Katherine Mansfield: 2 Poems

Katherine Mansfield

(1888-1923)

The Man with the Wooden Leg

There was a man lived quite near us;
He had a wooden leg and a goldfinch in a green cage.
His name was Farkey Anderson,
And he’d been in a war to get his leg.
We were very sad about him,
Because he had such a beautiful smile
And was such a big man to live in a very small house.
When he walked on the road his leg did not matter
          so much;
But when he walked in his little house
It made an ugly noise.
Little Brother said his goldfinch sang the loudest of
          all birds,
So that he should not hear his poor leg
And feel too sorry about it.

The Secret

In the profoundest ocean
There is a rainbow shell,
It is always there, shining most stilly
Under the greatest storm waves
That the old Greek called "ripples of laughter."
As you listen, the rainbow shell
Sings—in the profoundest ocean.
It is always there, singing most silently!

Katherine Mansfield poetry

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