Simon Gerty
by Elinor Wylie (1885-1928)

By what appalling dim upheaval
      Demolishing some kinder plan,
Did you become incarnate evil
      Wearing the livery of man?

Perhaps you hated cheeks of tallow,
      Dead eyes, and lineaments of chalk,
Until a beauty came to hallow
      Even the bloodiest tomahawk.

Perhaps you loathed your brothers’ features
      Pallid and pinched, or greasy-fat;
Perhaps you loved these alien creatures
      Clean muscled as a panther cat.

Did you believe that being cruel
      Was that which made their foreheads lift
So proudly, gave their eyes a jewel,
      And turned their padding footsteps swift?

As one by one our faiths are shaken
      Our hatreds fall; so mine for you.
Of course I think you were mistaken;
      But still, I see your point of view.

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