourth stone is prayer, and that shall fail you.
The fifth stone shall not fail you.
For what is love, O lovers of my tribe?
And what is love, O women of my day?
Love is a farthing piece, a bloody bribe
Pressed in the palm of God—and thrown away. ”

“ I’ll hide my heart away before to-morrow kills it—
A cold to-morrow kills it.
Yes, I have built To-day, a wall against To-morrow,
So let To-morrow knock—I shall not be afraid,
For none shall give me death, and none shall give me sorrow,
And none shall spoil this darling day that I have made.
No storm shall stir my sea. No night but mine shall shade
This day that I have made. ”

“ If certain hours on their climb up the long ladder of time
Turned my confusion to rhyme, drove me to dare an attempt,
If by fair chance I might seem sometimes abreast of my theme,
Was I translating a dream? Was it a dream that you dreamt?
High and miraculous skies bless and astonish my eyes;
All my dead secrets arise, all my dead stories come true. ”

“ Spins out my heart, and seems to draw
My soul’s elastic very fine.
The greatest beacon ever fired
Stands up on Heaven’s Hill to show
The limit of the thing desired,
Beyond which man may never go. ”

“ STELLA BENSON
“Miss Benson has a delicious sense of humour, and her way of describing people and things is most refreshing. With her sympathy, her realism, her wit and ability, it would seem that Miss Benson’s possibilities are limitless.”—The Bookman.
“In her second book she not only makes good, but betrays a ripening talent.”—Daily Telegraph. ”

“ The hoarse church-bells of London ring;
The hoarser horns of London croak;
The poor brown lives of London cling
About the poor brown streets like smoke;
The deep air stands above my roof
Like water, to the floating stars.
My Friend and I—we sit aloof,—
We sit and smile, and bind our scars. ”

“ STELLA BENSON
Sir Henry Lucy writes: “One of the brightest, most original, and best-written books that have come my way for a long time.”
“Even the dullest can hardly fail to respond to the brilliant humour of the book. ”

“ My soundless feet shall fly among the runners
Through the red thunders of a Zeppelin raid,
My still voice cheer the Anti-Aircraft gunners,
The fires shall glare—but I shall cast no shade. ”

“ There pass the trav’lling dreams, and these
My soul adores—my words condemn—
Oh, I would fall upon my knees
To kiss their golden garments’ hem,
Yet words do lie in wait to seize
And murder them. ”

“ To-night the swinging stars shall plumb
The silence of the sky. ”

“ STELLA BENSON AUTHOR OF
“THIS IS THE END,” “I POSE”
1918
PREFACE
Almost all the verses in this book have appeared before, the majority of them included in two books, I Pose and This is the End. Messrs. Macmillan, who published these, have been kind in raising no objection to re-publication. I have also to thank the Editors of the Athenæum, Everyman, and the Pall Mall Gazette for allowing me to reprint verses.
The title of the book has no reference to the writer’s age.
S.B.
CONTENTS
CHRISTMAS, 1917
A key no thief can steal, no time can rust ”