Then the last atom of my strength I summoned To play Othello. It was death or life! Soul triumph or soul ruin. But you see The cockatrice had sent the word around And sharpened every critic eye. I faced An audience of one mind, could sense it all Where hatred, mild amusement were well mixed To poison, paralyze creative power, And even break my memory. But I said Show now your genius, drink the hatred in Till all your spirit sparkles as a star When the north wind of winter blows at night. Nothing opposes but a woman’s hate. Rise on its wreckage. So I spurred myself. And even when I saw her critic friend Limned from the mass of faces, lost my clue And waited for the prompter, then my rage Upheld me--yes, but wait--the rest is brief. I had not acted through the strangle scene When I heard calls and bells, the curtain fell, My understudy led me from the stage. Out in the night we went--I knew not where-- It was a night of drink, and I awoke To strange surroundings in a scented room, A woman with light hair lay by my side “How did I get here”--then the woman laughed-- She was a Fury, for the Furies had me. Out of the house I ran, from place to place, All day went wandering in the city, thus My wanderings of ten years began, they seem Ten centuries. What do you think of this? I’m fifty-seven, with a bad complex, Can you unravel it and make me well? THE LAST CONFESSION Dear, if you knew how my poor heart Aches for your heart by day and night-- Forever lost to life’s delight, As seasons pass and years depart, You would not let the invisible flame Of hatred sear and scar your soul, Where once in living light my name Was lettered like an aureole! You, who lost faith in me, will not Believe this last confession, made To lift your spirit from the shade Wherein it walks and views the spot Of my offense. But when I saw That our love’s life must have an end, I looked back o’er our path with awe And traced it toward us to the sign Where our ways severed, yours and mine. There stood Remorse’s dreaded shape! Your Disbelief! Your Self-Contempt! I saw our love was not exempt From ruin and could not escape. We could not separate and smile, And keep a faithful thought the while Of understanding (like a spring Hidden, refreshing, murmuring) As friend sometimes takes leave of friend. Then what was left? It was this thought That at the last came forth to slay Your love, without a warning brought Ere my lips tightened to betray!